Last Updated on March 12, 2026 5:09 pm by Mike Passador | Published: March 12, 2026

The fantasy playoffs are in full swing, unless you’re in a roto league or a truly diabolical head-to-head format whose champion will be decided by a bunch of players who have yet to sign their 10-day contracts. That means you can get aggressive in your moves and ruthless in your cuts. You need five of nine categories every week. Winning 7-2 as you might have in the regular season is nice, but there’s no style points. Focus everything you have on winning those five categories; everyone else is bordering on superfluous.

If you’ve built your team with serious long-term vision, everyone on your roster will fit already, and you will feel pretty good about attacking the same five categories week after week. If you went for a well-rounded approach, you’ll need to be a little more attentive, as the five categories you won last week might be different than the five you want this week, which will be different than the five you want the week after that. That’s not a bad thing — malleability is always helpful, especially if you find that opponents are more locked into their five categories moreso than you are. A category you were guaranteed to lose last week might be a winnable one this week. If you need to bounce around the box score, or continue to target categories of strength in a matchup of two teams with similar mindsets, you better hit the waiver wire.

Here is the article layout:

• Double-Check Zone: Players who should be on a 12-team roster, but whose roster percentages suggest some leagues are lagging behind.
• Standard Leagues: Players worth an add in standard leagues with a potential path to value over a decent stretch of time (or the season).
• Streamers, Maybe More: Players on a hot streak and a path to short-term value with a smaller chance of long-term upside if certain things break their way.
• Deep Leagues: Lower-rostered players who should be available in 14-team or 16-team leagues and beyond.
• The Specialists: One specialist option for each of the standard counting stats.
• Weekend Watch: A quick look at teams with strong or poor weekend schedules if you’re planning on some very short-term pickups.

Double-Check Zone

Most of these players will be rostered in competitive leagues, but we get just enough questions about them to warrant another call-out. These are your priority adds and if anyone on this list is still available, thank your lucky stars.

Gui Santos (33%)
Key Note(s): Top-80 in the last month

Santos has been a revelation since the Warriors decided to slot him into the starting five. He’s producing multi-cat lines every night and has put himself way above the crab bucket that is the bottom of Golden State’s rotation. In the last month he’s averaging 14.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.6 triples while shooting .467 from the field and .692 at the line in 32.9 mpg. Imagine if he was hitting his free throws at an average rate?

Ty Jerome (27%)
Key Note(s): Always on the injury report but might still be worth the trouble

Jerome has only played six games in the last month, but they have yielded top-35 per-game value in 9-cat scoring. He has shown repeatedly that he can put up big numbers despite a 25-minute ceiling and the Grizzlies put him at the head of the table whenever he’s active. The constant absences are the obvious hurdle here but that kind of nightly production is hard to let go. On the right roster, Jerome is a bit of a cheat code — if your IL spots aren’t totally filled already, you can move him on and off based on his availability and open up a “free” streaming slot without having to worry about dropping someone productive. That’s a perfect outcome, and might be a game you want to play depending on who else is holding down an injured spot for you now.

Isaiah Collier (43%)
Key Note(s): Elite production in a hard-to-find area and Keyonte George is hurt again

Collier found his footing when Keyonte George was sidelined by an ankle sprain, and as the Jazz have lost most of their other big dogs, they have been dialing back on George’s minutes. Even when splitting minutes with George and EJ Harkless, Collier has been playing enough to deliver a handful of assists every night; 7.2 dimes per game over the last month is more than enough to be rostered in standard leagues. On Wednesday night George left early with a right hamstring injury, which could result in a lengthy absence and more minutes for Collier.

De’Anthony Melton (16%)
Key Note(s): Finally starting and theoretically cleared for back-to-backs

Melton is yet another Warrior who has benefited from a wave of absences all over the roster, but his fantasy production feels stickier than perhaps anyone’s besides Gui Santos. He has moved into the starting five and is pushing toward 30 mpg, and although a new groin injury kept him out on Tuesday night, the original plan was for Melton to play in both legs of the team’s back-to-back. While that was preceded by a standalone rest day last week, it sure sounds like Melton is as full-go as he’s ever going to be. He’s a top-80 guy in the last month of action and could continue to climb.

Brandin Podziemski (45%)
Key Note(s): Middle-round value in the last month and Steph Curry and Moses Moody are still out

Podziemski has had a rough couple of games but they haven’t dragged him down too much considering the cope of his last month. In his last 11 games, Podziemski is playing 33.6 mpg for 16.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.2 3-pointers on .444 shooting from the field and .731 shooting at the line. That’s good for top-70 value and the Warriors are banged up enough that you can count on him to play a ton for the near-term. If his last two weak games put him back on the wire, you know what to do.

Honorable Mention(s), i.e. players who are obviously worth rostering that we’ve been talking about all year: Dejounte Murray (47%), Collin Gillespie (41%), Jaden McDaniels (47%), Donte DiVincenzo (44%), Jabari Smith (49%), Tre Jones (22%), Grayson Allen (40%), Moussa Diabate (32%), Jay Huff (26%), Kyle Filipowski (48%), Maxime Raynaud (40%)

Standard Leagues

These players are either approaching 12-team value or have already seized it but every fantasy league may not have caught on to that yet. They may not be guaranteed to hold ROS value but they are worth a look nonetheless as it may be a possibility, or there may at least be some medium-to-long-term appeal.

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