Jan. 16 Fantasy Basketball Takeaways: Top Rookies and Waiver Wire Options | Grayson Allen, Luguentz Dort, Mason Plumlee, Sasha Vezenkov and More

There were only three NBA games played on Tuesday, but there were still plenty of notable performances. 

Let’s take a look at some of the better performances from Jan. 16 by players who are available in a decent amount of fantasy basketball leagues out there.

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Suns Stun Kings

The Phoenix Suns trailed 109-87 with 8 minutes, 22 seconds to play, but ended the game on a 32-8 run for a wild 119-117 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Part of the reason Phoenix was able to rally was because of Grayson Allen. He recorded 29 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals and blocks across 37 minutes of action.

Allen, who is owned in 84% of leagues, was 10-of-17 from the field and 9-of-14 from 3-point land.

For the season, Allen is averaging 13.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks across 33.4 minutes. Those are all career highs.

Allen has hit double figures in points in 25 of his 35 games played, including six games over 20 points. He’s gone over five rebounds 10 times and over five assists twice. He’s recorded a steal in 19 games and a block in 18 contests.

He’s not available in too many leagues, but his own percentage should still be higher, and pretty close to 100%.

Suns’ Eric Gordon, who is owned in just 28% of leagues, also had a nice outing. He finished with 13 points, three rebounds and two assists and steals across nearly 24 minutes played. 

He’s been consistently around that minute total over the past couple weeks. It’s enough time to make a difference as a fantasy asset, but because Gordon’s fantasy value mostly comes by way of his scoring, his own percentage is likely to stay right around the 30% mark. 

Gordon has scored in double figures twice over the past four games, but only combined for eight points in the other two games. He’s going to consistently need to score in double figures to be a better fantasy asset outside of deeper leagues, and even with high point totals, he doesn’t do enough else on the court to add in standard leagues. He’s a guy to add if Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal or Allen were to miss extended time.

One Sacramento player I want to highlight is Sasha Vezenkov. He recorded 14 points, two rebounds and one assist and steal in 17 minutes off the bench.

Venezkov is only owned in about 4% of leagues right now. That’s because his playing time has been inconsistent. 

He tied a season high in points scored, and was an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor on the night. The strong night should get him some more run in the next couple games, so he’s a guy to track. He’s probably only going to be a fantasy asset for owners in deep leagues though.

Clippers Topple OKC

All the rest of the notable performances from waiver wire possibilities came from the Los Angeles Clippers 128-117 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

OKC’s Luguentz Dort totaled 19 points and one rebound and assist in the team’s loss. Dort is currently owned in 54% of leagues.

Dort has now scored in double figures in five straight games, but much like Tuesday’s game, he hasn’t done much else on the court to be a solid fantasy asset. He’s getting enough playing time, he’s just not doing enough in those minutes to push that own percentage any higher than it currently is. If he can keep scoring at a good clip and starts adding in some rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, then we can consider him as a waiver wire addition in all leagues.

Isaiah Joe stuffed the stat sheet for OKC, tallying 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 23 minutes off the bench. He’s currently owned in 10% of leagues.

While he has filled out the stat sheet more than Dort recently, he hasn’t scored as much. Tuesday was the first time Joe scored in double figures in five games. If he can start consistently scoring in double figures, then his own percentage would jump a good way up - until then, he’s just a fantasy option in deep leagues.

Mason Plumlee started and played 28 minutes for Los Angeles, totaling 14 points, five rebounds, three blocks and two assists along the way. He’s currently owned in 25% of leagues, but should see that number go up with Ivica Zubac out for a couple weeks with an injury.

Plumlee hasn’t gotten much playing time this season, but he should see plenty of time on the court with Zubac out. He’s not going to get many shot attempts, but he’s usually very efficient, so these double-digit scoring nights are still possible. You’d like to see him grab a few more rebounds, but the couple of assists and three blocks make up for the lack of boards.

Until Zubac returns, I’m in favor of adding Plumlee. If he doesn’t get a similar amount of minutes going forward, simply drop him.

Daniel Theis played nearly 20 minutes off the bench for the Clippers, recording nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks. He’s owned in 12% of leagues.

Theis also should see a slight increase in minutes because of the Zubac injury. He’s probably not going to reach double figures in points too often, but his strong rebounding numbers and blocks are enough to consider adding him. He’s a pretty solid option in deeper leagues, but should probably stay on the waiver wire in standard leagues.