Fantasy Basketball Forecaster: January 7th - 13th

Welcome to this week’s Fantasy Basketball Forecaster! In here, you’ll find:

• 3 players who are coming into the week hot
• 3 players who are coming into the week on a cold spell
• 3 waiver wire adds (among all players under 50% owned)
• Each teams schedule ranking, based on opponents’ stats allowed, where the #1 ranked team faces the easiest fantasy schedule this week, while the #30 ranked team faces the hardest

Let’s begin!

3 players who are hot

1. Karl-Anthony Towns (99.7% owned) - Towns was in full takeover mode last week, averaging 28.3 points, 1.3 threes made, 15.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.8 blocks across four games. Who knows what the Timberwolves will look like without Tom Thibodeau at the helm, but I’d expect them to feature even more Towns. Also, what 0.3 leagues don’t own KAT and how do I play in those leagues?
2. James Harden (100% owned) - If you even pretend to follow the NBA, you know what Harden has done in recent weeks. This past one he averaged 41.7 points per game, shooting 40% from three and a staggering 14.3 free throw attempts per game (obviously the most in the NBA in that time period). Him on this list shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
3. Nikola Jokic (99.6% owned) - Jokic comes storming into this week balling out in pretty much every major statistical category. Across three games, Jokic averaged 28 points, 2.3 threes, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks. Dude is getting it done on both ends of the court and for your fantasy team.

3 players who are not

1. Jayson Tatum (98.3% owned) - It was a rough stretch for Tatum who saw a drop in threes, assists, steals and points per game despite playing more minutes last week. Hopefully Tatum can get out of this shooting slump—he shot 34.8% from the field and a pretty awful 21.1% from three despite taking 6.3 threes per game—and start to look a little more like the rookie sensation of last year.
2. De’Aaron Fox (89.9% owned) - While Fox started the season like a bat out of hell and carried my fantasy team to the top of my league, he’s slowed down considerably since then and is coming off a week in which he averaged only 12.3 points per game despite taking 13.7 shots. Not. Great.
3. Ben Simmons (99.6% owned) - Simmons hasn’t been terrible, but his 2019 has started slower than one would want. His steals and blocks are down and he hasn’t been as effective at recording rebounds and assists. Hopefully the triple-double he posted Saturday is a sign that all things are go in Simmonsland.

3 players to add off waivers

1. Jaren Jackson Jr. (39.6% owned) - Over the last week, Jackson averaged 16 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals on 28.3 minutes. If Jackson continues to see that amount of work, he’s definitely worth rostering.
2. J.J Redick (31.4% owned) - How Redick isn’t owned in more leagues is beyond me. He’s taken a little bit to warm up, but this last week he shoot lights out from the court, going 54% from the field and 50% from three. He’s a known fantasy commodity and has a big role in Philly as the only man who isn’t too cowardly to shoot a three.
3. Derrick White (0.1% owned) - There’s literally no one hotter in the NBA right now from a shooting percentage level than White. Through three games, White is shooting 82% front he field (9.7 attempts per game) and 83.3% from three (2 attempts per game). Those numbers won’t continue but given the minutes he’s been getting—29.6 last week—he’s a free add.

Strength of schedule

Play all of your Sixers players but avoid Heat guys. That’s a brutal three games this week for fantasy purposes.