NBA Fantasy: High Score 100 entering Week 16

The Heat’s Bam Adebayo is riding a streak of eight straight games with 20 or more points.

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The High Score 100 — the top 100 players in Yahoo’s newest fantasy basketball format — is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production. Each weekly update captures who’s actually delivering value and who’s fading.

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Here’s a breakdown of the biggest risers and fallers through the 15th week of fantasy basketball — with the complete High Score 100 at the bottom of the article. I’ll be updating my rankings every Tuesday throughout the fantasy basketball season.

Risers — Will the deadline spoil things?

Andrew Nembhard — G, Indiana Pacers

57th overall (⬆️ 14)

Nembhard enters February playing his best ball of the season. He averaged 18.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game while shooting 49% from the field. He’s been a top-60 player in High Score all year. Lately though, he’s been even better, ranking 30th over the past month, posting 43 fantasy points per game. The Pacers could be sellers at the deadline, but Nembhard has established himself as a key part of Indy’s future.

I have some concerns about him being load-managed as the season progresses, but it’s probably more likely to occur with 31-year-old Pascal Siakam. Still, Nembhard has been a reliable and consistent point guard all season and fantasy managers can expect him to be a steady top-50, top-60ish player across formats.

Bam Adebayo — FC, Miami Heat

54th overall (⬆️ 12)

I was hard on Bam a few weeks ago. He landed on my fallers list in Weeks 12 and 13, but he’s finally turning things around. Adebayo is riding a streak of eight straight games with 20+ points, recording a double-double in five of those games. He’s been a top-25 asset in High Score over the past two weeks, averaging 45 fantasy points per game.

With Miami dealing with so many backcourt injuries, Bam has been more aggressive offensively. He’s scoring more because he’s putting up at least four more shots per game in his last 10 outings, while also racking up more steals and assists than in previous months.

I expect Bam to continue powering the Heat, but who knows what could happen if Miami becomes a serious contender in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes.

Paolo Banchero — FC, Orlando Magic

29th overall (⬆️ 8)

Feels like no one is appreciating what Banchero has been doing lately. It’s probably because the Magic are underachieving, but fantasy-wise, Banchero’s been in beast mode. In his past six contests, Banchero’s averaging 26 points, 9 boards and 4 dimes, totaling 47 fantasy points per game.

He’s been very efficient by his standards, shooting 51% from the field, 50% from beyond the arc and 77% from the line. That efficiency helped him climb to 21st in High Score over that span. He’s been getting to the line at will, getting up at least 10 free throw attempts in five straight games. A top-30 finish is well within reach if the Magic stay quiet at the deadline.

Fallers — Paul George and more

Paul George — FC, Philadelphia 76ers

Unranked (⬇️ 15)

PG’s off the board entirely. The NBA handed him a 25-game suspension on Jan. 31 for violating the anti-drug policy, and he won’t be eligible to return until late March — when Philly has just 10 games left in the regular season.

No production, no ranking. Simple as that. Even when George comes back, there’s not enough runway to crack back into the High Score 100. Fantasy managers who were holding should cut bait and stream that roster spot. The season’s essentially over for him.

Norman Powell — G/FC, Miami Heat

63rd overall (⬇️ 9)

I like Norm, but he’s been struggling. He hasn’t had a 40-fantasy point game since Jan. 17 and in his last six games, he’s averaging less than 30 fantasy points per game. That ranks 118th over the past 14 days.

He’s been on the injury report with a back injury more than we’d like to see recently, so he’s a player who will likely benefit from some time off around the All-Star break.

Ivica Zubac — FC, Los Angeles Clippers

90th overall (⬇️ 6)

Zubac does two things really well: rebound and score around the rim. The problem is that’s basically all he does, and recently, even those numbers have dipped. He averaged 12.3 points and 10.2 rebounds in 28 minutes per game in January.

In High Score, you need more than just points and boards to separate yourself, especially at the center position. Zubac isn’t giving you many assists or stocks and when his scoring and rebounding drop even slightly, there’s nothing else propping up his fantasy value.

He’s been averaging just 28.7 fantasy points over the past two weeks and his performance has dropped him to 91st overall on the season. Let’s hope James Harden doesn’t get traded from the Clippers, because their two-man game has been pretty symbiotic.

Complete High Score 100 rankings

The High Score 100 is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production.