Pickups of the Night: Thursday, December 2, 2021
Five games doesn’t give us a ton to work with, especially when one game is about 45 minutes of garbage time and the other four feature teams with pretty tight rotations in terms of fantasy value. There’s only one clear must-have guy in 12-team leagues, but deep-league GMs can certainly find some help from tonight’s contests.
Standard Leagues
Tyus Jones, G, Memphis Grizzlies
Tonight: 21 minutes, 10 points (4-of-7 FG, 1-of-1 FT), six rebounds, nine assists, two steals, one 3-pointer
Jones is going to start at PG for the duration of Ja Morant’s left knee sprain, and he’s a strong add in all leagues for managers in need of traditional PG numbers. He’s got 23 assists and just three turnovers over the last three games, and you know what you’re getting on most nights even if he does settle in as a late-round type.
Immanuel Quickley, G, New York Knicks
Tonight: 38 minutes, 15 points (6-of-17 FG), three rebounds, three assists, two steals, three 3-pointers
The efficiency won’t be great but Quickley hasn’t done anything to lose his new big-minute role. Volume shooters can be streaky — enough that they don’t suit all 12-team leagues — but Quickley’s got a ton going in his favor right now and is a fine add for anyone in need of a guard, with a lean to scoring and threes.
Deeper Leagues
Cameron Johnson, F, Phoenix Suns
Tonight: 27 minutes, 19 points (7-of-11 FG, 1-of-2 FT), six rebounds, two assists, one block, four 3-pointers
Johnson’s been playing exceedingly well of late with top-155 value in the last couple of weeks, and he’s proving himself to have a much higher ceiling than Jae Crowder. He’s a good young player that should be added in 14-team leagues if he’s still available.
Thaddeus Young, F/C, San Antonio Spurs
Tonight: 15 minutes, eight points (3-of-4 FG, 2-of-2 FT), four rebounds, one assist, two steals
Are we doing this again? Young was the first big off the bench tonight and delivered a deep-league line in modest minutes. We’ll see if he has played his way back into the rotation, and thus the good graces of fantasy GMs. He has the highest upside of anyone in this article tonight but simply isn’t playing enough to showcase it. He’s a deep-league stash that could pay off in a major way after he’s inevitably moved out of San Antonio.
Precious Achiuwa, C, Toronto Raptors
Tonight: 35 minutes, six points (3-of-8 FG, 0-for-2 FT), eight rebounds, two assists, one steal, two blocks
Achiuwa’s percentages are dreadful but he’s someone to look at if you need boards and defensive stats, especially with Khem Birch (knee) out. The Raptors look prepared to give Achiuwa lots of room to develop so you won’t have to worry about him getting yanked out of the picture. Inefficiency makes him tough to deal with as a total package until you get to 18-teamers but if you’re already not competing in either percentage category, you can make the case for him in 16-teamers and shallower.
Landry Shamet, G, Phoenix Suns
Tonight: 31 minutes, 14 points (5-of-11 FG), three rebounds, one assist, four 3-pointers
Shamet’s going to start in Devin Booker’s spot while the star guard battles his hamstring injury, and he’s someone to look at for points and triples. Don’t expect the world but he’ll at least have the opportunity.
Cameron Payne, G, Phoenix Suns
Tonight: 21 minutes, 19 points (8-of-14 FG, 2-for-2 FT), six rebounds, three assists, one block, one 3-pointer
Payne, like Cam Johnson above, has been coming on strong and has been able to find a bit of a rhythm with the Suns getting their games into cruise control so early. He’ll benefit from Devin Booker (hamstring) being out as a primary playmaking option and is someone to add in 16-teamers, with appeal in shallower formats if you’re chasing his primary categories.
Ty Jerome, G, Oklahoma City Thunder
Tonight: 35 minutes, 12 points (5-of-14 FG, 1-of-2 FT), two rebounds, four assists, two steals, one 3-pointer
Jerome flashed fantasy relevance last season and looks like a safe deep-league guard with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in concussion protocol. It’s pretty simple.
Bryn Forbes, G, San Antonio Spurs
Tonight: 15 minutes, 18 points (7-of-9 FG, 1-of-1 FT), two steals, three 3-pointers
Forbes didn’t do anything in the first half — literally — so this might be the product of a blowout. Even so, with Devin Vassell (quad) leaving after 10 minutes, Forbes should be on the board for threes.
Dennis Smith Jr., G, Portland Trail Blazers
Tonight: 19 minutes, six points (2-of-8 FG, 1-of-1 FT), three rebounds, five assists, two steals, one 3-pointer
Smith may be the last PG left on Portland’s roster with Anfernee Simons (ankle) going down tonight and sporting a walking boot after the game. The inefficiency could destroy you but he’s worth a look in deep leagues because of the role he may be forced to play.
Ben McLemore, G, Portland Trail Blazers
Tonight: 27 minutes, 11 points (4-of-9 FG), two rebounds, three assists, one steal, three 3-pointers
The confidence levels here are minimal but McLemore is someone who can knock down enough threes to carve out deep-league appeal, especially with the state of Portland’s backcourt.
The Grizzlies
Any time you score 152 points you’re bound to see some massive games from unexpected sources. Unfortunately, we can pretty definitively say that most of the handiwork tonight was a product of a 73-point win and not some newfound fantasy value springing up. Even so, you’re going to see some movement on a number of Grizzlies, especially in deeper leagues, and we’ll take a second to look at the top guys and whether you should even care at all.
John Konchar: 26 minutes, 17 points (7-of-8 FG), four rebounds, four assists, three steals, three 3-pointers
Shoutout to Konchar, who has had massive stat lines at every level. His per-minute numbers are intriguing, but there’s too much depth for him to be trusted outside of 20-teamers.
Santi Aldama: 28 minutes, 18 points (8-of-16 FG, 2-of-3 FT), 10 rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block
Aldama has been getting first-quarter minutes lately so he’s definitely someone on the rise in the rotation. Like Konchar he’s not trustworthy enough for most leagues yet but this is a good performance from a guy who was already going in the right direction.
Xavier Tillman: 25 minutes, 11 points (4-of-7 FG, 1-of-1 FT), three rebounds, four assists, two steals, two blocks, two 3-pointers
Tillman has a great stat set and briefly jumped into the rotation over Brandon Clarke, but hasn’t played regularly after failing to do much with that opportunity. He’s just a stash in super deep leagues on the hopes that the Grizzlies find a way to clear the deck.
Jarrett Culver: 14 minutes, 11 points (5-of-8 FG, 0-of-2 FT), four rebounds, six assists, two steals, one 3-pointer
This is the guy that Minnesota envisioned drafting. It’s a shame he only shows up when his team is up by 50.
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