Fantasy hoops: Start or sit rankings

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Read below for weekly rankings and start/sit recommendations

These rankings are based on the assumption that all players and teams play their games as scheduled over the next week ... yeah, I know. But it's the best we've got. I'm positive that you'll stay plugged in to potential absences and schedule changes due to COVID-19 up until rosters lock on Monday, and adjust your lineups accordingly. With that said ...

... So, you're in a weekly transaction league, and half of your line-up is unavailable. You need to decide by Monday evening who your starting lineup will be for the week. Should you consider sitting a usual impact starter like LeBron James? Or perhaps starting someone like Jalen Green, who might generally be on your bench, perhaps even your waiver wire?

First of all, with the way he's playing right now, I'm not sitting LeBron outside of very rare situations. Yes, he only has two games this week, but 18 teams only play three times, so I'll probably take my chances.

Second, I'm hyped to welcome Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving to the weekly rankings! Kyrie is an interesting case, because he can still only play on the road in places that don't require vaccination. With that said, if he's able to play in two games this week in Portland and Chicago, his average is still high enough to make him a viable play depending on your other options. No one really knows what to expect from Thompson after more than two full years away from the game, but just seeing his name in the rankings feels like a big step in the right direction.

Check out the overall rankings to get a more in-depth look at how we think things might go next week among the 300+ players in the main database, and check out the high points at a glance with the Startable and Sittable lists below.

Methodology

The "potentially startable" list is generally comprised of players ranked below 80th in the season-long points rankings who ended up among the top-100 projected players for this week utilizing the Forecaster. Conversely, the "potentially sittable" list is generally comprised of players ranked in the top 100 of the season-long points rankings who ended up outside of the top-120 projected players for this week utilizing the Forecaster (or who are in the 120 range but projected much lower for the week). There is also some correction for injury, so a player with injury question marks may have his value lowered enough to end up on the sittable list even if he's not officially out. Similarly, an understudy would get a boost in value if he is expected to play, and that could land him in the startable category. Finally, I have the license to add players to either list even if they don't fit the exact criteria, but if I feel that it is close enough to be of interest.