NBA Fantasy – Salary Cap Edition: Week 4 update

The start of the Emirates NBA Cup 2024 was supposed to hog this week’s spotlight. There were real stakes at hand, and enticing matchups to boot.
But colossal individual efforts – all on non-Group Play days, no less – have stolen the show. For NBA Fantasy Salary Game players, that’s provided much to drool over.
Here’s more on that, and other need-to-knows midway through Week 4:
Career-highs, season-highs and game-highs – all products of points flowing for some of the league’s biggest scorers. Such marks have been measured often in recent gamedays.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander submitted the first eye-popping performance of the week via 45 points against the Los Angeles Clippers (6-6) on Monday. It was the best single-game total of the seventh-year guard’s career, and it came with a season-high five steals and season-high-tying nine assists, earning fantasy owners 82.1 points.
That would be outdone in just two days’ time. Giannis Antetokounmpo came within 1.7 points of cracking 100 in fantasy by punishing the Detroit Pistons (5-8) defense for 59 – the second-highest mark of his career. Nobody in the NBA had scored more this season, and it was the vintage Giannis outing the struggling Milwaukee Bucks (4-8) needed.
Earlier that same night, Victor Wembanyama became the fourth-youngest player in league history to drop 50 as part of a 71.2-point fantasy outing against the Washington Wizards (2-8). The reigning Kia Rookie of the Year’s prolific rim-defending ability and short-range shotmaking are well established, but he’s now hitting his stride from beyond the arc, going 20-for-37 from deep over his last three games.
Antetokounmpo (649.1), Wembanyama (606.4) and Gilgeous-Alexander (600.2) hold third, fourth and fifth place, respectively, in total fantasy points this season.
Awarding a win of the week before week’s end wouldn’t be fitting, but the Atlanta Hawks (5-7) made a compelling case for premature recognition.
The Hawks went into TD Garden on the opening night of NBA Cup Group Play and left with a 117-116 stunner over the Boston Celtics (10-3). With Trae Young (46.1 fantasy ppg) out, and despite a 30-point loss to Boston last week with his services in tow, Atlanta eked out its biggest win of the campaign for a 1-0 start in East Group C.
A career-best performance from Dyson Daniels (54.1 fantasy points) was crucial in Young’s absence and once again showed why Daniels should be a high-demand acquisition for fantasy owners. He’s now totaled 350.1 fantasy points in all, standing 62nd among all players despite only costing $7.6M.
Atlanta trailed by as much as 15 in the second half, even overcoming 68 combined points from Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, which contributed to 88.7 between the two in fantasy.
La-La Land is becoming prime transaction territory.
The Los Angeles Lakers (7-4) are trending up after dropping four of five, now having won their last three in a row. Every game in that stretch has benefited from a triple-double by LeBron James, who should be one of – if not the – hottest high-end commodities right now following 50-plus fantasy points in six consecutive contests.
The only player ranked above James in total fantasy points who can also boast that streak is Nikola Jokić, never accumulating less than 55 in any of his 10 games this season.
Any concerns about James’ health or production at 39 years old have been quieted by this point. The All-Star forward has started all 11 games for the Lakers while playing at least 33 minutes in 10 of them, and has never pitched in less than 30 fantasy points. If you’re looking to swap out one of your stars for another, James should be at the top of your list.
But if you’re looking for something cheaper than that $16.5M price tag, Clippers center Ivica Zubac is more than a fine candidate. Among the NBA’s top 33 scorers in total fantasy points, Zubac costs the least at $11.1M while ranking 26th. Only twice has he delivered less than 30 while producing upwards of 40 on five other occasions.
A lot of it comes down to the seven double-doubles he’s tallied over the Clippers’ 12 games. And don’t wait too long to bolster your front court at this bargain – his salary may very well increase by the end of Week 4.