This article is part of our Sorare NBA series.
We have about a quarter of the NBA regular season left. It still makes sense to be thinking about the present, and the future, of your Sorare NBA lineups. Here is my upgrade, hold, and downgrade for you this week.
Card prices shown reflect the most recent sale price for each player on the Sorare Marketplace as of February 24, 4:45 p.m. ET
UPGRADE
Walker Kessler, UTA ($1.84): Maybe it's because the Jazz keep treading water while simultaneously attempting a rebuild, but Kessler's significant uptick in minutes and production seems to be going unnoticed. At 12.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, the Utah big man finds himself in the top five on both fronts. Kessler has even improved to 11.2 points per contest, a change to average double-digits on the season for the first time. Sometimes he puts up a Ben Wallace-esque four points with 19 rebounds, but that still nets you 30.3 Sorarepoints. Then, there are the days when he drop 19 points with 22 boards as he did against the Suns and you get 62.4 Sorare points.
HOLD
Brandin Podziemski, GSW ($9.27): Since Andrew Wiggins and Dennis Schroder were dealt away, Podziemski's minutes have gone up considerably, and he's even been starting recently. In the first post-trades game for the Warriors he had 29 points en route to 46.2 Sorare points. However, since then he's had three games with single-digit points and two with under 30.0 Sorare points. Podziemski's stock is up, but just a smidge.
DOWNGRADE
Stephon Castle, SAN ($8.45): On the one hand, with Victor Wembanyama out, there's no reason for the Spurs not to give Castle minutes…and yet. Since Wemby went down Castle has averaged only 20.3 minutes per game and just had a game with 1.0 Sorare point. Not having Wembanyama hurts this team. Not having Gregg Popovich hurts this team. Being a rookie means growing pains for Castle, and De'Aaron Fox is a guy who can do more with the ball in his hands right now. It may be time to write Castle off for the rest of this season and start thinking about him again at the start of next season.
