The key period of the season begins now. Fantasy GMs will be fighting for playoff spots and those at the top will be looking to stay there and perhaps find the key add with some early pickups. We need to balance that with the NBA teams’ own situations and goals. Will the Cavs and Thunder begin resting players more often if the leads in their conferences continue to grow? Will the Sixers push for the Play-In or will they tank to try to keep their top-six protected first-round pick? Which of the bottom-of-the-barrel teams will pull out the rug completely first?

We won’t get answers to all of those questions by the end of February, but those are just a few of many things we need to monitor in the coming weeks.

Double-Check Zone

These players are likely rostered in most if not all competitive leagues, but their Yahoo roster percentages indicate otherwise. In light of their upside, you should still search for these names in your leagues to be entirely sure that they have not been overlooked.

The Yahoo roster percentage is displayed in parentheses next to a player’s name.

Jaden McDaniels (60% rostered on Yahoo)
Key Note(s): Scoring, rebounds and assists all up recently… now top-80 per game for 9-cat on the season

McDaniels is emerging as a somewhat more reliable option on offense for the Wolves and they need it. Will it last? Who knows? However, considering his season rank he has been consistent enough to just roster him until the wheels fall off.

Kel’el Ware (56%)
Key Note(s): Has earned some trust despite a few slower games recently

If Ware was dropped, grab him. He is a per-minute beast as a double-double threat who can block shots and hit some threes.

Donte DiVincenzo (53%)
Key Note(s): The Wolves don’t have an answer for the fifth starter, so the role should still be his when he returns

DiVincenzo should have been set to be re-evaluated around this time and maybe we already have an update by the time you’re reading this. I think he is worth a stash in standard formats ahead of the fantasy playoffs, especially if you need threes and steals with upside for points and dimes.

Tari Eason (41%)
Key Note(s): Defensive stats and rebounds will buoy his value

Jabari Smith Jr. is targeting a return on February 21 and Fred VanVleet will likely be back this week as well. However, Eason has been productive with a full crew in the past (both this season and last season) so I see no reasons why he cannot continue, especially knowing how abundant defensive stats can push value. Of course, you have to be wary of the back-to-back resting.

Isaiah Collier (41%)
Key Note(s): He is averaging 9.5 APG across his last eight contests, what are we doing?

There is no if, but or maybe. Roster Collier.

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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