Top 150 for Week 3

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The Timberwolves have a deep rotation filled with overlapping parts all over the court. Ricky Rubio and Andrew Wiggins have their roles locked down, but much of the rest of the rotation can be fluid. If Kevin Martin isn't running hot, Zach LaVine may come into the game to provide an athleticism boost. If rookie stud Karl-Anthony Towns is struggling, as he did last Thursday against the Heat, Gorgui Dieng can come in off the bench and help out. This depth made me somewhat hesitant to rely on the Wolves for Fantasy, because it was hard to see more than one or two players averaging 30-plus minutes per game.

Playing time won't be an issue this week, however. Week 3 (Nov. 9-15) is a week of extremes, and the Timberwolves benefit the most of anyone. Four teams, the Bulls, Heat, Suns and Wizards play just two games this week, while the Timberwolves are slated for five, the first five-game schedule of the season.

Those five games are the perfect answer to the rotation questions I have for the Wolves, at least for one week. Seven different Timberwolves players rank in the top-150 in projected Fantasy points for Week 3, including Rubio and Towns in the top 10. We'll see how many of them you can rely on down the line, but you have to take advantage of this opportunity for at least this week.

2 games: Bulls, Heat, Suns, Wizards
3 games: Nets, Cavaliers, Rockets, Pacers, Bucks, Thunder, Spurs
4 games: Hawks, Celtics, Hornets, Mavericks, Nuggets, Pistons, Warriors, Clippers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Knicks, Magic, 76ers, Trail Blazers, Kings, Raptors, Jazz
5 games: Timberwolves

Top 150 Standouts

DeMarcus Cousins
DEN • PF • #4
Projected Rank7
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The question with DeMarcus Cousins will be when his Achilles strain will allow him to play. He is out through the weekend, and we likely won't know much about his status for Week 3 until Monday afternoon or so. Unless we get early word on his availability, Cousins' status for the week may not be determined until well after lineups lock, with the Kings set to play at 10 p.m. EST Monday. You will need to keep a close eye on his status, and you should look for a contingency plan this weekend. Whether that is Kosta Koufos or someone on another team, you need to have a backup plan ready to go.

Karl-Anthony Towns
MIN • C • #32
Projected Rank10
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Even after a truly dismal game against the Heat on Thursday, Towns is still averaging 14.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in his first four games. He has been more NBA-ready than even his most optimistic boosters expected, and already looks like a must-start Fantasy option even without five games on the schedule. He'll have his ups and downs like any young player, and foul trouble remains a real concern for his minutes, but Towns is showing the ability to stuff the stat sheet and might even live up to this top-10 billing this week. If you took a chance on him, Towns is already paying dividends well above his draft position.

Andrew Wiggins
GS • SF • #22
Projected Rank24
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Here's the one Timberwolves star who you might actually consider sitting in Week 3, just based on how poorly he is currently playing. After an up-and-down rookie season, we were hoping Wiggins would find more consistency on the road to stardom this season. Unfortunately, Wiggins has struggled mightily with his shot, making just 29.3 percent of them through four games, and he isn't doing much else to make up for it. It is tempting to sit Wiggins out at this point, but you have to keep in mind that he has the ability to go off for 30 points at any time. You don't want to miss out on one or two of those games this week, if he can figure out how to break out of this slump.

Kobe Bryant
SG
Projected Rank34

This is a good example of how Rotisserie and H2H scoring are so different. In Rotisserie, you can't even consider starting Kobe Bryant, who is currently chucking up 15.5 shots per game and shooting 32.3 percent from the field. However, that high shot volume is all that matters in H2H points, where Bryant is averaging 24.5 Fantasy points per game. Hold your nose and put Bryant in your starting lineup, and hope he doesn't miss so many shots that he stops taking them.

T.J. McConnell
IND • PG • #9
Projected Rank35
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I'm not sure this T.J. McConnell thing will last all season, but he is the only viable point guard on this roster right now, so the minutes will continue to be there for the time being. When Tony Wroten and/or Kendall Marshall are healthy come December or so, McConnell's viability will be much more in doubt, but you can count on him for healthy assists totals, if not much else, now that he is in the starting lineup.

Rajon Rondo
CLE • PG • #1
Projected Rank42
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Rajon Rondo isn't looking like the Rondo of old, but he is at least producing enough to be considered a Fantasy starting option again. Considering how poorly last season went, that is something to celebrate. The gaudy assist numbers haven't been there for him in Sacramento, but he is averaging 27.8 Fantasy points per game through his first five and has managed to hold off Darren Collison for the starting job. You'd like to see Rondo get more than 27.6 minutes per game if you are starting him because the game-by-game production is going to stress you out. However, if you final outcome is close to what he has done so far, you'll happily start him. That counts as a big win, given where he was being drafted.

