Start & Sit: Top 150 for Week 10
The Rockets are going to miss Clint Capela for as long as he is out. They have gone 1-2 in the first two games without him, and though they have managed to play well without him in the floor this season, the team looks awfully thin on reliable two-way big men without him.
Fantasy owners will miss Capela too, but the Rockets may at least have an answer for that problem in the form of Montrezl Harrell. Harrell can't cover quite as much ground as Capela on defense and isn't quite the same rebounder, but he has acquitted himself well in the Rockets' first three games without Capela. Harrell scored nine points on seven field-goal attempts in the first game without Capela, and then stepped into the starting lineup and a big role over the next two games.
Harrell played 28 minutes in each of his first two starts, putting up 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per game, while making 68.2 percent of his 22 shots over two games. Harrell isn't quite the rim protector Capela is, but can at least do a passable job replacing his role on offense, thanks to his athleticism and bounce.
Harrell isn't much of a threat outside of the immediate rim area, but he is shooting 74.6 percent in the restricted area for the season, and fills in well enough as a rim-runner and roll man to continue to put up numbers. With Capela out at least a month and Nene no longer really capable of playing big minutes, Harrell has a big opportunity and, so far, is taking advantage of that.
You won't get huge production, but Harrell can score efficiently, while providing enough defense and rebounding to be worth starting while Capela is out. That's a player worth adding.
Add These Guys
The Spurs can't really rely on Tony Parker to play at a high level every night, and on back-to-back sets, they can hardly rely on him to play period. It is no surprise Patty Mills has seen his role increase yet again, this time to a career-high 23.1 minutes per game.
Mills certainly looks like the team's best option at the point guard position at this point, averaging 11.4 points and 3.5 assists per game for the season, while making 2.1 3-pointers and shooting 48.6 percent from the field. Mills doesn't have much appeal in H2H points league, but his combination of elite shooting and solid playmaking make him someone to own in Roto leagues.
Thabo Sefolosha has never much interested Fantasy players, but he has been a sneaky-good play this season. Though his traditional box score numbers don't jump off the page, he ranks as a top-60 player in Roto scoring for the season, thanks to strong production outside of the points column.
In the month of December, Sefolosha has seen his role increase to 28.6 minutes per game. He is averaging 2.7 combined steals and blocks per game, while adding 1.9 assists and just 1.0 turnovers while shooting 45.8 percent from the field with nearly one 3-pointer per game to boot.
Sefolosha is less valuable in H2H points formats, and doesn't have much appeal in leagues that don't penalize for turnovers, however, he is the kind of guy who helps fill out a roster, especially if you have a few one-dimensional scorers like DeMar DeRozan or Andrew Wiggins around. He helps fill in the gaps, even if he isn't a star.
Allen Crabbe's season has been a bit disappointing, mostly because the fourth-year wing hasn't improved very much. He isn't playing poorly, but he seems to have stagnated after a solid 2015-16. His minutes are up overall, but Crabbe's usage rate has fallen from 16.4 percent last season to 14.4 in the first 32 games. He remains a dead-eye shooter, and a solid Roto option as a result, but he simply needs either more shots or minutes to make an impact.
He may get that in the short term, with Evan Turner and Damian Lillard both dealing with ankle injuries that could limit them in Week 10. Both issues look like short-term ones, but it's worth taking a look at Crabbe as a potential fill-in option for Week 10, as he could step into a starting role, with more minutes and shots to go with it.
Stash this guy
As you can tell, this isn't the best week to be looking for help on the wire. There aren't any huge injuries to take advantage of, and the most-added list features low-end names like Marreese Speights, Willy Hernangomez and James Johnson, hardly stuff that gets Fantasy players' blood moving. Nobody you can get on the wire right now looks likely to make an impact in the short term, but there might be one guys out there who can be a league-winner in the long run like Bucks' do-it-all wing Khris Middleton.
Middleton still looks like he is a long way away, and neither he nor the team has been able to establish a timetable for his return. However, it looks like the potential season-ending prognosis he was given when the injury first occurred in September might be too pessimistic, as he recently told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel he could be back by the All-Star break. That would be a best-case scenario, but it could be worth stashing him because Middleton is a true difference maker when healthy, coming off a season in which he averaged 18.2 points and 4.2 assists per game.
At a time when there aren't any difference makers out there on the wire, Middleton can certainly be worth your time.
Cut 'Em Loose
This has been a strange season for the Pistons. The starting lineup that fit together so well last season has had a rough start to the season, so much so that Stan Van Gundy actually made a change last week, going away from the lineup that was one of the NBA most-used last season. Sixth man Jon Leuer stepped into the starting lineup this week, with Tobias Harris moving to a bench role. That didn't seem to bother Harris much, as he still scored 26 points off the bench in the loss to the Warriors. However, the move did little to snap Marcus Morris out of his slump. He scored just two points, his fourth game in single digits in his last five.
At his best, Morris is a solid Fantasy option, providing consistent production across the board out of either forward spot. However, he is shooting just 39.8 percent from the field in the month of December, while adding just 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 blocks and steals combined in 12 games. With the Pistons in search of answers to turn their season around, Morris' minutes suddenly could be at risk if he doesn't turn things around. That is no sure thing, making him a pretty replaceable option at this point.
