The Miami Heat’s real-life season is firmly underway, so that means that the Fantasy NBA Season must be in full tilt as well.
Nearly every fantasy basketball league is heading into Week 9 of its regular season on Monday, December 13. This means that most fantasy managers are roughly halfway through their season and are ready to take stock of their roster to ensure a successful playoff push.
Could this mean adding red-hot free agents like Caleb Martin? Let’s take a look.
With the Miami Heat playing a four-game week in Week 9, managers could look to add a Heat player off of the waiver wire to ramp up their games played for a weekly matchup.
Now, this would have been a surefire add before he entered the NBA’s Health And Safety Protocols, but still may be something to keep an eye on.
Getting to it though, Miami has been an interesting team from a fantasy perspective. Carried by intense steal and free throw numbers, Jimmy Butler leads the team in total value, per Basketball Monster.
Butler ranks 10th this season on an 8-category per game basis. Just like he is in reality, Jimmy leads them from a fantasy production perspective too but, of course, he has a little help.
Miami Heat Fantasy Basketball: A Healthy Caleb Martin A Must-Roster
In contrast, the only other Miami Heat player in the top-50 is Kyle Lowry, whom for when using the same metric, ranks 49th.
Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro both sneak into the top-75 at 66th and 71st, respectively. Every other member of the Miami Heat is ranked outside the top-175 on a per-game basis over the course of the entire season so far.
What does this mean for fantasy managers going forward? Jimmy Butler has dealt with a nagging tailbone injury over the past several games.
Bam Adebayo looks to still be out a month or so longer at this point too.
Contending with all of that, it has given plenty of role players extra opportunity and fantasy value on a short-term basis.
Using the aforementioned metric of player ranking, the Heat have an astounding nine players with top-175 value over the past two weeks. Yea, that’s a ton of production in real life or from a fantasy perspective.
That includes Butler (30th), Lowry (61st), Herro (125th), and Adebayo (137th)— all remaining on the list, but also now includes Gabe Vincent (114th), Caleb Martin (120th), Max Strus (141st), P.J. Tucker (156th), and Dewayne Dedmon (167th). They have all joined the top-175 over the past two weeks.
Of these newcomers, Vincent and Martin have been given the largest opportunity and have received the largest bump in ranking with the Heat’s All-Star duo sidelined. What does it all mean though?
Miami Heat Fantasy Basketball: Caleb Martin Needs To Get Back Quickly
While they probably should not be rostered in a standard 12-team league once Butler and Adebayo both return, Vincent and Martin are putting up decent counting stats with consistent minutes, which makes them a target for any manager looking to stream in a player off of the waiver wire for a few games.
Vincent, who appeals more to the guard stats (3’s, assists, steals, free throw percentage), has averaged fewer minutes and has settled into a rotation spot coming off the bench.
Martin, on the other hand, has found himself in the starting lineup on multiple occasions and is the overall better player to add from a fantasy perspective.
Martin, who is ranked 28th overall in the past week, was locked into the starting lineup as long as Butler was to remain to absent. His situation is fluid now though with him, again, being in protocols, but is still worth a monitor with Bam still scheduled to miss more time.
With Butler missing this past Saturday’s win over the Chicago Bulls and the Heat’s upcoming four-game week, Vincent and Martin remain must-watch players for standard 12-team leagues. If Caleb can get back more sooner than later, he’s a surefire add.