Two weeks into the NBA season and some players are clearly playing above their preseason fantasy expectations. While the usual fantasy-studs like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and James Harden are doing their thing; not every fantasy roster can benefit from those elite options.
If you weren’t blessed by the fantasy-gods to land such a stud then you are undoubtedly searching continuously for that competitive edge in the form of a under-mined fantasy nugget. Although only two weeks have gone by, each passing week with an underperforming player on your roster can spell doom come season’s end. Ever found yourself just a few points behind your office competition or a mere handful of points away from first place? Constant roster tinkering and identifying the hot-players will close up those gaps for you.
With that in mind we have provided our list of fantasy-studs through the first two weeks of the season. While you won’t see the usual names here as mentioned; you will find those who are performing at a high level and who are undervalued in terms of value versus production.
Alec Burks, Enes Kanter & Gordon Hayward - Utah Jazz
Burks, Hayward and Kanter are a young trio out in Salt Lake who thus far are capitalizing on their increased playing time and the lack of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson demanding the ball in the post.
This trio just might be the future of the organization as each are highly skilled young players who thus far are nearly doubling their career averages in scoring, rebounding and assists per game.
It’s tough to decide who is having a bigger breakout, Hayward or Kanter. Reason for the debate is that Hayward is off to a terrific start through the first six games as he is averaging 19.0 ppg, 4.8 apg and 6.6 rpg.
Not to be outdone, Kanter is throwing up his own lofty stat line that looks a bit like 18.6 ppg 9.2 rpg. While the success of the young trio is sustainable, it doesn’t seem to be helping too greatly given the Jazz current winless streak.
Eric Bledsoe & Miles Plumlee - Phoenix Suns
The Suns are in a world of trouble in so much as their roster is sparse on talent and shallow at best. Fortunately a couple bright spots have emerged in the desert. One such bright spot has been coined as “Mini LeBron” albeit a much shorter version. Bledsoe is enjoying a true breakout season in Phoenix. If one were to take his previous years scoring average and add the three years to a cumulative total, it would still fall short of his points per game average thus far this season.
Complimenting Bledsoe in the fray is Plumlee who is making a mark in his second season in the Association. The second-year player from Duke is enjoying some early success and has three consecutive double-figure scoring games to his resume this season. Granted Plumlee is an undersized center and an under powered power forward; however as a hybrid player between the two positions he does create matchup difficulties and can exploit the bigger and slower opponents.
Spencer Hawes & Michael Carter-Williams - Philadelphia 76ers
Much hype has already befallen super-rookie MCW and to be honest he does seem like the real deal in the six games he has played. Through his first six games MCW has a tidy 18.3 ppg, 7.3 apg and 5.7 rpg stat line.
While he certainly has shown his worth in the early going, expect the scoring numbers to come down as teams figure out his game a bit more and force him to score off his weaknesses.
To complement MCW, Hawes is manning the middle with a mission. Hawes has always been a serviceable big man capable of scoring a bit and grabbing some boards; however, this season his 16 ppg and 10.3 rpg puts him into some elite company of double-double guys.
Hawes can be had on the cheap in almost all fantasy pools as he isn’t the prototypical dominating center who will take over a game or throw down nasty dunks.
While the power and flair are reserved for the others, Hawes does go about his business quietly on a nightly basis and when it is all said and done he dropped yet another double-double for your fantasy roster.
Lance Stephenson - Indiana Pacers
The offseason talk in Indiana was all about how the Pacers will be Eastern Conference contenders once a healthy Danny Granger is back. Well, news flash. The Pacers don’t need Granger when Paul George gets help from guys like Stephenson. The entire organization must be thrilled with Stephenson’s play of late as the squads starting shooting guard is posting a whopping six ppg over his average from last season while shooting his highest field goal percentage and a staggering .500 from beyond the arc.
Trevor Ariza - Washington Wizards
Anyone who predicted Ariza’s performance to date this season is either extremely lucky or winning their fantasy pool by a large margin. This nine year NBA journeyman is having the best year of his career. Thus far he has a stat line that reads 14.6 ppg, 3.0 apg and 7.6 rpg while playing the minutes per night of his career with over 37 per game. Will the 28-year old be able to keep the momentum going as the season progresses? Maybe, but for the time being ride a hot hand when you can and pick up Ariza even if it’s for the short term.
Anthony Davis - New Orleans Pelicans
Wow! Anyone who is not yet convinced that Davis is an NBA superstar in the waiting needs to reconsider their perspective on talent. Davis is the superstar that New Orleans was needing, he has shown improvement over his rookie campaign and continues to impress on a nightly basis. As evidenced by his career high 32 point, 12 rebound and six block outburst against the Los Angeles Lakers this week; the ceiling on this kid is very high. Davis is already a highly valued fantasy chip and by next season he could see himself as the first center coming of the big board.
Isaiah Thomas - Sacramento Kings
The news this offseason out of Sacramento was dominated by talks of relocation and what to do with DeMarcus Cousins. With both those issues now put to rest one can refocus on basketball in Sac-town.
The hoops limelight is squarely on the diminutive third-year point guard from Washington University. Thomas has asserted himself in a large way this season and with his emergence it is hard not to wonder if the Kings have a bit of buyers remorse with Greivis Vasquez who is not off to a good start.
Thomas on the other hand is seeing nearly 30 minutes a night in a reserve role and with it he is averaging a whopping 19.2 ppg, 5.2 apg and 2.6 rpg while shooting his best field goal percentage of his career.
This kid is still playing on his rookie contract and the Kings will enjoy another year at the cut-rate; however, with contract time around the corner and Vasquez also on an expiring deal, Thomas could align himself nicely for a colossal payday.