NBA

Daily Fantasy Basketball Stats Watch: Aaron Gordon's Tipping Point

Gordon continues to trend upward in February. Who else is doing the same?

Sometimes it's obvious when an underutilized player deserves more playing time.

Sometimes, it's not.

Whether it's team philosophy, goals, or something behind the scenes that we -- the public -- don't know about, there always seems something ready to hold back certain talented players.

For Aaron Gordon, those days are in the past.

The Orlando Magic power forward has been drawing starts since late January, and he's making the most of his opportunities.

That's why his stats are on the uptick even a full month after earning the starting gig.

What else should you know about from the past three weeks of NBA action? Here are some of the biggest movers and shakers among players who have averaged at least 20 minutes per game on the season and in the past three weeks.

Minutes

Even after starting for more than a month, Gordon's minutes boost in the past three weeks places him in the top 10 among qualified players.

Player Season MPG Last 3 Wk Change
E'Twaun Moore 20.3 31.0 10.7
Dante Cunningham 21.2 30.4 9.2
Gorgui Dieng 26.5 35.3 8.8
Jabari Parker 29.9 38.2 8.3
Archie Goodwin 20.9 29.1 8.2
Wesley Johnson 20.1 28.3 8.2
Zach LaVine 25.2 33.3 8.1
Aaron Gordon 22.8 30.8 8.0
Myles Turner 21.9 29.5 7.6
Devin Booker 23.9 31.3 7.4


None of these names should surprise the seasoned DFS player, but anybody checking out season-long averages will be missing out, so don't make that mistake.

Conversely, some players are seeing a dip in minutes, including Kevin Love, whose 32 minutes per game has dropped to 29.4 in the past three weeks. Omri Casspi, though, has dropped nearly eight minutes per game in his five contests (from 28.7 to 20.8).

Points

Player Season PPG Last 3 Wk Change
Damian Lillard 25.4 33.3 7.9
Chandler Parsons 13.3 20.8 7.5
Alex Len 7.7 15.2 7.5
Doug McDermott 9.2 16.5 7.3
James Harden 28.5 35.5 7.0
Jrue Holiday 15.6 22.1 6.5
Derrick Rose 16.5 23.0 6.5
Jabari Parker 12.1 18.3 6.2
Luol Deng 11.5 17.6 6.1
Chris Paul 19.8 25.6 5.8


Damian Lillard keeps on keepin' on, and he's boosted his True Shooting Percentage by 6.7 percentage points and his Effective Field Goal Percentage by 5.4 points while seeing his Usage Rate jump from 31.2% to 35.1% in the past three weeks, the highest of any qualified player.

Alex Len, though, has seen the biggest Usage Bump (7.5 points) to 26.8% in the past three weeks. Only Stephen Curry (70.4%) has a higher Effective Field Goal Percentage among non-centers than Chandler Parsons (66.5%) in this span.

Seven players who average double digit points on the season have seen a drop of at least three points per game in the past three weeks: Al-Farouq Aminu, Arron Afflalo, Omri Casspi, Draymond Green, Allen Crabbe, Nicolas Batum, and Kent Bazemore. Only Afflalo (10.7) and Batum (10) have maintained double-digit scoring averages in the past three weeks.

Rebounds

Gordon finds himself near the top of the rebound leaderboard of late.

Player Season RPG Last 3 Wk Change
Luol Deng 5.4 9.9 4.5
Aaron Gordon 6.4 10.0 3.6
Robin Lopez 6.9 10.4 3.5
Alex Len 6.5 9.7 3.2
Jabari Parker 5.1 8.0 2.9
Wesley Johnson 3.1 6.0 2.9
Hassan Whiteside 11.5 14.3 2.8
Giannis Antetokounmpo 7.5 10.1 2.6
Iman Shumpert 3.5 6.0 2.5
Justise Winslow 5.4 7.4 2.0


Gordon is one of 16 players to average at least 10 boards per game in this span. Hassan Whiteside is second in Rebound Rate (23.3%), and Len (22.2%) is fourth. Len's Offensive Rebound Rate has jumped by 3.4 percentage points, the third highest boost. Luol Deng (3.7 points) and Robin Lopez (2.5 points) have also seen a jump on the offensive glass.

Lopez's teammate, Kristaps Porzingis has dipped from 7.4 boards per game to 4.7, the biggest decline measured (2.7). Kevin Love (10.1 to 7.5, a difference of 2.6) was the only other player to drop by more than 1.6 boards per game.

Assists

Only seven players added more than 1.6 assists per game compared to their season average in the past three weeks.

Player Season APG Last 3 Wk Change
Pau Gasol 3.8 7.0 3.2
Jrue Holiday 5.8 8.6 2.8
Giannis Antetokounmpo 3.1 5.3 2.2
Devin Booker 1.8 3.9 2.1
Rajon Rondo 12.0 14.0 2.0
LeBron James 6.6 8.6 2.0
Marcus Morris 2.6 4.5 1.9


Thanks to a 14-assist game, Pau Gasol is tied for 12th in the league in assists in the past three weeks. But in six of his eight games in that span, he's handed out at least five assists.

Though his scoring and usage are up, Lillard has dropped 1.6 assists per game from his 7.0 average recently, and Michael Carter-Williams has seen a big drop -- from 5.2 to 3.0 in the past three weeks.

Fantasy Points

And our main man for this trend has turned his opportunities into big fantasy points of late, too.

PlayerSeasonFP Last 3 WkChange
Aaron Gordon20.5333.1012.57
Jrue Holiday28.5840.7212.14
Luol Deng21.7833.7311.95
Alex Len18.1529.4911.34
Chris Paul40.8551.8711.02
Jabari Parker21.5731.259.68
Giannis Antetokounmpo31.5540.679.12
Hassan Whiteside34.2543.168.91
Robin Lopez21.8330.688.85
E'Twaun Moore12.6721.508.83


Jrue Holiday has parlayed his 6.5-points-per-game boost into extra fantasy points, and his Usage Rate of 33% ranks fifth in the past three weeks, behind only Lillard (35.1%), DeMarcus Cousins (34.5%), Curry (33.9%), and James Harden (33.5%).