The NBA season surpassed the one-month mark on Friday and the action just keeps picking up.
The league is playing faster than it has in years, with a league-average pace of 100.4 possessions per game, up from 98.8 last season and 98.5 the season before. The increased pace has led to more points, from 113.8 PPG last season to 117.0 PPG this season. This all leads to more opportunities for players to put numbers on the board, including and especially replacement players who are getting more run in place of an absent teammate.
We're also seeing young players come of age and planting their flags that they are ready to produce. That combination gives us plenty of players to consider in this article, where we look beyond the obvious big name stars and identify lightly-rostered players that deserve more attention and can help your fantasy squads.
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Point guard
Collin Gillespie (27.4% rostered in ESPN leagues), PG, and Jordan Goodwin (5.5%):, PG/SG, Phoenix Suns (17.3%): Gillespie and Goodwin have been getting more run with both Jalen Green and Grayson Allen sidelined, and both have been taking advantage of it. Gillespie has proven to have upper teens scoring with plus rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers while playing around 30 MPG off the bench. Goodwin has produced similar across-the-board numbers, but with low-mid-teens scoring. Allen's injury isn't considered serious, but Green will be out for awhile so Gillespie and Goodwin could be on the streamer/flex radar for some time.
Anthony Black, PG/SG, Orlando Magic (11.9%): Black is playing some of the best ball of his career, and in his third season has been showing major signs of living up to his No. 6 overall draft status. Even coming off the bench, he has been a mid-teens scorer on solid field goal percentage with excellent defensive numbers that can contribute a bit on the glass and as a distributor. He also gets spot starts when Jalen Suggs misses time, and in those starts he has shown he has 20-point scoring potential in addition to the solid peripheral stats.
Shooting guard
Vince Williams Jr., SG/PG, Memphis Grizzlies (9.0%): Williams has moved into he starting lineup for the Grizzlies with Ja Morant out, and has proven triple-double upside with double-digit efforts in each of points, rebounds and assists in at least one of his first four starts. Williams also has some 3-and-D skills, capable of notching a couple of steals and/or a couple of 3-pointers in any given game.
Small forward
Bilal Coulibaly, SF/SG, Washington Wizards (11.8%): Coulibaly is a 3-and-D wing for the Wizards that can contribute a bit across the board in category leagues. In eight games this season, he has scored in double figures four times, has at least seven rebounds twice, at least four assists four times, two or more steals or blocks three times each and two or more 3-pointers three times. He's a jack-of-all trades in fantasy, making him at least streamable and at best a flex play in deeper leagues.
Peyton Watson, SF/PF, Denver Nuggets (10.6%): Watson has started the last five games for the Nuggets with Christian Braun out and has settled in as a strong rebounder and 3-and-D threat capable of finishing the looks that Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray create for him. In those five games, Watson has averaged 14.6 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.8 3PG, 1.0 SPG and 1.0 BPG. These are flex-worthy numbers, particularly in category leagues.
Keldon Johnson, SF/PF, San Antonio Spurs (15.7%): Johnson's role off the bench has increased with Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle sidelined. He is capable of dropping 20-plus points and/or 10 rebounds in any given game, and with the Spurs relying on him he can hit those types of numbers regularly. Though he's a reserve, remember that Johnson a promising enough young player to win a gold medal on Team USA in the 2020 (2021) Olympics, and he is still only 26 years old.
Power forward
Harrison Barnes, PF, San Antonio Spurs (16.1%): Barnes is another Spurs veteran with a larger role while Wemby and Castle are sidelined. Barnes has been the starting power forward all season, but when the Spurs call upon him he's proven in his long NBA career that he is a walking bucket. In this role, Barnes can be expected to challenge for 20 points on a nightly basis.
Center
Derik Queen, C, New Orleans Pelicans (43.8%): Queen entered the starting lineup for the Pelicans five games ago, and in his last three he has exploded and established himself as one of the most impressive rookies in this year's class. He has scored at least 20 points with at least seven rebounds in all three games, averaging 23.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 6.0 APG in that stretch. He also has five steals and three blocks in those three games. Queen isn't just playing himself into fantasy starting lineups, but if he continues like this he'll play himself into the Rookie of the Year race.
Jusuf Nurkic, C, Utah Jazz (21.0%): Nurkic has been a walking double-double since taking over as the starting center of the Jazz. He has also been operating as a secondary hub for the Jazz on offense, giving him 5-plus APG potential on a nightly basis. Throw in that he has been playing well on defense, particularly in terms of getting steals, and Nurkic is a rosterable secondary center and flex option in most formats.
Zach Edey, C, Memphis Grizzlies (40.5%): Edey returned last week from offseason surgery and has already returned to his double-double and defensive ways. He has at least 12 points in three of his four games, 11 rebounds in two of four, and is contributing blocks and steals as well. The sophomore looks poised to improve on his solid rookie season and slot in as an impact fantasy center for the rest of the season.