Sixers’ guard Tony Wroten is averaging 18.4 points over his last eight game (Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports)
As the final weeks of the fantasy basketball season approach, playoff-bound owners should be scouring their leagues’ waiver wires in hopes of finding that late-season breakout star.
While there are some obvious names out there, young players on tanking teams are always worth speculating on.
With their teams out of the playoff picture, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Tony Wroten and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Ryan Kelly are two young talents who could find themselves playing a lot of minutes down the stretch and thus impacting many fantasy leagues in the process.
» Tony Wroten, PG/SG, Philadelphia 76ers (19.2 percent owned on ESPN.com):
After trading away Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner, the Sixers were left with mainly scraps.
With just Thaddeus Young and Michael Carter-Williams remaining from their core starting group, Tony Wroten has become the team’s third scorer and main bench option.
In the eight games since Hawes and Turner were sent packing, Wroten has scored 18.4 points in 27.4 minutes. He’s shed his “backup point guard” status and morphed into a full-fledged shooting guard.
His assists (2.0) have become non-existent with his new role, but there’s still a lot to like. He’s averaging 1.4 steals and has been shooting well (47.7 FG%, 72.4 FT%). Prior to the NBA’s trade deadline, Wroten was making just 41.5 percent of his shots from the floor to go along with an awful 61.7 percent from the charity stripe.
The Sixers have lost 17 games in a row and are already looking ahead to next year. Wroten won’t become a restricted free agent until after the 2016-17 season, making it more than likely that coach Brett Brown will give him all the run he can handle over the next few weeks.
Tony Wroten is a must-add off the waiver wire if you’re in a league of 12 teams or more and need extra scoring help.
Ryan Kelly is worth keeping an eye on for his ability to contribute in multiple categories (Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports)
» Ryan Kelly, SF/PF, Los Angeles Lakers (1.3 percent owned on ESPN.com):
It’s not easy being a part of Mike D’Antoni‘s ever-changing rotation, but Lakers’ rookie Ryan Kelly seems to have found himself back in his coach’s good graces.
After being a healthy scratch in 24 of the Lakers’ first 27 games, a multitude of injuries struck the team, and D’Antoni was “forced” to work Kelly into his game plan. Unfortunately, once he was there, he didn’t do much.
It wasn’t until mid-January that the 22-year-old former Duke Blue Devils’ star really started to show us what he was capable of.
In 11 games from Jan. 17-Feb. 7, Kelly took L.A. by storm, averaging 13.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 0.7 steals, 0.5 blocks, and 1.4 3-pointers.
But as D’Antoni would have it, as quickly as Kelly had become a fantasy sweetheart, he was removed from the conversation just as abruptly, becoming a fantasy non-factor over his next nine games.
As of Tuesday, it looks as if he might be back on the fantasy map yet again.
Over his last two games, the 6-foot-11 rookie has played 35.0 minutes, scoring 18.0 points with 8.0 boards, 4.5 assists, 1.0 steal, 1.5 blocks, and 3.0 3-pointers.
There’s absolutely zero guarantee that he continues to get playing time, but he’s proven that when given the opportunity, he can produce.
The Lakers are another team in tank mode, and there’s a definite possibility that they shut down the ailing Pau Gasol at some point. Such a move would likely anoint Kelly into the starting five for good and put him into the standard league conversation again.
For now Ryan Kelly is best suited for much deeper leagues and in streaming situations, but keep an eye on him going forward, as he could have a major fantasy impact in the final weeks of the season.