Coby White is averaging a career-high 17 field-goal attempts in his past five games.
Week 7 kicks off December and is set up perfectly from a fantasy perspective, as the overwhelming majority of teams are on four-game weeks. That helps offset the fact there are still a pair of clubs with two-game schedules, and it gives us an abundance of options, whether it’s tinkering with the existing members of a fantasy roster or searching the wire for some solid streaming candidates.
Each week, we’ll aim to highlight a pair of Start candidates for your fantasy rosters who may shape up as some tougher calls of the week to make, focusing on players with a start or roster rate of 50% or less in Yahoo leagues.
Likewise, we’ll spotlight one Sit candidate at each position who would normally not be a consideration for a spot on your bench, often focusing on players with fewer game opportunities during the coming week.
TEAMS WITH FOUR GAMES: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards
TEAMS WITH THREE GAMES: Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs
TEAMS WITH TWO GAMES: Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings
Without further ado, let’s examine some tougher start/sit decisions for Week 7:
Guards
Start: Tyler Herro, Heat
26% start rate
Herro was fantastic in his first three games following his delayed season debut due to ankle/foot surgery, averaging 25.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals across that span while shooting 54.0%, including 50.0% from 3-point range. The complete lack of rust and solid average of 31 minutes per game immediately eased a lot of concerns regarding a potential slow start, making Herro an excellent starting option on Miami’s upcoming four-game week as he potentially ramps up his playing time even further now that he has a few games under his belt.
Start: Coby White, Bulls
50% start rate
Another talented guard who didn’t get to see the floor this season until recently, White has followed a similar path as Herro and made an immediate impact. He hasn’t yet played a full back-to-back set, but the Bulls don’t have any coming up during their four-game week, so we should get a full helping of White as long as he plays through his probable tag (illness) Monday against the Magic. White has averaged an impressive 24.2 points, 6.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds across 30.4 minutes per contest over his first five games, and he’s notably averaging a career-high 17 field-goal attempts in that span as well for one of the fastest-paced teams in either conference.
52% start rate
Westbrook is one of two Kings we’ll be recommending for a seat on your bench this week, due to the two-game week Sacramento is saddled with. Westbrook has actually been enjoying a resurgent season and has taken on the starting point guard role, so his contributions aren’t an issue for the most part. However, he has turned in the occasional single-digit dud on the scoring front. With only two games to work with this week, whatever he’d deliver can be exceeded by a similarly talented three- or four-game option.
Forwards
Start: Jabari Smith Jr., Rockets
41% start rate
Smith has been a key cog in what has been an impressive first month-plus for the Rockets, and he checks into Week 7 having averaged 16.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest over his last nine games. The versatile big has spaced the floor very effectively as well, connecting on 39.7% of his 6.4 3-point attempts per contest during that sample. Smith is also more involved than ever offensively, as his 11.9 field-goal attempts per game for the season represent a career high. With four games to work with and plenty of talent around him, Smith is certainly a consideration this week.
Start: Quentin Grimes, 76ers
35% start rate
Grimes delivered a season-high 28 points against the Hawks on Sunday in 47 minutes, the latest fantasy-friendly performance for the veteran wing for a 76ers team that frequently finds itself in high-scoring battles. Dating back to the start of November, Grimes has supplied 16.9 points, 4.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals across 33.6 minutes per game. Grimes is always in play for an occasional spot start and is often called upon for added contributions due to the frequent absences of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. He’s otherwise locked into a very solid second-unit role that has afforded him 32.9 minutes per game off the bench this season.
Sit: DeMar DeRozan, Kings
85% start rate
DeRozan is another member of the Kings that will be capped by minimal opportunity this coming week. The veteran wing has also partly fallen victim to the malaise afflicting the team as a whole thus far, as he checks in with his lowest scoring average (18.4) since way back in the 2012-13 season in Toronto and his fewest rebounds per contest (3.0) since the 2009-10 campaign. His numbers are still acceptable overall, but there’s no question there will likely be better options available to you on your roster or even the wire with three or four games on their schedule this week.
Centers
Start: Wendell Carter Jr., Magic
32% roster rate
Carter is in the midst of another steady season for the Magic, one where he’s averaging 12.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest while shooting 52.8%, including 45.3% from 3-point range. The latter figure is easily a career high, and even though Carter is only putting up 2.8 attempts from distance per game, those contributions do offer a nice added fantasy dimension to his game. Carter also comes into Week 7 on a brisk run of production. Over his last 14 games dating back to Oct. 30, he’s averaging 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists across 30.1 minutes per contest, shooting 56.1%, including 44.4% from distance (3.2 attempts per game), over that stretch. Three of Carter’s four multi-block tallies this season have also come in that sample, perhaps a sign that he’s picking that aspect of his game back up.
Start: Jusuf Nurkić, Jazz
47% roster rate
Nurkić is back in a full-time role following the season-ending shoulder injury to Walker Kessler, and the veteran is delivering some of his signature contributions over that span. Nurkić has posted 8.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game over his last 13 contests while averaging 27.4 minutes per outing. Nurkić’s offensive involvement does fluctuate, and there’s always the risk of some foul trouble, but as his aforementioned stat line implies, there’s plenty of opportunity to boost multiple categories with his rostering.
Sit: Kristaps Porziņģis, Hawks
77% start rate
Unlike our first two Sit suggestions, Porziņģis has more than two games to work with this week, but whether he’ll be able to take advantage of that is very much in question. The oft-injured big man has missed two consecutive games due to illness, just the latest string of absences for him this season. Given he sat out Sunday, Porziņģis could well be sidelined for Monday’s game against the Pistons as well, in which case he’d be down to just three games in Week 7. There’s never a guarantee there won’t be at least one other absence within that span, either, especially considering Atlanta finishes out the week with a back-to-back set Friday and Saturday.
