The best fantasy basketball managers will look beyond NBA starting lineups for value. There are a number of elite bench options that provide real fantasy upside, and many of whom may even outperform starters by season's end. Identifying these players can be tricky, but there are a number of trends and patterns that can help as you're building your NBA fantasy draft cheat sheet or creating DFS lineups.
Don't be scared off by bench players. In today's NBA, more starters are sitting than ever before and many bench players actually play more than some starters. It's more important that your fantasy basketball players are on the floor at the end of the game than at the beginning. Here's what to look for as you're building your fantasy basketball rankings.
How Rotations Reveal Hidden Fantasy and DFS Value
It's important for fantasy basketball managers and DFS players to look at box scores each night. Beyond the thrill of seeing how your players performed, you'll be able to see which players got significant bench minutes. It's good to see how those performances stacked up against NBA projections and what those projections for select players look like going forward.
This is especially important early in the season when many teams are still determining what their rotation will look like. Identifying early trends of players' court time and which niche categories they'll contribute in could wind up paying huge dividends.
Identifying Sixth Men Who Benefit From Lineup Changes
There isn't a more consequential benefactor from lineup changes than Boston's Payton Pritchard. The Sixth Man of the Year will likely see starter's minutes with Jayson Tatum (Achilles) on the NBA injury report all season. That's an obvious one, but there are also other players that we're flagging as benefactors if and when lineup changes occur.
James Harden, Brad Beal and Kawhi Leonard are aging and have durability concerns, so it makes sense to target Kris Dunn late in drafts. He should see plenty of playing time (and some starts) after finishing inside the top-150 last season.
Dallas' frontcourt is talented with Anthony Davis and Derrick Lively, but both are injury-prone (so, too, is Lively's backup, Daniel Gafford). If any of them miss time, expect to see increased minutes from PJ Washington, who finished inside the top-100 last season despite being primarily a bench player.
Why Bench Players Can Be League-Winners in Fantasy Hoops
Last season, each of the top-70 fantasy basketball players were starters for the majority of the season. We're not suggesting that you'll strike gold on an elite bench player at your NBA fantasy draft. But the deeper numbers suggest there are bench options out there who can positively impact your team.
Typically, bench players have niche skills that make them plus contributors in one or two specific categories. Houston's Tari Eason started just 16 games but was the 82nd ranked fantasy player because of his elite steals (1.7 per game) and blocks (0.9 per game) from the small forward position. Naz Reid was a bench player most of the year, but played starters minutes (27.5) and was a positive contributor with a rare combo of 3-pointers and blocks.
Using Lineup Tracking to Predict Breakout Performances
Fantasy basketball managers should always be locked into RotoWire's news and analysis for updates on changes to lineups. Though many of these changeups are short term in nature, even a role player thrust into the starting lineup for a night can pay off in a big way–especially in DFS settings, but also in weekly fantasy basketball leagues.
Consider injury concerns and rest tendencies of players in certain starting lineups, too, as you build your fantasy basketball auction values. You can unearth hidden value even before it pays off by studying rotations, injury history, and pouncing early. Before anyone can run to the waiver wire to pick up a hot bench player, he'll already be on your team.
Rotations are critical in fantasy basketball. It's not enough simply to look at your own players' performances and move onto the next games. Those who subscribe to RotoWire will get the latest news and analysis on all players–starters and bench–so they can more easily identify players to target. These bench guys can be difference makers in specific categories and also provide the occasional breakout game when thrust into the starting lineup.
