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Welcome to the fantasy basketball risers and fallers column, a weekly look at a few players whose stock is rising and a few who've been struggling with some analysis of why that's been the case. As always, this doesn't mean you need to drop these players who are struggling, but this could be a useful piece for making some trade decisions or for making some tough lineup choices.
Who is trending up this week? Who's trending down? Let's dive in and find out.
If you have any fantasy basketball questions, follow me on Twitter, where I'm always willing to respond to your tweeted questions: @juscarts
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Fantasy Basketball Risers
Thaddeus Young - F, Chicago Bulls
Young has been on fire over his last four games, which has led to a 42 percent jump in his rostered percentage over the past few days.
The Bulls have some injuries -- notably Wendell Carter Jr. (quad) -- which has led to a huge increase in Young's usage. With how he's playing, I'd expect that to continue.
Over the past four outings, Young is averaging 14 points, eight rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game along with two steals and 0.8 blocks. He's done all this despite making just 0.3 threes per game over that span, which is a surprise when you think about the Thaddeus Young we knew before 2021. But he's out there shooting 61.9 percent from the field over this stretch, and while the Bulls aren't winning games with him, he's averaging a +3.5 plus/minus over this stretch, so don't blame Young for that!
Cody Zeller - C, Charlotte Hornets
Initially coming off the bench when he returned to the floor after an injury that happened back on December 23rd, Zeller is back in the starting unit and is back to playing 30-plus minutes per night.
In the five games since he returned to the starting five, Zeller is averaging a double-double with 11.4 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest. He's also put up some nice assist numbers for a big man, with 3.6 of the per game. Just for good measure, he's blocking a shot per game too.
Zeller's not ever going to be an elite center. But in leagues where fantasy managers start two centers, having Zeller on your team seems like a smart thing to do.
Immanuel Quickley - G, New York Knicks
I promise I'm not being paid by Immanuel Quickley to write about him as much as I am.
Anyway, I've been high on Quickley all season and he keeps proving me right.
Over the past six games, Quickley is shooting the ball 13.7 times per game. He's averaged 18.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game over that span, with three games with 25 or more points.
Game-to-game consistency is still an issue, probably because his head coach likes to do things like "play him for just 13 minutes because Elfrid Payton was finally having a good game." But Quickley remains the best bench scorer on this team and should be getting more minutes. I trust those will come.
Anthony Edwards - G, Minnesota Timberwolves
Edwards got off to a pretty poor start this year, but things are trending up for the first-overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
In fact, the rookie has now cracked the starting lineup for the Wolves and really needs to be on everyone's fantasy radar. In his four starts, Edwards is averaging 16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. His 46.3/45.5/83.3 shooting split is significantly better than what we were getting from him earlier this season, and he's making 2.5 threes per game.
Now is the time to buy in on Anthony Edwards, because if you don't do it, someone else is going to. It also might be your last chance to trade for him on a "have you seen his overall numbers this year???" discount, since everyone is going to start noticing his recent play.
Fantasy Basketball Fallers
Wayne Ellington - G/F, Detroit Pistons
What a difference a week makes.
I -- and probably, like, most of the fantasy world -- was super high on Ellington when he was shooting the ball at an elite level. But his last two games have been a disaster:
Yikes. Like...what???
Over the past week, Ellington has the worst field goal percentage in the league among players who've made at least one shot. Considering he's made exactly one shot in that span, it's not a surprise.
He was never going to keep up his ridiculous shooting. No one's going to connect on 60 percent of their threes over a long sample, even if they manage to do that for a few games.
Honestly, we should have seen this coming. Ellington was never going to actually be an elite fantasy player over the course of a whole season. It was just too improbable.
Larry Nance Jr. - F/C, Cleveland Cavaliers
A wrist injury has Nance out right now, but in between missing games with the wrist issue and missing more games with the wrist injury, Nance played a couple of games and shot a combined 2-for-12 in those two games. He grabbed 16 rebounds in one of them, but Nance will soon have to contend with Kevin Love's return, so this seems like a good time to start considering some path towards moving on from Nance. That path shouldn't be dropping him, but if he can come back and have a solid game or two to up his trade value, that would be really, really good.
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