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Read below for weekly rankings and start/sit recommendations
These rankings are based on the assumption that all players and teams play their games as scheduled over the next week...yeah, I know. But it's the best we've got. I'm positive that you'll stay plugged in to potential absences and schedule changes due to COVID-19 up until rosters lock on Monday, and adjust your lineups accordingly. With that said...
...so, you're in a weekly transaction league, and half of your line-up is unavailable. You need to decide by Monday evening who your starting lineup will be for the week. Should you consider sitting a usual impact starter like Mikal Bridges? Or perhaps starting someone like Isaac Okoro, who might generally be on your bench, perhaps even your waiver wire? And there is a massive update on Kyrie Irving this week that changes everything down the stretch.
A full 23 teams play at least four games this week, with the Cavaliers leading the way with five. Thus, every Cavalier on your team is a potential start this week on shear game volume. One thing to watch, though, is that Jarrett Allen is listed as potentially returning from injury absence early in the week. If that happens, it could negatively impact the outputs of Cavs forwards like Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Love, Cedi Osman or Okoro. But, even with that said, five games may be enough to consider starting any of them.
On the flip side, the Grizzlies and Suns are among seven teams with only three games. This could be enough to have you consider sitting them, especially the Suns who may not have so much to play for down the stretch. Some Grizzlies may be worth starting, even with only three games, because Ja Morant is expected to be sidelined which could cause the other players to have larger than usual roles.
Oh. And if by some miracle you haven't heard, NEW YORK HAS LIFTED ITS VACCINE MANDATE! This is not a drill. It means that Kyrie Irving, who only had two road games left this season, is suddenly eligible to play everywhere except Canada. And, since he didn't have any games scheduled against the Raptors this week, he flies up to the top of the rankings and should stay there for the rest of the season.
Check out the overall rankings to get a more in depth look at how we think things might go next week among the 300+ players in the main database, and check out the high points at a glance with the Startable and Sittable lists below.
