With DeMarcus Cousins done for the year due to a torn Achilles, there’s a new No. 1 player in fantasy basketball.
When Cousins went down against the Houston Rockets in late January, it appeared as though the New Orleans Pelicans’ playoff hopes were likewise doomed. They lost five of their first six games in the wake of Cousins’ injury, slipping perilously down the Western Conference standings.
Then Anthony Davis happened.
Over his past six games — all of which were Pelicans wins — the Brow has averaged an unfathomable 41.5 points on 54.2 percent shooting, 15.0 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 3.0 steals, 2.0 assists and 1.5 triples in 40.5 minutes per game. The gap between him and the second-best player since Feb. 10, Karl-Anthony Towns, is equivalent to the gap between Towns and Al-Farouq Aminu, the 91st-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues over that span.
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A pair of overtime contests and a double-overtime outing helped inflate Davis’ numbers, but he hung a season-high 53 points on 16-of-29 shooting, 18 rebounds, five blocks, three assists and a steal against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night without the aid of free basketball. While fantasy owners should rightly be concerned about the Brow breaking down if he continues shouldering this many minutes, he’s going to be a league-winner if he can stay healthy down the stretch.
Davis isn’t the only player whose fantasy outlook changed coming out of the All-Star break. Here’s an updated look at rest-of-season rankings for owners in nine-category formats. Below, dive deeper into some of the notable risers and fallers from the previous week.
2017 Fantasy Basketball Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ – Expert Consensus Rankings
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG, Los Angeles Lakers: With his legal troubles and Achilles injury behind him, Caldwell-Pope is playing his best basketball of the season. Over his past seven games, the 2-guard chipped in 16.4 points on 56.0 percent shooting, 8.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.1 triples and 1.6 steals in 34.3 minutes, including a season-high 34 points and eight 3-pointers against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. He told ESPN.com’s Ohm Youngmisuk that the legal issues and Achilles ailment took him out of a rhythm, so owners can only hope he remains healthy and focused moving forward. For now, he’s moving back into the top-70 range.
Courtney Lee, SG, New York Knicks: With the Knicks shifting into tank mode, Lee has played 14, 16 and 11 minutes, respectively, in the team’s first three games coming out of the All-Star break. Emmanuel Mudiay, Frank Ntilikina and Trey Burke figure to continue gobbling up most of the playing time in New York’s backcourt, relegating Lee to a spot starter each half. While Lee posted top-75 value on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues prior to the All-Star break, there isn’t much reason to hang on to him in 10- or 12-team leagues as he gets phased out of the Knicks’ rotation. He’s no longer a top-150 option.
LaMarcus Aldridge, PF/C, San Antonio Spurs: Within the past week, we’ve gone from hearing Kawhi Leonard was likely out for the year to the possibility of a late March return. Either way, LaMarcus Aldridge should remain the alpha dog for the Spurs until (if?) Leonard returns. The 32-year-old is the 20th-ranked player on the season in nine-category leagues, and he’s gone off for 24.8 points on 57.1 percent shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game over his past 10 outings. He’s a rock-solid top-25 option moving forward, as Leonard doesn’t appear likely to return early enough to affect fantasy owners.
Avery Bradley, SG, Los Angeles Clippers: When the Detroit Pistons shipped Bradley to the Clippers in the package for Blake Griffin, it gave him a chance to get a fresh start on his disappointing 2017-18 campaign. Instead, he averaged only 9.3 points on 47.3 percent shooting, 3.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.8 steals in 27.5 minutes during his first six games with the Clippers. Coming out of the All-Star break, head coach Doc Rivers told reporters Bradley is “gonna be out for a little bit” with a sports hernia, which makes him a drop candidate in 10- and 12-team leagues. He plunges outside of the top 150 for the time being.
Jeff Teague, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves: With Jimmy Butler out for the next 4-6 weeks, the other Timberwolves starters are picking up the slack. In Minnesota’s first two games sans Butler, Teague has erupted for 22.5 points on 38.7 percent shooting, 7.0 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 triples in 33.2 minutes per outing, which suggests he’ll begin to shoulder some of Butler’s do-it-all offensive responsibilities. Teague was already a fringe top-50 option prior to Butler’s injury, but he slides up into the No. 40 spot for now.
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Bismack Biyombo, C, Orlando Magic: For those of you who rode Biyombo into the ground while Nikola Vucevic was out, it’s time to move on once again. Vucevic returned in Orlando’s first game coming out of the All-Star break, putting up 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, six rebounds, two blocks, two steals, two 3-pointers and an assist in 24 minutes against the New York Knicks. Meanwhile, Biyombo has put up a combined 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds, two blocks and an assist in Orlando’s last three games. He plunged back to being only a deep-league option.
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 Wednesday, Feb. 28.