A few weeks ago, Nikola Jokic was sitting at 50th on the Player Rater as he came off a stretch of five single-digit scoring efforts in eight games. I pointed out that this made him an excellent buy-low candidate because his history reveals that he typically has slow starts in the first 20 or so games of the season before exploding into a top-five player after that.
Since the day that article ran, Jokic has averaged 22.8 PPG (55.6 FG%), 10.3 RPG, 8.3 APG and 1.9 3PG and has jumped into the top 20 on the Player Rater.
A player's history often gives us a good idea of what to expect from him moving forward. There are other players who, like Jokic, have a tendency to pick things up as the season goes along. They might not be off to particularly slow starts, but their histories suggest that whatever levels they are currently operating at are likely their floors moving forward.
As Lizzo would say, some players are (only) great 'til they gotta be great -- then they fade down the stretch and leave fantasy managers scrambling for the fantasy basketball playoffs. But not these guys. Here is a holiday wish list of potential trade targets for fantasy basketball teams. This group of players delivers in the second half of the season.