We have made it to the top of the mountain, as Monday begins the championship round of most legit fantasy basketball leagues. If your league is determining its champion in the last week of the NBA’s regular season, then you are doing it wrong. Rest is already a major problem in the last six weeks of the season, but it spirals out of control in the final week as teams really start to bear down on prepping for the postseason–or really lean into the tank.

Before we dive in, I want to list the teams who have four games and three games for the period starting Monday, March 31 and ending Sunday, April 6.

Teams with four games (22): ATL, BOS, CHA, CHI, DAL, DEN, GSW, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, NYK, OKC, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR, UTA, WAS

Teams with three games (8): BKN, CLE, DET, MIN, NOP, ORL, PHI, PHX

Double-Check Zone

These are players who are highly likely to be gone — maybe even drafted — in any competitive league. And yet, their roster percentage is well below 100 on Yahoo, meaning you need to take the 20 seconds and make sure that these guys are not floating around anywhere.

Kyle Filipowski (28%)

Stop what you are doing and check your waiver wire for the Jazz rookie because Walker Kessler has already been ruled out for Monday’s game and more DNPs are highly likely in the last two weeks. Filipowski averaged 16 points, nine rebounds, two threes and 1.3 steals over the last week. If Kessler has been shut down for the season but we just don’t know it yet, then those numbers are the tip of the iceberg.

Alex Sarr (64%)

I know Zach Risacher spiked for 36 points on Sunday, but I still can’t believe the Hawks drafted him over Sarr when it was so obvious that the latter had way more upside. What a mistake. Risacher is a nice prospect who has shown flashes this season. Sarr is a weapon of mass destruction with the ability to greatly impact both ends of the floor.

Over the last month, Sarr has a PRA of 17-6-2 with 1.6 blocks, 0.6 steals and 2.0 threes per game. Sarr has four games this week, starting with Monday’s home tilt against Miami, so he should get your squad off to a strong start in the ring round.

Kel’el Ware (53%)

Ware might have been dropped in your league, so hit up your waiver wire to see if he is still available. Over the last two weeks, Ware has averaged 12 points, 11 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. With four games this week, that line belongs on your team–not your opponent’s.

Ausar Thompson (58%)

Ausar was quiet on Sunday at Minnesota with a PRA of 14-4-1 and nothing else. However, he was superb in the previous two games, with lines of 18-10-2-4-2 and 14-6-3-0-2-1. His scoring is up due to the absence of Cade Cunningham, but his diverse skill set will allow him to maintain solid value even after Cade returns.

Justin Edwards (43%)

Edwards has been a top-50 player over the last two weeks in nine-cat Yahoo Leagues, averaging a PRA of 18-4-2 with 1.8 steals and 2.9 threes. Philly has only three games this week, but those goodies are too bountiful to be left on waivers.

Gary Trent Jr. (26%)

Trent hasn’t been great since the departure of Damian Lillard, but with a four-game week ahead he’s a very good scoop off the waiver wire.
Sunday was brutal, with 10 points and one three, but Trent had exactly four threes in each of the previous three games to go with scoring well into the teens. Trent rides a 10-game streak of double-digit scoring into championship week.

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