2018 Fantasy Basketball: Must Drop Players For Week 2

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Andrew Ortenberg

NBA

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I'm an NFL handicapper here at Pickswise who was raised in a household full of sports fanatics. Since I unfortunately never had LeBron James' jumping ability I wasn't able to make it to the NBA, and chose writing about sports as the next best thing. An avid sports bettor myself, I'm excited to get to write about the industry as it gets set to take off across the country. Buckle up.

Fantasy basketball season is officially underway, and there have been a bunch of disappointments so far. It’s always tough when deciding when to cut bait on a player you drafted, and we’re here to help. Here’s a look at some of the players you need to drop and cut ties with while there are still valuable pickup opportunities on waivers:

Thaddeus Young

A lot of people had high hopes for Young this season, but so far he hasn’t rewarded them. The Pacers power forward emerged down the stretch last year, but has taken a step back this year. His minutes are down by about four minutes per game, and his usage rate is down significantly as well. There are more mouths to feed offensively in Indiana this year, and Young is being forced to take a backseat. His free-throw percentage is a backbreaker, and he hasn’t been good enough at anything else to make up for it. He’s not a primary scorer, is getting way less rebounds than usual, and isn’t a good source of blocks. You can do much better among bottom-of-the-roster big men, and I think you should drop Young if you’re holding him.

Jaylen Brown

Brown had a lot of people excited when he emerged down the stretch last year, but there’s reason to think he’ll regress significantly this year, and he already has a bit. Brown scored a ton last year because of all the injuries to the Celtics’ star players. Now with everyone healthy, there simply isn’t as much room for Brown. His scoring is way down, to below 10 points per game, and he doesn’t really do anything else. His secondary stats aren’t good enough to justify rostering him, and there are almost certainly better streaming options available, unless you’re playing in a very deep league.

Lou Williams

Williams was a great story last year, when he had the best year of his career for the Clippers. Williams is now in a much more crowded backcourt in Los Angeles, and has seen his minutes cut dramatically. He’s down to 25.5 per game from 32.8 last year, and his scoring is down by over 33% as a result. While I expect his currently very low shooting percentages to rebound a bit, pretty much all you get from Williams is scoring. If he’s going to struggle to top 15 points per game, there’s no point in rostering him any further. His field goal percentage will never be above the low 40’s, and he doesn’t provide any assists or rebounds. If you drafted him after his stellar 2017, it’s time to move on.

Kyle Anderson

Anderson was supposed to finally be unleashed when he left San Antonio for Memphis this offseason, but his usage is actually down considerably instead of going up. He’s only getting 20 minutes per game right now, and while that should increase a little bit he’s not receiving many looks on offense. He’s a good source of steals, but that’s about it and that’s probably not enough to justify rostering him right now. His role could grow later in the season, but his upside isn’t high enough to justify wasting a roster spot on for that long. You’re much better off streaming at the wing while this plays out.

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