Kristaps Porzingis
BOS • PF • #8
Projected Rank80
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Another rookie who has been more ready than expected, Porzingis had the looks of a potential Roto stud coming into the league, but we expected it to take a lot longer than this to contribute. His defense is a work in progress and that has caused him to rack up fouls at an alarming rate, but he is averaging 3.0 combined blocks and steals per game to go with his 7.4 rebounds and 12.0 points through five games. He is more of a categories player, but you can start him with four games on the schedule in points leagues based on what he has shown so far.

Marcus Morris
CLE • PF
Projected Rank82
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We'll see another example of this shortly, but one thing to keep in mind about computer simulations is, they aren't going to be swayed by small-sample size outliers. For his career, Marcus Morris is a decent scorer but unspectacular role player, and the system is still going to base most of his projection on that larger sample size. However, so far with the Pistons, he has been a focal point offensively, averaging 38.3 minutes in the team's first four games and scoring 17.3 points per game as a result. He has a blinding green light, and is bullying opposing small forwards on his way to the free-throw line. His new role in Detroit is significant enough that you can probably throw out his Phoenix production, and at least expect a mid-teens scorer with solid 3-point shooting and rebounding moving forward.

John Wall
HOU • PG • #11
Projected Rank89
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Generally speaking, it takes an elite player to overcome having just two games on the schedule, and it is no surprise John Wall falls under that heading. Unless he is hurt, you won't be sitting Wall at any point this season.

Evan Fournier
DET • SG • #31
Projected Rank124
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Fournier has arguably been the Magic's go-to scorer this season, so the question we need to answer is whether Fournier's hot start is just an aberration or the start of a trend. Nikola Vucevic is dealing with a knee injury that has his status in doubt heading into the weekend, so Fournier might be able to sustain his high-volume scoring at least for next week. With how well he is playing, I'm not sure how you can't have Fournier in your starting lineup for Week 3, history be damned.

Notable Omissions

Goran Dragic
MIL • PG • #31
Projected Rank151
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The Heat have played well to open the season, ranking 11th in Offensive Efficiency, and that bodes well moving forward, because they still very much look like they are figuring things out. Goran Dragic in particular has yet to put together one complete, great game yet. In his first three, he looked tentative when looking for his shot, but had six assists in each game to make up for it. In the next two, he scored 19 and 18 points, but had just four assists total, to six turnovers. The fit with he and Dwyane Wade hasn't been a natural one, and it has made Dragic a borderline starting Fantasy player even in normal weeks. With just two games on the schedule, you can probably bench him without much fear of him making you regret it.

Nik Stauskas
IND • SG
Projected Rank154
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Nik Stauskas was a nice sleeper candidate coming into the season, despite suffering through an absolutely miserable rookie season with the Kings. He hasn't gotten off to a much better start with the 76ers in terms of efficiency, but he is making up for that with plenty of volume shooting, and that is something the 76ers really do need. We have him falling just outside of the top-150 this week in Fantasy points, but he showed his upside in Wednesday's matchup against the Bucks, when he scored 14 points, with seven rebounds and four assists to go with them. At the very least, he has the greenest of green lights and should contribute enough 3-point shooting -- we have him projected for nine 3-pointers made, the eighth-highest total in the league this week -- to be worth starting in your category-based leagues.

Bradley Beal
PHO • SG • #3
Projected Rank164
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This is another one where the schedule really hurts. Bradley Beal is playing some exceptional basketball to open the season, and has made real changes to his shot selection that should allow him to remain one of the league's better scorers if he keeps them up. In category-based leagues, Beal should remain active, and if you buy him as a 25-PPG scorer, he could produce enough to outperform some of your reserves. But there really is not much margin for error with only two games on the way.

Kent Bazemore
SAC • SG • #24
Projected Rank186
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Kent Bazemore has emerged as a useful Fantasy option in the early going, with the Hawks looking to limit Thabo Sefolosha and Kyle Korver's minutes coming off offseason surgeries. Bazemore has stepped into a significant role, playing 27.5 minutes per game, including at least 25 minutes in each of the last five. This ranking undersells how well Bazemore has played to this point in the season; he is projected for just 11.9 Fantasy points per game; he is actually averaging 20.2. If he could hit that, he would certainly be worth starting, however with the Hawks playing no back-to-backs this week, Sefolosha and Korver may not sit out, which would limit Bazemore's minutes. He is a borderline guy most weeks, so don't be afraid to sit him for better options in Week 3.