With 22 teams playing four games, Week 7 is prime time to maximize the schedule and rise up the fantasy basketball rankings. This start/sit guide acts as your essential fantasy basketball cheat sheet, focusing on players whose NBA player stats are trending up due to secure roles and favorable schedules.
We analyze breakout NBA sleepers like Reed Sheppard, who remained in the NBA starting lineup despite Kevin Durant's return, and Peyton Watson, whose value is soaring due to ongoing NBA injuries to Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun. Conversely, we advise sitting low-volume players like Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan due to their two-game week.
Find out who to target the rest of the way with RotoWire's NBA Projections!
NBA Schedule
- Four Games: ATL, BKN, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, GSW, HOU, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIL, NYK, ORL, PHI, POR, TOR, UTA, WAS
- Three Games: IND, MEM, MIN, NOP, OKC, SAS
- Two Games: PHO, SAC
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, lineups, roster changes and more, head to RotoWire's NBA News or follow @RotoWireNBA on X.
Fantasy Basketball Start/Sit Guide for Week 7
Guards
Consider starting: Reed Sheppard, HOU 
Opponents: @UTA, SAC, PHO, @DAL
Despite the return of Kevin Durant, Sheppard remained in the starting lineup during Sunday's win over the Jazz. His role had been a point of contention prior to Durant's absence, with Sheppard continuously coming off the bench. In his three starts, Sheppard has averaged
With 22 teams playing four games, Week 7 is prime time to maximize the schedule and rise up the fantasy basketball rankings. This start/sit guide acts as your essential fantasy basketball cheat sheet, focusing on players whose NBA player stats are trending up due to secure roles and favorable schedules.
We analyze breakout NBA sleepers like Reed Sheppard, who remained in the NBA starting lineup despite Kevin Durant's return, and Peyton Watson, whose value is soaring due to ongoing NBA injuries to Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun. Conversely, we advise sitting low-volume players like Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan due to their two-game week.
Find out who to target the rest of the way with RotoWire's NBA Projections!
NBA Schedule
- Four Games: ATL, BKN, BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, GSW, HOU, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIL, NYK, ORL, PHI, POR, TOR, UTA, WAS
- Three Games: IND, MEM, MIN, NOP, OKC, SAS
- Two Games: PHO, SAC
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, lineups, roster changes and more, head to RotoWire's NBA News or follow @RotoWireNBA on X.
Fantasy Basketball Start/Sit Guide for Week 7
Guards
Consider starting: Reed Sheppard, HOU
Opponents: @UTA, SAC, PHO, @DAL
Despite the return of Kevin Durant, Sheppard remained in the starting lineup during Sunday's win over the Jazz. His role had been a point of contention prior to Durant's absence, with Sheppard continuously coming off the bench. In his three starts, Sheppard has averaged 15.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 2.0 three-pointers and 4.0 combined steals and blocks. It remains to be seen whether Sheppard will continue to start, although Sunday was an encouraging development. With four games on the slate, it's time to activate Sheppard across all formats.
Consider sitting: Zach LaVine, SAC 
Opponents: @HOU, @MIA
The Kings continue to be one of the more disappointing teams in the league. The roster construction raised a lot of questions coming into the season, questions that remain relevant six weeks into the season. LaVine has been solid enough on the offensive end, providing Sacramento with a consistent scoring threat. In seven games over the past two weeks, LaVine has averaged 17.4 points, 1.1 steals and 1.9 three-pointers. However, his supporting stats are less than ideal, averaging 2.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.0 blocks during that time. With only two games coming up, LaVine is someone to seriously consider moving to the bench, especially if your squad is ripe with scoring threats.
Consider sitting: Grayson Allen, PHO 
Opponents: @LAL, @HOU
Allen has been fantastic thus far, averaging 17.9 points, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 3.8 three-pointers per game through his first 14 appearances. However, having recently returned from an injury-related absence, Allen could remain on some sort of minute restriction for at least the next week. He scored 10 points in his first game back, logging 25 minutes. Given there are so many teams suiting up four times, it makes sense to have Allen on your bench, factoring in all the variables that could still be present regarding his short-term role.
Forwards
Consider starting: Noah Clowney, BKN 
Opponents: CHA, @CHI, UTA, NOP
After showing promise for the past two years, it appears as though Clowney has finally carved out a consistent role in the Brooklyn rotation. Prior to Saturday's blowout loss to the Bucks, Clowney had played at least 35 minutes in four straight games. In six appearances over the past two weeks, he has averaged 17.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.0 three-pointers and 2.1 combined steals and blocks. He has scored double digits in 11 of his past 13 games, while his defensive numbers have started to trend in the right direction. The Nets have four games this week, three of which are against favorable opponents. It's simple. Get him active.
Consider starting: Peyton Watson, DEN 
Opponents: DAL, @IND, @ATL, @CHA
Watson has taken full advantage of the fact that Denver is dealing with a couple of significant injuries, those being to Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun. He has moved into the starting lineup, subsequently putting up career-best numbers. He has been a top 50 player over the past two weeks, averaging 16.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.3 three-pointers and 1.6 combined steals and blocks in seven appearances. Both Gordon and Braun are likely to miss at least another month, likely making Watson a key piece of the rotation moving forward. Denver is another team with four games, three of which are team-friendly. Get Watson into your starting lineups.
Consider sitting: DeMar DeRozan, SAC
Opponents: @HOU, @MIA
Much like LaVine, DeRozan has been a little up and down thus far, not surprising given the state of things in Sacramento. While he has stepped things up over the past two weeks, his numbers are still somewhat underwhelming. During that span, he has averaged 17.6 points, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 31.4 minutes per contest. Understandably, his motivation is lacking at times, meaning another poor performance could be just around the corner. In a case of quantity over quality, DeRozan moving to the bench for a quiet week could be the smart move.
Centers
Consider starting: Moussa Diabate, CHA 
Opponents: @BKN, @NYK, @TOR, DEN
Diabate continues to come off the bench behind Ryan Kalkbrenner and yet has been able to remain relevant in standard leagues. Through 20 appearances, Diabate is averaging 9.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in just 22.9 minutes per game. His playing time is tough to project, with head coach Charles Lee opting to make rotation-based decisions on the fly, based on the individual matchup. However, starting a player who could hypothetically get you 40 rebounds and 10 defensive stats could be worth the risk.
Consider sitting: Derik Queen, NOP 
Opponents: MIN, MIN, @BKN
Queen remains in the starting lineup despite his recent play, turning out a combined -63 in his past three games. He has been outside the top 180 in the past week, averaging 8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in just 21.0 minutes per game. It's hard to get a good read on what is going on in New Orleans, meaning Queen's potential value is really up in the air. He is worth holding, given what we saw from him earlier in the season. However, moving him to the bench until things settle down seems like a viable option.
