Tristan da Silva is rolling, Matas Buzelis is turning it on and Kyle Filipowski has finally arrived this season in Utah. Meanwhile, Bennedict Mathurin and Cooper Flagg are struggling down the homestretch, and Cameron Johnson’s value is in the tank.
Let’s break it down in the latest edition of Risers and Fallers.
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Risers
Tristan da Silva, SF, Orlando Magic (19.7% rostered in ESPN leagues)
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Tristan da Silva gets the basket plus the foul
Tristan da Silva somehow gets the and-1 to fall
With Franz Wagner and Anthony Black on the shelf in Orlando, da Silva has suddenly become a fantasy factor, and he went off for a career-high 26 points to go along with seven boards, four steals, two blocks and three 3-pointers in Thursday’s overtime win against the Wizards.
That came on the heels of his second-best game of the season when he had 23 points and another full stat line against Cleveland on Wednesday. He’s having a nice month, scoring in double figures in five of his seven March games while getting well over 30 minutes per game.
The Magic play four times in each of the final four weeks of the season, and it’s possible that Wagner and Black could miss a majority of Orlando’s remaining games. Given the elite schedule and the big minutes, da Silva should be rostered everywhere.
Matas Buzelis, SF/PF, Chicago Bulls (72.2% rostered)
Buzelis was my favorite player to draft this season, and I was made fun of more than once for reaching for him in the fifth round in some of my drafts, but he’s having the last laugh. He has been a top-50 fantasy player this season, thanks to staying mostly healthy and contributing heavily across the board while playing 29 minutes per game.
Buzelis is also peaking just in time for the fantasy playoffs, averaging 23.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 3.3 3-pointers in March prior to Thursday’s game. He scored a career-high 41 points with six boards, two steals, two blocks and five 3-pointers in Tuesday’s win over Golden State and had another big game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night with 22 points and another full stat line.
The only concern with Buzlis is that the Bulls are (mostly) out of the playoff hunt and might not have much motivation to play him until the end of the regular season. Having said that, he has been healthy for most of the season and is young enough (21) that they might just keep rolling him out there until the end. Either way, if you drafted Buzelis, it has been a fun season to have him. The Bulls play just three times in the upcoming week.
Kyle Filipowski, PF, Utah Jazz (48.0% rostered)
Filipowski finished last season strong for the Jazz, propping up his demand in this season’s drafts. And although he was disappointing for much of the season due to the Jazz simply not giving him enough playing time, he’s finally turning it on just in time for the fantasy playoffs.
Filipowski’s rise coincided with Jusuf Nurkic’s season-ending nose surgery a few weeks ago, and he has been fun to roster ever since. He had a solid February with 12.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in just 22 minutes, and he has blossomed in March, pushing his numbers up to 15.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.2 blocks and a 3-pointer per night, while his minutes are all the way up to 28 per game.
Even with the Jazz tanking, Filipowski is one of the few healthy big men left on their roster. I don’t see why they wouldn’t continue to let him develop through the rest of the season, and he could post massive numbers over the last four weeks.
The only issue is the Jazz play just three times in the upcoming week and three times in the final week of the season, but Filipowski should be rostered in every league, regardless of how many games the Jazz are playing each week.
Fallers
Bennedict Mathurin, SG/SF, LA Clippers (66.7% rostered)
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Bennedict Mathurin elevates for alley-oop
Bennedict Mathurin connects on alley-oop
After beginning the season in Indiana, Mathurin has quickly become a key player for his new team by racking up 28.2 minutes per game and 18.3 points over the past two weeks.
Although the role, minutes and scoring are all nice, he’s struggling in fantasy because of a lack of 3-pointers, assists, steals and blocks, and a less-than-ideal shooting percentage from the field. Over the past two weeks, he has averaged just 0.7 3-pointers, steals and blocks while hitting just 43.6% of his shots from the field.
Mathurin is a fine play in points leagues, but if you’re in a playoff battle in a roto/categories league, he’s really not helping much in any other areas. The Clippers play four times in each of the next two weeks, but if you have him and find yourself struggling to win each week, his lack of peripheral stats is probably the reason. Move him for a more well-rounded player, if you can find one on your league’s waiver wire.
Cooper Flagg, PG/SF/PF, Dallas Mavericks (95.5% rostered)
Flagg is back from the foot injury that kept him out for eight games, but he hasn’t been playing as well as he’d like as he battles Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year. In his five games since returning, he is yet to score more than 18 points and is shooting just 34.6% from the field.
His rebounds, assists, steals and blocks have all been solid, but he hasn’t been hitting 3-pointers and he’s mired in a shooting slump. I’m not suggesting anyone drop Flagg at this point, as he could make a late run to separate himself from Knueppel and leave no question about the ROY race.
But Dallas is tanking, Flagg is the future of the franchise, and Mavericks management has to be a little concerned about keeping him healthy as the season winds down. Keep rolling him out there and hope that he breaks out of his shooting funk sooner than later.
But if his poor field goal percentage is going to hurt your chances in the playoffs, now might be a good time to think about swapping him out for a more stable option, as the Mavericks play only three times in each of the next two weeks.
Cameron Johnson, SF/PF, Denver Nuggets (20.1% rostered)
Johnson was a hot pickup when Aaron Gordon, Peyton Watson and Christian Braun were all injured, but he never lived up to the hype. And now that Gordon and Braun are back, and Watson could be back next week, Johnson’s fantasy value couldn’t be much lower.
Over his past six games, Johnson has scored just 9.2 points with 1.2 3-pointers, 4.2 rebounds and 0.5 steals in 27 minutes per game. And with his teammates all getting healthy, his stats could get even worse going forward.
Nearly every league has players on the waiver wire who are better than Johnson is right now. Drop him for da Silva (or another hot free agent) and don’t look back.