Fantasy basketball rest-of-season rankings: Week 5

One month into the 2017-18 NBA season, it’s time for fantasy basketball owners to recalibrate expectations for certain players.

Is one of your early-round draft picks underperforming? Did you hit on some late-round sleepers? Is your roster lacking in certain categories or overly stocked in others? Taking a holistic, objective look at your fantasy squad from time to time helps ensure you haven’t grown complacent with the status quo. If someone panic-dropped an injured player—say, a Gary Harris or Danilo Gallinari—is there anyone on your bench who you can afford to drop for a higher-upside gamble?

Here, we’ll present rest-of-season rankings tailed for nine-category head-to-head leagues (factoring in the ability to punt certain categories, such as free-throw percentage). Below the rankings, read up on some of the notable risers and fallers from the past week.

2017 Fantasy Basketball Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ – Expert Consensus Rankings

Robert Covington, SF, Philadelphia 76ers: Not only did Lord Covington just get paid, per The Athletic’s Derek Bodner, but he’s already paying off for fantasy owners who grabbed him with a fifth- or sixth-round pick in drafts this year. Through 14 games, Covington is the 14th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues, as he’s shooting a scorching 49.5 percent from deep on a career-high 7.2 attempts per game. Considering he shot below 40 percent from the field in each of the past three years, this sort of efficiency comes as a pleasant surprise, but his playing alongside Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and J.J. Redick is creating defensive mismatches more often than not. Even if his shooting regresses moving forward, fantasy owners should realistically expect him to continue knocking down at least 40 percent of his triples, making him a potential top-25 rest-of-season value.

Rudy Gobert, C, Utah Jazz: Fantasy owners received a scare Friday when Dion Waiters went careening into Gobert’s right knee, but they seemed to avoid disaster when the big man returned to the game shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, further testing revealed Gobert suffered a right tibia contusion that will sideline him at least for the next four weeks. If you’ve gotten off to a fast start and the Gobert owner in your league is struggling, now’s the time to float a buy-low offer their way. His rest-of-season value takes a huge hit with this injury, but he should still produce early-round value upon his return. If you can flip someone in the 45-65 range for him—say, DeMarre Carroll, Malcolm Brogdon or Enes Kanter?—now is the perfect opportunity to pounce.

Dennis Smith Jr., PG, Dallas Mavericks: Those who took a middle-round flier on Smith Jr. have to be thrilled with the recent returns. Over his past five games, the Mavericks rookie point guard has erupted for 20.6 points on 43.0 percent shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.6 triples, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks in 31.5 minutes per night, which has helped him churn out top-35 value over that span. With the Mavericks careening directly toward the lottery dais, their No. 1 priority this season should be the continued development of Smith Jr., who they hope becomes their next face of the franchise once Dirk Nowitzki retires. The buy-low window on him may have already slammed shut, but it’s worth floating offers out in case a fellow owner believes he’s due for regression in the coming weeks. He’s looking like a rock-solid top-75 rest-of-season value.

Malcolm Brogdon, PG, Milwaukee Bucks: Eric Bledsoe has only played foure games with the Bucks, but Brogdon’s fantasy owners have to be feeling nervous already. In a seven-point win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, Brogdon played a season-low 19 minutes, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting, two triples, one rebound and one assist. He topped the 30-minute mark in each of Bledsoe’s first two games in Milwaukee, so perhaps Monday’s showing was an outlier, but it could also signal his playing time is set to drop as Brogdon becomes more acclimated to Milwaukee’s absence. With Jabari Parker also likely to return in February, Brogdon may soon be no more than the Bucks’ No. 5 option, making this perhaps your last chance to sell high before his value plateaus. 

Devin Booker, SG, Phoenix Suns: Booker might not yet be a real-life superstar, but his fantasy stardom is already undeniable. Whereas I thought he would have trouble returning positive value on his average draft position of 41.0, he’s currently the 35th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues courtesy of his career-high marks in points (23.2), rebounds (4.7), assists (3.9), 3-pointers (2.3) and shooting percentage (45.5 percent). With Eric Bledsoe no longer in the fold, Booker had five or more assists in seven of his first 15 outings, and he already has topped the 30-point threshold six times. With the Suns headed straight for the lottery, expect Booker to continue dominating touches and finish as a top-50 value moving forward.

Markelle Fultz, PG, Philadelphia 76ers: For anyone still clinging to Fultz in a non-IR spot, these comments from head coach Brett Brown (via 94WIP’s Jon Johnson) should have you on high alert: “We do not know [when he’ll return].” With Ben Simmons dazzling on a nightly basis, the Sixers should be in no hurry to rush Fultz back to the court, as his long-term health is a far greater priority than a few early-season wins. Even once he returns, it’ll take him time to acclimate to the NBA game, and he’s likely to continue coming off the bench unless Dario Saric falls off a cliff. He’s by no means a must-hold player unless you have an IR spot to spare.

Donovan Mitchell, SG, Utah Jazz: In an effort to revitalize his team’s lifeless offense, Jazz head coach Quin Snyder recently bumped Rodney Hood from his starting lineup in favor of rookie combo guard Donovan Mitchell. The Louisville product has rewarded his head coach’s faith with averages of 20.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.3 triples and 1.8 steals in 33.3 minutes over his past four games, good for top-60 value over that span. With Rudy Gobert sidelined for the next month due to a knee injury, Mitchell should continue having a green light moving forward, but this could wind up being a sell-high opportunity for those who plucked him off waivers early in the year.

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Marcin Gortat, C, Washington Wizards: Aside from an 18-point, seven-rebound outing against the Sacramento Kings on Monday, Gortat’s production is trending the wrong direction of late. Even including the Sacramento game, the big man has only averaged 7.6 points on 51.6 percent shooting, 5.8 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 27.8 minutes over his past five outings. With Markieff Morris back in the fold and Ian Mahinmi showing signs of life off the bench, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks hasn’t needed to rely on the Polish Hammer as often, which is crimping his fantasy upside. He’s now outside of top-100 value on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues, roughly 50 spots lower than his average draft position of 77.0.

All ownership percentages via ESPN.com. All average draft position info via FantasyPros. All rankings via Basketball Monster are based on nine-category leagues and are current heading into Thursday, Nov. 16.