It's never too early to start streaming. Whether you have an opening due to an injury, you auction-drafted a crew of stars and scrubs, or you just didn't bother putting any effort into your last couple draft picks, you probably have a player or two on your team who isn't must-own. You're better off using that roster spot to stream players to eke out wins in close categories in your weekly head-to-head matchups.
This year, RotoBaller will be making weekly recommendations for extreme short term category specialists every week in all six counting stat categories (points, assists, threes, rebounds, steals, and blocks). Below are my Week Seven offensive category streamers for fantasy basketball - points, threes, and assists are below. All position eligibility and ownership percentages are based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
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Three Points Made Streamer
Wayne Ellington, SG, MIA, Opponents: Friday @ CLE, Saturday @ CHI (23% Owned)
The Miami Heat dressed nine on Tuesday night as they’ve been decimated by injuries this season. They’re hurting bad. Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and Josh Richardson will not travel with the team on their three-game road trip which rules them out for the week. That means the Heat will be forced to lean on guys like Wayne Ellington at shooting guard at least until Monday. Yes, he’s playing for his seventh team in seven seasons and Wayne Ellington has become fantasy relevant. Did I mention the Heat are hurting?
On the fantasy front, Ellington has been producing solid numbers. Since making his season-debut last week, he’s averaged 12.0 points with 2.0 threes on 7.6 three-point attempts per game in 32.4 minutes. Coach Spoelstra is trusting him with the minutes while Miami deals with injuries. The minutes should yield enough three-point production while he’s shooting at 37.0 3P%. Watch the status of the other Heat wing players in the next week as Ellington could be a hold candidate for his offensive output. He’s available in over a quarter of leagues and should be snatched for the short-term.
Other Options: Patrick Patterson, PF/C, TOR (25% Owned); Allen Crabbe, PG/SG, POR (24% Owned); Terrence Ross, SG/SF, TOR (14% Owned); Joe Harris, SG, BKN (2% Owned); Anthony Morrow, SG/SF, OKC (1% Owned); Jodie Meeks, SG, ORL (2% Owned)
Points Streamer
Jeff Green, SG/SF, ORL, Opponents: Friday @ CHA, Saturday vs. DEN (10% Owned)
After a confusing off-season of moves, Frank Vogel’s adjusted by moving Elfrid Payton and Nikola Vucevic to the bench while starting Bismack Biyombo and D.J. Augustin. Vogel was also tinkering at small-forward, but finally settled on starting Aaron Gordon with Jeff Green coming off the bench. It’s worked as the Magic have won four of their last five; the best run of their early season. It’s annoying, but the rotation is likely here to stay.
It hurts to admit this, but Jeff Green has proven valuable in the past four games as the Magic are starting to figure it out. Green’s posted 16.0 points on 56.1 FG% (10.3 FGA) in the last four. There’s no way he keeps this up as he’s shooting 36.6 FG% on the season, but let’s take advantage while he’s hot. Green’s coming off the bench behind Aaron Gordon (24.5 MPG past four games) but the Magic are still opting to give the Georgetown product more minutes (26.1 MPG past four games). It’s looking like a time share at small-forward all season, which stinks for Gordon owners, but makes Green a short-term add until he comes back down to Earth.
Other Options: Wayne Ellington, SG, MIA (23% Owned), Dwight Powell, PF/C, DAL (18% Owned); Tim Hardaway Jr., SG/SF, ATL (9% Owned)
Assists Streamer
Andre Iguodala, SG/SF, GSW, Opponents: Thursday @ UTA, Saturday @ MEM, Sunday @ MIN (24% Owned)
It’s no surprise that the Golden State Warriors have the highest team assists average (32.0) in the league, but with the addition of Kevin Durant, they’ve been sharing the ball more (28.9 last season). They have four road games in five nights, so you can bet all hands will be on deck as they visit the Clippers before they set out on a Northwest Division road trip. On the fantasy end, the Dubs will have three remaining games in the late week, which is solid for digging out streaming targets.
Over the last two weeks, Iguodala’s averaged 3.9 assists in 25.7 MPG and sits inside the top-50 in that time span for total assists. He’s seen a dip in his offensive output, but the assists have been the best in his three seasons (3.4, 3.0 in previous two seasons) under Steve Kerr. Additionally, he’s averaging 17.9 AST%, which is also the highest under Kerr in the last three seasons. Alternatively, there are other great streaming assists options this week, but with three games left in the late week, Andre 3000 is a great streaming option for dimes.
Other Options: Brandon Jennings, PG, NYK (17% Owned); Jameer Nelson, PG, DEN (13% Owned); D.J. Augustin, PG, ORL (6% Owned); Isaiah Whitehead, PG/SG, BKN (1% Owned)
By popular demand, RotoBaller has aggregated all of our fantasy basketball NBA waiver wire pickups into a running list of NBA waiver options, so bookmark the page and check back often for updates.