Last Updated on March 4, 2026 1:41 pm by Mike Passador | Published: March 4, 2026

Tuesday night was a busy one around the league but frankly the schedule broke in such a way that we didn’t get a ton of compelling games. It was a lot of tank-offs or matchups of decent teams vs. teams trying to lose. The two exceptions were Detroit vs. Cleveland and Toronto vs. New York. Most of the remaining slate ended up in blowouts.

Although last night’s games didn’t reveal a ton for fantasy GMs, it does give us an excuse to look at a pair of immensely frustrating fantasy players who remain valuable despite generating zero joy for their managers: Deandre Ayton and Mark Williams.

Both players are sinking in the rankings as the season rolls on. Ayton is a top-95 guy while Williams is only 10 spots ahead.

Ayton wasn’t terrible last night with 13 points (6-of-8 FG, 1-of-1 FT), eight rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes vs. the Pelicans, but he was on the bench when the Lakers made their game-changing 14-0 run in the fourth quarter and has become a timeshare big. The Lakers get more on-court utility out of Jaxson Hayes in clutch time and Ayton can lose grip even before those moments with his lackadaisical play. That was Ayton’s highest playing time in a week and he has topped 30 minutes just twice since the start of February.

As for Williams, he has been in a timeshare for most of the season already. Last night he was roundly outplayed by Oso Ighodaro (14 & 14 with a block in 26 minutes) and ended up with 10 points (3-of-6 FG, 4-of-6 FT), nine rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes. He has hit 30 minutes just once since the start of February and only three times since Christmas.

So what do you do? Both players have been able to generate top-100 value thanks to their strong FG% and low turnovers, and they are still able to produce rebounds and blocks. Whether or not you want to hang on for this ride will largely depend on how much that FG% matters to you and your roster. It’s playoff time in fantasy which means you can get aggressive with adds and drops anyway, but the specter of seven days or less left in your season really crystalizes how frustrating Ayton and Williams have been. If you do drop them, odds are they’ll be picked up — maybe for name value more than anything — but you do not have to keep putting up with this. Neither player is bad in a vacuum, but they have been bad relative to expectations. You can certainly get more volume out of a roster slot by streaming but if you need that FG% boost, you may have to just ride this out. Everyone else? Feel free to move on.

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Top Pickups

This is the “general must-add” section regardless of the slate. If these players are being overlooked and remain chilling on the waiver wire, consider adding them to your squad.

Collin Sexton (16%)

Sexton had a nice effort on Tuesday with 20 points (6-of-14 FG, 5-of-6 FT), one rebound, two assists and three 3-pointers vs. the Thunder. What’s most notable is that he played 28 minutes on a night where both Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis suffered right ankle sprains. Giddey was able to return from his but the Bulls are not going to mess around with his health, so Sexton could end up moving into the starting lineup for a team that is already light on guards (what a change from a couple weeks ago) and scorers.

Justin Champagnie (9%)

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