From Deep: How Scottie Barnes’ return will impact 3 key players in fantasy basketball

The three-ball has become arguably the staple of scoring in the NBA — so we figured we’d take some shots from way downtown, too. Here, fantasy basketball analyst Dan Titus will break down three things fantasy managers need to know each week. Or, he’ll break down multiple three-point pieces of advice, analysis and more — it just depends on how open he is From Deep.

Scottie Barnes is almost back!

Fantasy managers got a pleasant surprise on Wednesday afternoon when Raptors beat writer Josh Lewenberg posted that Barnes practiced in full and was upgraded to questionable ahead of Thursday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on X. He’ll wear goggles to protect his eye, but by all indications, we should see one of the most versatile fantasy players back in the mix.

He has missed the previous 11 contests with a fractured orbital bone and in his absence, the Raptors distributed his workload between RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl and Gradey Dick. Now that Barnes is on the cusp of returning, what does this mean for that Raptors trio?

RJ Barrett

The pros: Barrett’s been playing the best basketball of his career. Unfortunately, he’ll undoubtedly see less usage when Barnes re-enters the lineup. With Barnes off the floor this season, Barrett averaged 23.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists with a career-best 31% usage rate. He has been inefficient, but the boost in assists and steals has helped him become a top-25 player in points leagues.

The cons: Barrett and Barnes shared the court once this season, but when combining his numbers from last season with Barnes’, Barrett saw a 24.6 usage rate while posting 20.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. It’s not a significant drop-off, but the assists are less prominent. The efficiency, however, significantly improved with Barnes. Barrett shot 54% from the field and 40.1% from three with fewer turnovers.

Final verdict: All this to say, Barrett remains a great option for points leagues, and fantasy managers might have a buy-low window emerging since most expect Barnes’ return to drive Barrett’s numbers down further. An efficient version of RJ is worth considering in…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-21 15:43:00

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