Fantasy basketball rest-of-season rankings: Week 9

After weeks of bad injury news, fantasy basketball owners finally had reason to celebrate Tuesday night when Kawhi Leonard made his season debut.

Leonard, a consensus first-round pick this year, put up nothing but zeroes for the first third of the season. While he’s unlikely to make up enough ground to finish as a top-10 option overall, his rest-of-season outlook could help ease that pain once he’s fully back up to speed.

While Leonard’s fantasy owners should feel rightfully jubilant this week, the same can’t be said for those with Danilo Gallinari on their rosters. The oft-injured forward returned from a glute injury only to suffer another glute injury two games later, parking him right back on the sidelines. This has long been the deal with Gallinari — he’s capable of posting middle-round value when healthy, but the “when healthy” part of that equation is the kicker. It’ll be difficult for fantasy owners to count on consistent production from the Rooster moving forward, which damages his rest-of-season upside.

Which other players’ fantasy stocks are rising and falling in recent days? Let’s take a look, with extended notes on a few notable risers and fallers below:

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

Kawhi Leonard, SF/PF, San Antonio Spurs: After missing the Spurs’ first 27 games while he recovered from quadriceps tendinopathy, Leonard made his regular-season debut Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks, finishing with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting, six rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block and one 3-pointer in 16 minutes. The 2014 Finals MVP sparked brief panic when he departed to San Antonio’s locker room in the third quarter, but he only did so because he had already reached his minutes limit for the day. While the Spurs figure to ramp Leonard up slowly, he already surges back into the top 15 for rest-of-season value, and it won’t be long until he forces his way into the top six or seven.

Marc Gasol, C, Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies have fallen into a complete tailspin, as they’re now 1-16 over their past 17 games. According to ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe, they have yet to seriously consider shopping Gasol, who is under contract through the 2018-19 season, but it may only be a matter of time before the big man finds himself on the move. At this point, a trade may only behoove the 32-year-old, who is shooting a career-worst 41.8 percent from the floor this year to fall from his typically dependable early-round production to a fringe top-50 option in nine-category leagues. Owners who grabbed Gasol with a third- or fourth-round pick should hang tight for now, but his rest-of-season outlook remains murky until there’s more clarity on where he’ll be playing come mid-February.

Jrue Holiday, PG, New Orleans Pelicans: Holiday was a minor fantasy disappointment through the first month of the 2017-18 season, but he’s turned that slow start around as of late. Over his past 10 games, the UCLA product has erupted for 24.1 points on 51.6 percent shooting, 5.4 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 triples, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks in a whopping 38.8 minutes, good for top-20 value on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues during that span. Given his lengthy history of stress reactions, the Pelicans are playing with fire by handing Holiday such a hefty load of minutes, but fantasy owners can’t complain about the short-term dividends that approach has paid for them.

Danilo Gallinari, SF, Los Angeles Clippers: After missing 13 games with a left glute injury, Gallinari lasted only two games before again being forced to the sidelines. According to ESPN.com’s Lawrence Murray, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said Gallinari suffered a new glute ailment against the Washington Wizards, which will knock him out “for probably a good couple of games.” Gallinari poured in 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting, three rebounds, two assists, two triples and a steal in 36 minutes against Washington, putting on full display what makes him tantalizing from a fantasy perspective, but the injury concerns continue sinking his rest-of-season outlook. If he doesn’t soon get a definitive timetable for his return from this latest injury, don’t be surprised if owners begin dropping him in droves. 

Zach Randolph, PF, Sacramento Kings: While veteran point guard George Hill is bristling at his role with the Kings, per Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, fellow old head Zach Randolph suddenly looks 10 years younger. Over his past six outings, Z-Bo has erupted for 22.7 points on 59.4 percent shooting, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 triples and 1.0 steals in just 32.1 minutes, good for top-20 value on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues during that span. Third-year center Willie Cauley-Stein missed three of those six games, while second-year big man took a temporary trip to G League purgatory, but Randolph has continued to truck along even with both of them back. At some point, the Kings figure to pivot toward a youth movement, but until then, Z-Bo should be a fixture in fantasy lineups.

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Andrew Wiggins, SF, Minnesota Timberwolves: Once again, Wiggins duped fantasy owners into spending an early- or middle-round pick on them even though he doesn’t do much else than score, and even that has dried up as of late. Prior to the Timberwolves’ overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, Wiggins was riding a five-game streak with fewer than 20 points in each outing. If the Kansas product isn’t pouring in points, his already tenuous fantasy value plunges even further, casting doubt on his rest-of-season upside. Barring a Jimmy Butler injury, it appears as though Wiggins will wind up as one of the biggest draft-day busts this season.

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, Dec. 14.