Readers, it’s my pleasure to bring you another edition of The Week Ahead. Just like Mike Tyson, we’re back for another round, and just like his matches, we’re going to try to keep it short. 

Short is the operative term when discussing the Hornets and Mavs this week. They’re short on games and short on healthy rotation players. It’s a double-edged sword that could yield great results in a single game vacuum but offers absolutely no streaming value in the short or long-term. Per usual, you can expect good-to-greatness from their best players but I’m not expecting them to be anywhere near the league lead in totals for the week, and that’s what you need in head-to-head leagues.

What you do need are the teams that play four games in a week. They double up the squads above, whose players are increasingly likely to end up on waiver wires in short order. On the flip side, you can expect players from the 12 teams with four games to trend up. That trend is likely to be led by the Wolves, who have the most immediate streaming value, a wide range of potential streamers for leagues of various depths and are still fighting for the top spot in the Western Conference. Karl-Anthony Towns’ absence hasn’t held them back at all, as Rudy Gobert has proven perfectly capable of stepping up. Now that he’s potentially on the shelf, we’re seeing that Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid are happy to step up as well. Heck, deep league managers are probably noticing what Luka Garza does when he gets the chance as well. Don’t get me started on Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s hot streak! There’s a lot to love here and it starts with a Monday back-to-back.

“Back” might be a sensitive word for Wizards fans. That specific part of the body kept multiple key players on their squad out of action this weekend – not that it really matters in the end. Regardless, managers with Tyus Jones are surely frustrated to have to stash him during the most important stretch of the fantasy season. The same is probably true of deep league managers stashing Marvin Bagley III or standard league managers hoping for a new points and boards producer to consider. However, both could be returning in short order. A bigger name in the frontcourt probably sinks the appeal of Richaun Holmes in 12-team formats, while the return of the big dog in the backcourt may do the same to Bilal Coulibaly. Despite the French rookie’s recent stretch of impressive play, I’m not planning to take a chance on him in a Week 21 schedule that is spaced out and featuring only three games overall. Somehow Corey Kispert’s hot streak, Jordan Poole’s ego and Kyle Kuzma have to fit into this picture as well, so Brian Keefe will have his hands full. If the Wizards could figure any of that out then their record would be much better. With a middling schedule and a lineup in flux, I’m not expecting to add many Wizards players this week even if they’re widely available and typically offering solid risk-reward potential.

Consider the Heat or Jazz if you’re looking for a solid return on your streaming investment in Week 21. Both teams play four games and have proven to be among the best at finding diamonds in the rough. It’s ironic that they are in the same position of being well-advised to give their best players some rest for opposite reasons. The Heat are seeming to be a more secure bet for the playoffs and could be expected to let the respective injury concerns of Bam Adebayo, Caleb Martin, Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jovic play out as long as necessary. To the contrary, the Jazz have little to no incentive to rush Jordan Clarkson or Lauri Markkanen back from injury. They even rewarded (punished?) John Collins with a rest game after he helped them eke out a victory over the Hawks on Friday. As a result of these circumstances, it’s likely that standard league managers are paying close attention to Duncan Robinson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Taylor Hendricks. Managers in deeper formats will want to check in on Kris Dunn while those in astronomically deep leagues will be pleasantly surprised to know that Johnny Juzang, Omer Yurtseven and Thomas Bryant are keeping pace with all of the above recently. 

The Pacers are treading water in the standings but they’re offering tons of fantasy value while they’re at it. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Tyrese Haliburton makes everyone fantasy relevant. Previous to Bennedict Mathurin’s season-ending shoulder injury, there were as many as 10 players that could have reasonably appeared on standard league rosters at multiple points this season. That number has dropped to nine and the top-three in that group surely aren’t available, but that’s still six other names to consider depending on your team’s needs. Active streamers probably won’t be taking advantage of the Pacers busy schedule because none of these games are back-to-backs, so opportunistic managers could find some bargains on players that would otherwise be taken. 

Last week’s article featured a Pacers player in the cover photo and at the top of my Quick Adds list. Andrew Nembhard was the first of four names last week and was a very useful player for his pro team if not his fantasy one. Despite failing to produce much value in Week 20, I’m prepared to circle back to the Canadian guard in the future because his playing time remains high and he’s making smart plays that are unfortunately just not resulting in much statistical production lately. I will not be so kind with Malaki Branham. No amount of circumstantial evidence changes being within five spots of rock bottom for fantasy value last week. I can’t speak to why Gregg Popovich cut his minutes in half as soon as I hit send on last week’s article and I don’t particularly care now that I’ve seen it play out. Thankfully, I had a couple of faithful streamers ready to keep the ship afloat and round out my Week 20 Quick Adds. I specifically told you that Matisse Thybulle could and would win steals for you last week and I believe he was well on his way to doing that before sitting out his fourth game of the week on Saturday. Regardless, five steals and blocks each with four treys is a great return for three games of action, so you should keep placing your trust in Thybulle ahead of another four-game week. Finally, I’ll show some love to Nick Richards for doing the traditional big man thing like always. It wasn’t his best week but it was serviceable. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter because he’s probably not the caliber of player worth holding through two games.

Week 21 is following what’s becoming a familiar pattern lately: a full slate of games without a single double-digit game day to be found. Four days — Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday — tie for the highest daily total at eight while Tuesday is lowest at five. Unlike past weeks, I don’t find this to be a streaming-friendly schedule at all. In fact, pairing moves together in the early part of the week is downright ugly. The Wolves are your clearest value-added streamer on Monday but there’s some delayed satisfaction in rostering extra Kings or Jazz players from there. There is exactly one good option on Tuesday and that’s the Pelicans, so I’m prepared to argue that most managers aren’t going to feel truly comfortable making adds until Wednesday. From there, it’s possible to string together consecutive back-to-backs, as there are four on Wednesday and another four on Friday that should help to increase the games played totals for teams that are focused on doing so. With no back-to-backs on Tuesday or Saturday and only one on Monday and Saturday, the importance of those mid-week double-headers cannot be understated, so managers should start to consider the best ways to work those squads into their streaming plans. Subscribers will get some more insight into their options further below.

Schedule Breakdown

Two Games: Hornets, Mavs

Three Games: Hawks, Nets, Bulls, Nuggets, Rockets, Clippers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Bucks, Knicks, Thunder, Magic, Suns, Spurs, Wizards

Four Games: Celtics, Cavs, Pistons, Warriors, Pacers, Heat, Wolves, Pelicans, Sixers, Blazers, Kings, Jazz

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