The Cut List - Who To Drop for Fantasy Basketball Week 16

The NBA trade deadline has finally come and gone! Unfortunately, there weren't many fireworks this time around. We didn't even see Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, or Dejounte Murray get moved. So excuse me while I call the NBA customer service line for my money back. Where's the reality show level of drama?!

You know what? We're going to create our own drama by going through Week 16 of the fantasy basketball cut list. There are always some shakeups to rotations and rosters right before the trade deadline. Some of those favor certain players over others and that means players that once saw a lot of opportunities may not anymore. In that case, it's time to drop some names that previously weren't even on the waiver radar before.

For those new to this series, we run down a list of players that can be dropped or replaced in fantasy leagues. We have at least one for each size of fantasy league and we even get into the values for category versus points formats. So, let's get into the Week 15 version of the cut list! Let me know @__Fisch on X/Twitter if there's anyone I missed or anyone you agree with.

Players to Consider Dropping or Replacing

Josh Hart (SG/SF, NYK) - 62% rostered

The New York Knicks went from an injury-plagued lineup to bringing in the cavalry in a matter of a couple of days. Josh Hart was benefitting from some open spots in the rotation as he averaged 38.5 minutes a night over the last two weeks. Of course, this is the norm with Tom Thibodeau-coached teams. The issue is that their new pieces from the trade deadline are on their way.

Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks are the latest additions after OG Anunoby, and that means fewer opportunities at the forward spots for Hart. He's likely to still get somewhere around 25-27 minutes per game, but his extremely high volume will come to an end very soon. Throughout the season so far, he's received an average of 29.5 minutes and has produced enough to barely rank inside the top 175 in nine-category leagues.

The best way to win fantasy championships is by staying ahead of the game and striking the waiver wire before it gets hot. Hart could very well become a streaming option again this year, but that will be a later date.

Zach LaVine (SG/SF, CHI) - 59% rostered

How in the world is Zach LaVine rostered in more than half of the leagues on Yahoo?! Everyone surely read the news that he'll be out for the rest of the season, right? He underwent ankle surgery to "clean up" an issue that had been there for a long time. Originally, his return timetable was set to 4-to-6 months, but he could be back sooner.

Either way, he's out for the rest of this season and managers that aren't in dynasty leagues can drop him right now and use the roster space for someone who's actually going to accumulate some stats. Ayo Dosunmu is going to see a lot more opportunities with LaVine sidelined and Coby White is in the middle of a career year.

Dereck Lively II (C, DAL) - 57% rostered

Pre-trade deadline, Dereck Lively II would have never been on this list at this stage of the season. He's been turning in a solid rookie year so far and he's still viable in deeper leagues, especially category formats. The issue is that post-trade deadline the Dallas Mavericks got a bit deeper in the frontcourt after the arrival of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford.

Washington, admittedly, takes the spot of Grant Williams, so it's not exactly a new role introduced to the rotation, but if they ever want a smaller lineup then he can fill in at center. Gafford, on the other hand, is a quality big who can benefit from running alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. That means Lively probably won't be getting the same amount of minutes he's been seeing up until now.

As you can see, this one is not due to Lively's skill level, but more due to roster additions. Lively is already inside the top 100 in nine-category leagues during his first season and averages 9.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game. Unfortunately, taking a hit to those stats isn't going to help fantasy managers in leagues with 12 or fewer teams.

Mark Williams (C, CHA) - 75% rostered

While I was surprised that so many fantasy teams still had Zach LaVine rostered, I'm not surprised that there are plenty of people hanging on to Mark Williams at the moment. What I'm more upset about here is the fact that the Charlotte Hornets have given barely any information surrounding his back injury. There hasn't been any sort of timetable for return or a report on the severity of the issue until just recently, which was a report that said he'll be re-evaluated in another month.

Williams hasn't played a game since December 8 and won't even be re-evaluated until early-to-mid March. He hasn't been contributing to fantasy wins this entire time and will continue to just take up a roster spot until the fantasy playoffs. Just find someone else to fill the void right now and contribute some stats to get your team into the playoffs in the first place.

Unless your league has a crazy amount of IR spots, Williams is better left on the waiver wire until there's some sort of report that details his return.

Ausar Thompson (SG/SF/PF, DET) - 55% rostered

Usually, for a rebuilding team that just traded away some of their veterans, it means that the younger players are going to get a lot more minutes and opportunities. Unfortunately, for the Detroit Pistons, that doesn't seem to be the case. Ausar Thompson went from getting tons of minutes at the beginning of the year to getting fewer than 20 a night, and now to a little over 20. No one knows what this rotation is going to be now that they've welcomed six new players.

Simone Fontecchio, Troy Brown Jr., Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Shake Milton, and Malachi Flynn have all joined the team at the trade deadline and at least a few of them are bound to see a solid amount of minutes. That means fewer opportunities for someone like Ausar Thompson whose main fantasy contribution lately has been steals and blocks which are also the most volatile stat that anyone can depend on.

Over the last week, he's seen an average of four more minutes a night but has only turned that into a rank of 138 in nine-category leagues according to Basketball Monster. That's just a recipe for disaster and frustration in the fantasy sports realm.

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