Week 12 Fantasy Basketball Drop Candidates: Jordan Clarkson, Jonathan Kuminga, Malcolm Brogdon, Luke Kennard, Spencer Dinwiddie and More

After looking at the top waiver wire candidates earlier, it’s time to look at some of the most-dropped fantasy basketball players at the start of the 12th week of the season.

These players were all taken from the most dropped waiver trends section, which can be found on any FantasySP fantasy basketball page.

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Jordan Clarkson Fantasy Outlook

Clarkson has been dropped in 8.4% of leagues, bringing his overall mark down to 57%.

He is dealing with a knee injury, which is the biggest reason behind him being dropped. It’s not expected to be a long-term injury, but not being a fantasy star, fantasy owners are choosing to move on from Clarkson and replace him with someone who can help out now instead of waiting on Clarkson’s return.

In 22 games and three starts this season, Clarkson is averaging 16 points, 3.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks across 25.5 minutes. He’s shooting 41.5% overall and 34.2% from 3-point land.

Clarkson has been in trade discussions most of this season, and in past years too. At some point, he could be moved to a contender, but for now, he’s a very solid fantasy asset for the Jazz.

He should be rostered in all deep leagues, and is a pretty solid standard league asset when he’s constantly on the court. He’s also not anything super spectacular as a fantasy player, so when he’s injured and out, there’s really no major reason to keep rostering him (unless you can throw him into an IR spot).

Depending on the makeup of your fantasy team, Clarkson is maybe someone you need to drop now. If your team is doing well and can weather the storm without him for a couple days, I don’t mind just stashing him on the end of your bench - this is just in standard leagues, as I don’t think you should be dropping him in deeper setups.

If he gets dropped in your league, keep an eye on his status and heavily consider adding him to help you out going forward.

Jonathan Kuminga Fantasy Outlook

Kuminga is rostered in 83% of leagues after a recent 6.6% dropoff.

Kuminga suffered a “significant lateral right ankle sprain” and is out at least three weeks. Again, it makes perfect sense to see fantasy owners dropping him.

This season, Kuminga is averaging 16.8 points, 5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks across 26 minutes in 32 games and 10 starts. He’s shooting 45.9% overall and 34.5% from deep.

Kuminga hasn’t taken the step forward that many expected this season, but he’s still enjoying a career season in most statistics. He was trending toward being rostered in just about every league before the injury, so this was really bad timing for him, and his fantasy owners.

If you don’t have an IR spot to utilize, it’s hard to justify stashing Kuminga on the end of your bench for the next three weeks. He’s pretty close to being a nightly starter when he’s healthy, but he’s also not a fantasy star, so it’s easier to drop him.

I’d do my best to hold on to Kuminga, but if my fantasy team needed that roster spot to avoid falling off over the next three weeks, then dropping Kuminga for help now makes a lot of sense. Maybe you could re-add Kuminga in two or so weeks, but you’ll have to be on top of things and hope to beat every other fantasy owner to him.

Kuminga should be held on to in deeper leagues - he’s just too valuable to drop, especially with his absence being less than a month. If you really need his roster spot right now, maybe he’d be worth throwing on the trade block. A fantasy owner might be willing to send you help now for the future help Kuminga would provide - just don’t expect that player to be quite on Kuminga’s level (he isn’t playing for at least three weeks after all).

Kuminga will be a hot waiver wire name when he’s close to returning, so flag Kuminga so you can stay on top of his recovery process.

Malcolm Brogdon Fantasy Outlook

Brogdon has been dropped in 4.1% of leagues, bringing his overall mark down to 70%.

He’s another player being dropped because of an injury. He suffered a foot injury on Sunday.

This season across 18 games and 13 starts, Brogdon is averaging 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.3 blocks across 24.8 minutes. He’s shooting 44.3% overall and 31.3% from 3-point land.

Brogdon is a pretty big name, so it makes sense to see him owned in as many leagues as he is. But looking at his averages and spot on the Trade Value Chart, I think Brogdon is pretty overrated as a fantasy asset. 

I think Brogdon is more of a deep-league option, with some standard league streaming value. His own percentages this season suggest he’s a borderline nightly starting option, and he’s simply not delivering those kinds of numbers.

I agree that his own percentage should be moving down, especially with the injury. I think it should sit somewhere between 50-60%, and this injury could get him to that level. Brogdon is worth holding on to in deeper leagues, but a lot of the standard league owners who roster him should use this injury to move on from him.

Luke Kennard Fantasy Outlook

Kennard has been dropped in 3.9% of leagues and now sits at 19% overall.

He was previously ruled out for the team’s game on Monday, but was upgraded to questionable. He’s dealt with injuries all season, and it appears fantasy owners were ready to move on with him banged up again.

In 23 games (all off the bench), Kennard is averaging 8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.1 blocks across 21 minutes a night. He’s shooting 43.3% overall and 44.6% from deep.

Kennard is just a deep-league fantasy option at this point, and he has a little more value of late with all the other injuries the team is dealing with. Kennard is definitely a risky fantasy player to count on given his games played and injury concerns himself, but someone has to produce for Memphis, and Kennard is playing enough minutes to rack up decent numbers.

Kennard’s own percentage should probably be going up, but I understand why he’s on the drop list. Once fantasy owners see he’s not out with an injury, his own percentages should move in a positive direction again.

Spencer Dinwiddie Fantasy Outlook

Dinwiddie has been dropped in 3.7% of leagues, bringing his overall mark down to 34%.

He’s the lone player on this drop article today to not be dealing with an injury. He’s probably being dropped most often because of his playing time and production of late.

Across 33 games (six starts) and 22.7 minutes a game this season, Dinwiddie is averaging 9.1 points, 3.4 assists, 2.2 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.2 blocks a game. He’s shooting 37.6% overall and 33.3% from deep.

Most people expected his playing time and usage to increase after Luka Doncic’s injury, and that looked to be the case after back-to-back games with over 35 minutes played and three straight games of double-digit shot attempts. In the past two games, he’s played 25 or less minutes and shot 4-of-14 overall.

Dinwiddie is just a deep-league option at this point, and I still think he’s getting enough playing time to warrant a roster spot in those leagues. His production will need to increase for his own percentage to not keep falling, but here, I think I’d exercise a little caution and hold on to Dinwiddie a little bit longer.

Bench him for a game or two and see if his production improves - if it doesn’t, then that’s when I’d move on from him. Those of you in deeper leagues should at least put him on your watch list in case he gets back in a groove at some point.