Fantasy Basketball: Start/Sit Guide, Week 2

The new NBA season is already off to a momentous start, and the first full week of the Fantasy season is upon us. 

Each week, we’ll aim to highlight a pair of Start candidates per position for your Fantasy rosters that may shape up as some of the tougher calls of the week to make, with the focus usually being on players with a start rate of 50% or less in Yahoo leagues. We’ll also typically be focusing on players with four-game weeks to maximize production opportunities.

Likewise, we’ll also spotlight one Sit candidate at each position that would typically not be a consideration for a spot on your bench, with the focus often on players with fewer games during the coming week.

Teams with 4 games: Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

Teams with 3 games: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards

Teams with 2 games: Sacramento Kings 

Without further ado, let’s examine some start/sit decisions for Week 2:

GUARDS

Start: Terrence Ross, Magic 

36% start rate 

Ross is slotting into the starting two-guard role for the time being with Gary Harris (knee) and now Jalen Suggs (ankle) out for the foreseeable future. The veteran is always capable of getting hot from distance and shoring up your scoring categories. He’s also opened the new season with a trio of four-rebound efforts, showing more life in that area than customary. With four games on the docket this week and a potential starting opportunity in each, Ross could provide a temporary offensive boost to your lineup. 

Start: Max Strus, Heat

27% start rate 

Strus is another sharpshooting guard that can pile up some points, and the experience he picked up during the Heat’s 2021-22 run in the postseason seems to be paying dividends early. A confident Strus has opened the new campaign with averages of 14.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists, plus 57.1 percent shooting, including 47.1 percent from behind the arc. That’s even factoring in one dud against the Celtics, underscoring his effectiveness in the other two contests. Strus has also encouragingly seen over 30 minutes off the bench in two games already, and he should be primed for another busy week with four games on the Heat’s ledger.

ALSO CONSIDER: Spencer Dinwiddie, DAL (23% start rate)

Sit: Terry Rozier, Hornets 

54% start rate 

Rozier has only three games in the coming week and enters it with an ankle sprain that already cost him Sunday’s contest against the Hawks. The veteran has gotten off to a solid start with 23.5 points, 8.5 assists, 7.0 rebounds and even 1.5 blocks over the first pair of contests, but he presents too much risk with the potential for more absences in the coming days.

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FORWARDS         

Start: Eric Gordon, Rockets

6% start rate 

Gordon is a veteran mainstay on an otherwise young Rockets roster, and he remains a steadying force that seems locked into his starting small forward role for the time being. The Rockets don’t have any back-to-back sets this coming four-game week, so Gordon should have a good chance of taking the floor for each contest. The week opens with a pair of games against the surprising Jazz, who are allowing 116.3 points per contest. Gordon is averaging 14.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds over his first two games and can get hot from distance on any given night.

Start: Christian Wood, Mavericks

45% start rate 

Wood’s start rate isn’t going to be this low for much longer. Wood has been an instant hit in Dallas, opening his Mavs tenure with back-to-back 25-point efforts, along with eight- and 12-rebound tallies in those contests. He can also contribute defensively. Even though he’s in a bench role, he’s put up the production above in 24.5 minutes per game, easing any concerns about opportunity, especially on a four-game week.

ALSO CONSIDER: Isaiah Jackson, Pacers (49% start rate)

Sit: Jerami Grant, Trail Blazers

86% start rate

Grant is still figuring out his fit in a talented Blazers starting five. He’s been up and down over the first three games. Grant isn’t going to be as needed on the offensive end in Portland as he was in Detroit. He’s opened with a solid but below-his-standard average of 15.7 points in his first three contests. With just a three-game week ahead of him, you may get better overall production from a similarly talented four-game option on your roster.

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CENTERS       

Start: Isaiah Stewart, Pistons

32% start rate 

Stewart’s start to the new season has been noteworthy, as the young big has added three-point shooting to his repertoire and is putting up 11.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per contest. To be clear, nothing is actually working well on the shooting front yet for Stewart in his small three-game sample – he sports an abysmal 32.0 percent success rate from the floor, including 21.4 percent from distance – but he’s averaging 4.7 three-point attempts per game, which certainly is helping pull down the overall numbers. Stewart still has a pair of double-digit scoring tallies in the first three contests and will get straightened out in time, with four more chances coming up this week for him to offer your lineup solid multi-category production. 

Start: James Wiseman, Warriors

44% start rate 

Wiseman hasn’t reclaimed the starting center role he held back in his rookie season, but he’s looking healthy again after missing the 2021-22 campaign because of his knee issues. The young big enters the new week having put together consecutive double-digit scoring efforts and averaging 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 72.2 percent. His playing time rose to 20 minutes in Sunday’s game against the Kings, and Wiseman could begin to ramp up further as he rounds back into form. A bench role may not be the worst thing for his fantasy prospects, as he’ll typically share the floor with fewer of the Warriors’ ultra-high-usage offensive options in that capacity. 

ALSO CONSIDER: Kelly Olynyk, Jazz (52% start rate)

Sit: Domantas Sabonis, Kings 

66% start rate

Sabonis enters the new week with back-to-back double-doubles after a more modest showing in the opener against Portland, but the biggest blemish on the big man is that he’ll have just two opportunities to take the floor this coming week. Sacramento’s light schedule dings Sabonis’ outlook. You’ll likely be better off deploying a player with more short-term opportunities unless you find yourself in dire straits at the position.