No NBA team had a worse 24 hours than the Memphis Grizzlies. During Friday's loss to the Nuggets, a rotation player was lost for the season due to a ruptured Achilles (Brandon Clarke), and a starter picked up his 16th technical foul of the season (Dillon Brooks). And to top things off, a video of Ja Morant brandishing a gun while in a club came to light in the early hours of Saturday morning. He'll miss at least the next two games for the Grizzlies, who visit the Clippers Sunday night. The good news for fantasy managers is that things are relatively straightforward for those who are in need of roster replacements.
To account for Morant's absence, Tyus Jones (32% rostered, Yahoo) is the obvious answer. In nine starts this season, he's averaging 18.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2.4 steals, and 2.1 3-pointers in 33.2 minutes, shooting 51.9% from the field and 76.2% from the foul line. As for Clarke, with Steven Adams (knee) also sidelined, Xavier Tillman (17%) is of far greater value in fantasy leagues than he was just 48 hours ago. He's been a 6th-round player over the last two weeks, averaging 10.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 29.2 minutes per game, shooting 55% from the field and 72.7% from the charity stripe.
Santi Aldama (16%) is unlikely to be added in as many leagues as Tillman due to the fact that he's still backing up Jaren Jackson Jr. That said, it won't take too much for him to surpass 20 minutes on a consistent basis (19.5 mpg over the last two weeks). As for Brooks' absence, John Konchar (3%) has started 22 of the 54 games he's appeared in this season. In that role, he's averaging 8.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.5 3-pointers in 27.6 minutes per game, shooting 45.9% from the field and 93.8% from the foul line. He'll be worth a look as a deep-league streamer for Sunday's action, as Brooks is only suspended for one game.
Now that the Grizzlies' situation has been fleshed out, let's take a look at some pickups who actually played on Saturday.
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Delon Wright (36%)
We're not going to spend much time on Wright since he's been discussed in this space on numerous occasions. Again starting for the injured Monte Morris (back), Wright finished Saturday's overtime loss to the Raptors with 18 points, six rebounds, seven assists, six steals, one block, and four 3-pointers in 40 minutes. And Washington will have another four-game week in Week 20. With Morris considered to be week-to-week, Wright is a must-add.
Tari Eason (37%)
Eason is starting to get the minutes many fantasy managers were hopeful he would after the trade deadline. He's played 25 minutes or more in four straight games, including 31 in Saturday's win over the Spurs. Eason finished with 20 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks, and two 3-pointers, shooting 7-of-11 from the field. He's providing top-50 per-game value in 9-cat formats over the last two weeks and has been used at both forward positions.
Georges Niang (2%)
Philadelphia managed to come back and beat Milwaukee despite Tobias Harris (calf) and P.J. Tucker (back) leaving the game due to injury. Niang was one of the players who supplemented the efforts of James Harden and Joel Embiid, scoring 16 points with one rebound, one steal, and five 3-pointers in 28 minutes off the bench. Philadelphia wraps up its current road trip with a Monday/Tuesday back-to-back against the Pacers and Timberwolves, so adding Niang in deep leagues ahead of those games wouldn't be the worst idea.
Caleb Martin (13%)
Martin has come off the bench in each of Miami's last six games, with his "demotion" coinciding with the addition of Kevin Love. Love (39%) is averaging 22.4 minutes per game over the last two weeks, with Martin coming in at 26.4. Martin has been the better fantasy option during that stretch, and he finished Friday's win over the Hawks with 15 points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal, one block, and three 3-pointers in 30 minutes. Love started but was ineffective in his 18 minutes, putting up six points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal, and two 3-pointers. Miami will play four games in Week 20, including a back-to-back against the Cavaliers (Friday) and Magic (Saturday).
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Devonte' Graham (26%) and Charles Bassey (11%)
The two Spurs are in a similar position: the time to add them was before this week. While both played well in San Antonio's loss to Houston, the Spurs won't play their first Week 20 game until March 13 (Friday), and it's a two-game week. Graham hit seven 3-pointers and scored 28 points with two rebounds and four assists, remaining in the starting lineup due to the absences of Keldon Johnson and Malaki Branham. Bassey's spot in the rotation has been less volatile than Graham's since the trade deadline, as he's been asked to back up Zach Collins. Bassey played 19 minutes off the bench Saturday, accounting for 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Good nights for both, but for the reason stated earlier in this paragraph, there's no need to add them.
Grayson Allen (20%)
If not for the third quarter of Milwaukee's loss to Philadelphia, Allen would be nowhere near this list. He scored all 20 of his points in the frame, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and making six 3-pointers. While Allen has been a top 100 player over the last two weeks, the rostered percentage is fine where it currently is, especially with Milwaukee playing three games in Week 20 (they do visit Washington on Sunday).