Basketball Pickups: Dante Exum shines on Tuesday

With Kyrie Irving sidelined for a second consecutive game with a heel contusion and lacking a timeline for return, Tuesday was the time for fantasy managers to commit to Dante Exum truly. Rostered in 30% of Yahoo leagues, the fifth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft struggled with injuries before heading to Europe to kickstart his career. Having signed with the Mavericks this past summer, he’s gone from being on the back end of the rotation to figuring prominently in it, thanks to injuries to Irving and Josh Green.

Tuesday’s 127-125 win over the Lakers was Exum’s best game of the season, as he hit seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 26 points while also tallying four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one blocked shot in 36 minutes. With the Lakers willing to live with him shooting, Exum made eight of his 10 field-goal attempts on the night, and the seven threes were one less than his total for the season entering Tuesday (8-of-28).

Due to Irving and Green’s injuries and Seth Curry’s having to exit Tuesday’s game with a sore ankle, managers who didn’t stream Exum beforehand should look to hop onto the bandwagon. Dallas still has two more games on the schedule for Week 8: Thursday night against the Timberwolves and Saturday against the Trail Blazers in Portland. Even if he doesn’t duplicate Tuesday’s scoring explosion, Exum has hit double figures in his last three starts, totaling 14 rebounds, 16 assists, three steals, and two blocked shots.

Let’s take a look at a few more of Tuesday’s top pickups:

Reggie Jackson (34%)

With Jamal Murray (ankles) sidelined, fantasy managers knew that Jackson would take on a more prominent role as his replacement in the starting lineup. No one knew that Nikola Jokic would be thrown out during the second quarter of Tuesday’s game in Chicago (on Serbian Heritage Night). That meant even more playmaking responsibilities were placed on Jackson’s shoulders, and he came through. He finished the 114-106 victory with 25 points, two rebounds, six assists, and five 3-pointers, shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 2-of-2 from the foul line. Jackson has now scored 20 points or more in each of his last five starts filling in for Murray.

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Grant Williams (15%)

Returning to the Mavericks’ win over the Lakers, the absences mentioned above also meant more shots for Williams. After missing three games with a sore right knee, he knocked down five 3-pointers and finished the win over the Lakers with 19 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 40 minutes. Williams, who shot 7-of-9 from the field, playing 40 minutes in his first game back is an encouraging sign, and the absence of Derrick Jones Jr. (quad) factored into the heavy workload.

Norman Powell (38%)

Powell wasn’t a pickup before Tuesday’s game against the Kings, but the situation changed during the first half of the Clippers’ 20-point victory. Paul George exited with a groin injury and did not return for the second half, with Powell filling the void in the lineup. Playing 27 minutes, he finished with 15 points, one rebound, two assists, and two 3-pointers. It’s not the most remarkable stat line, but Powell’s value will increase if George can’t play in Thursday’s game against the Warriors.

Dario Saric (40%)

Saric also saw his fantasy value increase during Tuesday’s action, but not because of an injury. Draymond Green was ejected during the third quarter of the Warriors’ loss to the Suns after being assessed a Flagrant 2 for striking Jusuf Nurkic in the face. Following the game, Green contended that he was merely trying to sell a foul as he believed Nurkic was holding his waist, and he apologized for his action.

However, if a suspension is handed down, that would enhance Saric’s value. He finished the game with 15 points, four rebounds, one assist, and two 3-pointers in 20 minutes off the bench. Also worth noting are his numbers during Green’s five-game suspension last month: 14.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.2 3-pointers in 23.4 minutes while shooting 51% from the field and 80% from the foul line.

Fantasy managers should also keep tabs on Jonathan Kuminga (24%), Moses Moody (6%), and Brandin Podziemski (5%). All three played well against the Suns, with Kuminga and Podziemski replacing the struggling Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins in the closing lineup.