Philadelphia 76ers guard De'Anthony Melton entered Wednesday leading ESPN's most dropped list, which is odd because just a few days prior, he re-entered Philadelphia's starting lineup.
Melton isn't scoring traditionally so much these days, so fantasy managers moving on from him is hardly a surprise, but it will be interesting to see if guard Tyrese Maxey, the young star who offered recently to move to a sixth-man role for the betterment of the team, avoids this dropped list as well.
Managers should, of course, keep him around, but will they?
The theory behind Melton starting and Maxey now handling the key offensive role with the second unit is quite simple: Melton is a terrific defensive player capable of guarding multiple positions, one of the league leaders in steals and certainly competent offensively, hitting 39% of his 3-pointers.
Maxey is a scorer. Oh, Maxey tries hard on defense, but he's not so good at it, at least not yet. He's good at scoring now. He scored 22 points in the Tuesday win against the LA Clippers, offering 35 fantasy points. Perhaps he remains a sixth man. It's a fluid situation.
Fantasy managers, of course, desire consistency and anything but fluid situations, and they prefer their players starting rather than relieving. Does it matter in this case? Maxey handled 61 minutes in road wins against the Clippers and Lakers, delivering 55 fantasy points, a bit below his season average. It should not matter how he acquires those minutes.
It has been obvious watching the 76ers this season that deploying guards James Harden and Maxey together is quite a defensive deficiency versus top scoring guards. Melton contributes at each end of the court. He remains valuable, for the 76ers and fantasy managers.
Maxey, 22 and in his third season from Kentucky, is one of the fastest players in the league, using his rare speed to get to the hoop to convert fast break points before defenders know what is happening.
Maxey has become a reliable 3-point shooter as well. He is averaging 22 PPG and 4.2 APG as a starter, but the 76ers offense is so dominated by Harden passing to MVP candidate Joel Embiid, it occasionally leaves Maxey, SF/PF Tobias Harris and others wanting for usage and shots.
Moving Maxey to a unit with options such as PG Shake Milton, PG Georges Niang and PF/C Montrezl Harrell is not a bad thing for the team.
Ultimately, fantasy managers should expect Maxey's numbers to drop a bit as a reserve, not only necessarily in traditional scoring, but certainly as a facilitator. He dealt only three assists total in the two Los Angeles games. When he plays with Milton, it is Milton who tends to run the offense, but when all the typical starters are in, Maxey is better situation to steal assists from Harden. The offense is more stagnant with the reserves in.
Maxey may average 20 PPG as a reserve, but he may see more contested 3-point attempts and struggle to provide assists. He's not going to be the same fantasy option, but that doesn't mean anyone should move on. Keep him rostered. Keep Melton around as well, especially in roto leagues for the steals. What's best for the 76ers doesn't have to hurt fantasy managers.
Other random thoughts
--Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are terrific players -- though they regularly missing games -- but something else just isn't right about the LA Clippers. I don't want to say giving more minutes to SG/SF Nicolas Batum and SF/PF Robert Covington is the answer, but defensively, they're a mess. Covington got some real minutes recently and he responded with steals, a few blocks, something different. He used to be an excellent fantasy option. Perhaps they should trade him. I added him in a deep league in case he gets minutes soon. Put the Clippers in the playoffs with their stars and who knows, but they should be better now, too.
--There are 48 players averaging 38 or more fantasy points per game over the past 30 days, and you shouldn't be surprised to learn that all but one is rostered in at least 75% of ESPN leagues. Wanna guess? No, it's not Utah Jazz C Walker Kessler, who I talk about a lot and recently delivered a 20-point, 21-rebound performance. It's Charlotte Hornets C Mason Plumlee, who deserves respect! He's averaging 15.1 PPG and 10.5 RPG for the past month! Rudy Gobert isn't doing that! Plumlee may be traded soon and getting half the minutes for a contender, but until then, invest!
--Another available player on that list is Toronto Raptors SG Gary Trent Jr., dropping 21.5 PPG and 3.2 3PG and 2.1 SPG over 30 days. Trent remains out there in 25% of ESPN leagues, for some reason. I think part of it was because he was coming off the bench in December, but that's not the case now. Trent needs to be universally rostered. He's enjoying another tremendous season.
--I did not expect Gobert to have his worst statistical season in five years. Among the centers ranking better on the 30-day Player Rater are Mitchell Robinson, Bobby Portis, Thomas Bryant and his own teammate Naz Reid. Yeah, ugly. Gobert has a groin injury now, which may or may not keep him out through the weekend, but he was presumably healthy a week ago, and he just looked so much less aggressive than he did for Utah last season. Gobert was going to score less this season because the Wolves have ample scorers, more than Utah did. To see such a drop in rebounds and blocks is different. I wonder if this is what Gobert is now.
--I just missed out on adding Indiana Pacers PG T.J. McConnell in a waiver bidding process in one league and was quite sad when he dropped 72 fantasy points on the Bucks earlier this week for another team, one that passed me in the standings. Hey, good for Timothy John. I love this guy. He's always playing hard, giving effort, it's fun. This keeps him in the NBA. Tyrese Haliburton shouldn't be out too long, though, and perhaps everyone moves on from McConnell by Groundhog Day. Enjoy the next fortnight. I can't not root for McConnell, even if it has fantasy implications against my team.
--I understand why Miami Heat PG Kyle Lowry and Memphis Grizzlies SG/SF Dillon Brooks are among the most dropped players in ESPN leagues, but I think those moving on from them to add McConnell, Heat SG Victor Oladipo and Brooklyn Nets SF/PF Royce O'Neal - among the most added players - will regret doing so. Streaming is a viable strategy in ESPN leagues but Lowry, when healthy, averages 6 APG. Brooks averages 18 PPG. We may want more from them, but they're not really streamers.