The NBA All-Star break is coming up in 48 hours and the “silly season” is just around the corner. For those of you not familiar with that term, it’s basically the stretch of the season in which the most random NBA players come out of the woodwork and turn into absolute legends. In 2021-22 for example, we witnessed Drew Eubanks turn into prime Kevin Garnett and win matchups all by himself. Who will it be this year? Here’s an early look at 10 possible candidates. And I’ll warn you now, a couple of them are massive shots in the dark…
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Charles Bassey
Bassey has only eclipsed 20 minutes six times this season, averaging 7.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 blocks in 21.5 minutes per game. The only thing standing in his way right now is Zach Collins. That’s right. Zach Collins. Look, don’t get me wrong. I actually like Collins a lot and told you to run to the waiver wire to grab him and so far, it’s paying dividends. But do I actually expect him to stay healthy for the remainder of the season? Uhh, probably not…
Collins has been in the NBA for six years and has 229 career games. That’s it. As for Bassey, the Spurs just gave him a fresh four-year contract with a sizable $5.2M guarantee, so they obviously like the kid. Given his strong per-minute production and the fact that he’s a career 66% shooter from the field and 71% from the line, there’s so much to like here.
Dennis Smith Jr.
DSJ is quietly having a strong season in Charlotte, but nobody is talking about it because the Hornets aren’t good enough to be televised. LaMelo Ball isn’t going to give up any minutes obviously, but that doesn’t matter since the Hornets have started utilizing DSJ alongside their franchise player.
Over the past six games, DSJ has averaged 11.3 points, 2.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 0.8 blocks and 0.5 triples in 23.4 minutes, hitting 57%(!) from the field and 64% from the line. The Hornets are going to be in Victor Wembanyama territory the rest of the season as well, so it helps DSJ’s case that we could see some shady behavior in regard to how Charlotte handles their key players.
In the eight games DSJ eclipsed 30 minutes this season, he averaged 12.3 points, 7.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 0.6 blocks. More DSJ please!
Tari Eason
Coach Silas may not like him as much as we do, but hey, the kid will have to get extended run at some point. It’s almost embarrassing that he hasn’t yet, but the good news about watching Eric Gordon run 45 isolations per game for the first half of the season is that the Rockets are in Wembanyama territory. The white towel will be waved soon if it hasn’t already, and Eason’s per-minute upside is up there with guys like De’Anthony Melton.
In 21 games with at least 20 minutes played, Eason has averages of 11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.5 blocks, 0.9 triples and 1.3 steals in 23.4 minutes.
Isaiah Jackson
Poor guy. After the Pacers extended Myles Turner’s contract, coach Rick Carlisle decided to fall in love with Daniel Theis and is committed to getting the best out of the 30-year-old veteran. Make it make sense… However, Indiana’s solid start to the season is a distant memory, and the Pacers are now sitting in 12th in the East and are inching closer to Wembanyama territory.
The youth movement is coming, whether Carlisle likes it or not. There are not many players that possess the kind of upside that Jackson does, so he’s one of my favorite bets to be a fantasy league winner down the stretch. In eight games in which Jackson has played north of 20 minutes this season, he averaged 11.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 0.9 dimes, 0.6 steals and 3.3 blocks(!) in only 24 minutes.
Aleksej Pokusevski
We’re about one month away from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander feeling some tenderness in his ankle/back/knee. Experienced fantasy managers know the drill here. OKC’s entire rebuild has been focused specifically on this draft. Is it the end of the world if they don’t land Wembanyama? No it’s not, as their pool of young talent rivals any other team in the NBA. However, if you were to add Wembanyama to this roster they would be within a couple years of contender status. We’re talking about a core of SGA, Giddey, Jalen Williams, Dort, Chet, Poku and Wembanyama. Insane.
Poku is nearing a return to the lineup from a lower leg injury and appears to have put some muscle onto his Q-tip frame. He’s an improved shooter (37% from beyond the arc) and he’s no longer yelling “Kobe” from 35 feet out just a couple seconds into the shot clock. Somehow only 21 years old, Poku has eclipsed 30 minutes in six games this season and averaged 16.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.1 blocks, 1.6 steals and 2.5 triples.
Bol Bol
He’s an example of someone that is way better in fantasy than in real life, but I do appreciate the fact that Orlando is allowing him to learn on the fly. His minutes are way down lately, but when the Magic pull the plug soon, I think he’s a candidate to see his minutes go north of 20 again. With a per-36 line of 16.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 2.1 blocks and 0.8 triples, he only needs 24 to reach top-100 status and the rest is gravy.
Goga Bitadze
We should’ve known this 7-footer was headed to Orlando the second he was waived by Indiana. Just like Bol Bol, Goga is another player that is way better in fantasy land than he is in real life. His path to playing time is complicated with Wendell Carter Jr. ahead of him, but the Magic will want to see what they have in Goga once they let the tank pick up steam.
I don’t say this lightly. Goga is an absolute stat magnet. In nearly 2,000 career minutes, he has a per-36 line of 15.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.7 blocks, 0.9 steals and 0.7 triples. April can’t come soon enough.
Isaiah Livers
The Pistons are third in the Tankathon rankings which gives them a 14% shot at Wembanyama. Folks, they aren’t going to suddenly start winning games now… Over his last four games, Livers is averaging 27.0 minutes with 6.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.3 triples. But now you might be asking yourself why I’m recommending a stat line that only Tony Snell would be jealous of…
Well, context matters. Livers had an 8% usage rate in that span. That’s comically low. However, the Pistons will start to dial back their veterans at some point, and that includes Bojan Bogdanovic who plays 32 minutes and takes 15 shots a game. Livers has been hyped up by the coaching staff and the Detroit media for months on end, so now it’s up to him to show us he was worth all the buzz.
Dalen Terry
This one is a reach. And a big one too. However, the Bulls are embarrassing right now and may be on the verge of pulling the plug. They owe a top-4 protected pick to the Orlando Magic, so if they’re going to go down this road, they need to do it quickly. As of Feb. 14th, the Bulls are 11th in the East with a 26-31 record.
DeMar DeRozan is now nursing an injury to his thigh, Alex Caruso’s foot is still an issue and Zach LaVine is going through the motions even though his stats say otherwise. Body language is everything and the Bulls look like one of the most disjointed team in the NBA.
And that’s where Dalen Terry enters the stage. In a brief cameo against the Magic, Terry drew an offensive foul on Bol Bol and proceeded to smash his head into the padding under the basket while yelling in a way that would make Kevin Garnett proud. The kid brings pure energy to the Bulls and that’s exactly what they need to shake things up.
“The game gets really, really fast for him,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He plays with that frenetic pace — and I say that very complimentary. He’s very energized but sometimes he gets going too fast. It looked like the game slowed down for him a little tonight.” Statistically he’s going to be a mystery box with only 72 minutes played so far, but the 6’7 wing has a 7-1 wingspan and showed a little bit of everything for Arizona with 8.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.3 blocks and 0.8 triples in 27 minutes with a 50/36/73 shooting line.
Talen Horton-Tucker
Ah yes, the guy that Lakers fans thought was going to be the next Andre Iguodala. While he’s still more of a meme in NBA circles, no one can deny that he has a pretty fun stat profile if you can live with some shocking shooting percentages. The Jazz were sellers at the deadline and now have some catching up to do in the tank race. What better way to do that than to let THT go rogue?
In 13 games with at least 20 minutes this season, THT has averaged 12.9 points, 4.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 1.0 blocks and 0.9 triples.