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March 20, 2025, 5:22 am
I wanted to cover a number of names here to provide options because at this point of the season fantasy managers need to be malleable and harsh. That is, a player might not be an add on one day, but they might be an add 24 hours later due to some recent change. The same goes with being harsh. Three months ago, we would have the chance to give someone “time” to show their upside but right now it is all about immediate value.
In this piece I have:
Double-Check Zone – highly rostered players who should be on a team but there is a small chance that they might not be.
Standard Leagues – As the name implies, players who can provide value in standard formats.
Streamers, Maybe More – Players who maybe aren’t consistent enough to remain rostered in 12-team formats unless they have a positive schedule, are running hot or have a positive change in circumstance.
Deep Leagues – Players who can be valuable to rosters in 14-team leagues, 16-team leagues and deeper… as the name implies.
Watch-List Players – Players who are showing something interesting or who I believe could become interesting with a change in circumstance or if they find some consistency.
Two-Way Player Watch – Most of the two-way players who are or could be of interest in fantasy with the number of games they are eligible to play after the night of March 19th.
Note that the roster percentages quoted are mostly from Tuesday night when this article was first being prepared, so there may be some changes by the time you are reading this.
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.
Quentin Grimes (51%)
Key Note(s): Elite across-the-board numbersThe big scoring has gotten the attention but Grimes has been providing threes, rebounds, assists, steals and even some out-of-position blocks. He is basically playing at a first-round level if you ignore the four-plus turnovers a game.
Jonas Valanciunas (77%)
Key Note(s): Domantas Sabonis out at least 10 daysThere will be the odd game where Valanciunas plays 15 minutes because his defense is so leaky that the Kings are blown out, or he is pulled, but he should get mid-20s or more on most occasions, which makes him a double-double threat.
Brandin Podziemski (61%)
Key Note(s): Right back in the starting lineupI had some doubts about what Podziemski’s role might look like when the Warriors had their full crew, and yes, they did not on Tuesday since Stephen Curry was resting but I think the do-it-all profile of Podz should likely just be on a roster until proven otherwise.
Aaron Gordon (57%)
Key Note(s): Averaging career-high 45.7% from three and career-high 81.1% from the free-throw line. His 1.5 threes a game are the third-most of his career.The injuries this season have been unfortunate and annoying but his surpressed overall rank is more due to his minutes being managed at certain points. Whenever he has had a starter’s workload this season, he has been productive and the Nuggets are leaning on him again until that calf flares back up. I doubt he plays any back-to-backs the rest of the way unless it is for games with dire seeding implications.
Naji Marshall (55%)
Key Note(s): 23.3 points, 1.1 triples, 8.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 steals across 37.6 minutes per game in his last seven gamesMarshall continues to start and get the minutes and should be rostered until the wheels fall off. Of course, the Mavs do only have one more game this week.
Stephon Castle (57%)
Key Note(s): No Fox, no Wemby = usage monster CastleYou will get points and then it will be an inconsistent mix of triples, assists, rebounds or defensive stats but you might be playing roulette with whichever extra stat he provides on a given night.
Alex Sarr (59%)
Key Note(s): Big usage spike and scoring spike as wellSarr has been blocking shots all season so if we are getting a more steady flow of points, triples and maybe rebounds as well, he is a must-roster guy. He has hit at least three triples in his last four games, scoring 19 points, 34 points, 20 points and 22 points in that span.
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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