Fantasy Basketball Mailbag: Is Nuggets prospect Michael Porter Jr. worth adding?

It’s that time of the week again, ready to dive into the fantasy mailbag and answer your questions from Twitter and Instagram to try and help you make the most of your fantasy team. Let’s get to it.

@Zizhoops Is Michael Porter Jr. a must add?

There is no denying that Porter is putting up some spectacular games of late and in his last two games over the last week, he is the 26th ranked player, averaging 42.80 fantasy points per contest.

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Context is everything though, and the Nuggets were without Gary Harris and Paul Millsap in those games and Jamal Murray for all of one game and most of the other.

Losing three starters will give a boost to the bench guys and Porter, to his credit, took full advantage.

He was is shooting 63% from deep in those games, as well as averaging 2.0 steals, numbers which have zero chance of being maintained.

So yes, while Murray and Harris are out, Porter is going to benefit, but when they return there just aren’t enough minutes in the Nuggets rotation, nor enough confidence in him being an elite shooter to have him as a must roster guy for the rest of the season.

@stevebassett44 Is Caris LeVert still worth holding?

As much of a LeVert fan as I am, I just don’t see how we can view him that way.

LeVert is averaging just 24.08 points per game this season in 28 minutes a game, and that places him outside the top 130 for the season.

Since he returned from his thumb injury, it’s been worse, getting us only 19.47 fantasy points per contest.

He is shooting poorly and isn’t generating defensive numbers, and it’s even worse in category leagues.

While Kenny Atkinson has claimed he was on a minutes limit, you don’t need to play that little after coming back from a thumb issue and it appears that with Spencer Dinwiddie continuing to start, LeVert will remain in a smaller, bench role for the foreseeable future.

He may be better than this, but his upside isn’t high enough to have him clogging up a roster spot that could be used to take fliers on either immediate producers or guys with more long term upside.

@atetoomuch When (if at all) should we look at picking up Steph Curry?

If you haven’t heard, Steph Curry has a return date.

The two-time MVP is targeting a return for March 1, approximately six weeks from now.

Any time you can add a player of Curry’s calibre to your team you should, right? It’s not quite that simple.

You have to imagine that he will be limited when he first returns having not played since October and the Warriors will be cautious with his playing time.

Fortunately though, he isn’t coming back from any sort of lower-body injury, or wear and tear scenario that would be worsened by playing too much.

As for when you add him, there is no right or wrong answer.

If you have an open IL spot, he is an easy add, especially if you were holding off assuming he wasn’t returning.

If you are fighting for a playoff spot, you can’t afford six weeks of zeros from one slot and that’s not even including any other injuries that may occur during this time.

Are you locked into the top two in your payoffs? Then, by all means, add Curry now.

Usually, if you are fighting for a spot, a 2-3 week period of zeros can be dealt with if you have no other hurt players, but by the time that comes around, I doubt Steph will be available.

This is another example of why ALL leagues should have IL, so the top teams can’t make themselves stronger by adding players that were dropped out of necessity.

@NJCuenca Are there any big name players that are good to trade away because their schedules are bad during fantasy playoff time?

It should be mentioned straight away that your playoffs may vary, but the default playoff settings have the final matchup occurring between 30th March and 5th April.

The first playoff week would, therefore, be starting 16th March.

During that timeframe of 16th March to 5th April, one team, the Bulls, play nine games, while every other team play either 10 or 11 games. That really isn’t much difference at all.

One extra game over three weeks is minimal, but there are a few things to look at. For one, the Nets begin the fantasy playoffs with a two-game week. It’s the only two-game week in that three week period.

If you have to play in the playoffs’ first week, guys like Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie are at a significant disadvantage.

But if you feel confident of locking in a first-round bye, looking at those final two weeks may be something you can forward plan for.

The Pacers, the Suns, and those aforementioned Nets all play four games each in Week 23 and Week 24, the final two weeks of the playoffs.

If you compare that to the Hawks, the Mavericks, the Warriors, the Pelicans, and the Bulls, who play three games in those weeks, it’s a two-game advantage and that can be significant.

So guys like Luka Dončić, Trae Young, Steph Curry (he will be back), D’Angelo Russell, Zach LaVine, Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson, and Brandon Ingram could end up being worse than plays like Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Domantas Sabonis, maybe Victor Oladipo, and Irving in those final two matchups.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and keep an eye out for the next mailbag tweet to gather your questions.