Welcome back to “Stock Up Stock Down.” Now into November, we’ve got a still-small, but larger sample size of games to react to with Week 2 officially in the books. There have been some pleasant surprises, and also more than a few worrisome trends that are worth discussing.
Let’s talk about them.
📺 → Watch the NBA Coast 2 Coast Tuesday on NBC and Peacock: The Magic take on the Hawks at 8pm ET, followed by the undefeated Thunder at the Clippers at 11 pm ET. Both games are available on Peacock. Check your local listings for the NBC game in your area.
📈 STOCK UP
Ryan Rollins, PG, Bucks
Ryan Rollins is one of the hottest names in the NBA, and deservingly so. In his six starts following the Kevin Porter Jr. opening-night injury, he’s scored in double figures each time, including two games with 25 or more points. He’s also tallied at least seven assists in four of the starts, while draining 11 three-pointers over the past four games. Porter Jr.’s Game 1 ankle injury preceded a recent knee injury suffered during a team workout that led to surgery and will sideline him for around another month. Rollins will keep his spot in the lineup for at least the time being, which could make him one of the trendier roster additions in fantasy leagues.
Jonathan Kuminga, SF, PF, Warriors
While we’ve only reached November, about two weeks of basketball is enough for me to feel confident that this version of Jonathan Kuminga the Warriors are currently getting is not a fluke. The three-point shooting appears to be a real improvement, while the rebounding and slight step forward as a playmaker are nice additions to his game that have provided slight boosts to his fantasy production. More importantly, however, is that it appears his fit with the Warriors is there, which was rarely the case a season ago. He’s one of the younger players in Golden State’s rotation, which is valuable alone when considering the ages and wear on the bodies of a lot of the Warriors’ main guys. I like the path Kuminga has started on and am looking forward to seeing where it can take him. Stock up.
Jrue Holiday, PG, Trail Blazers
Given the age and the usage over the past two seasons in Boston in a complementary role, it was likely very easy (and understandable) for fantasy players to close the book on Jrue Holiday’s time as a productive point guard. But instead of closing the book, he’s turned back the pages and transformed back into a true lead guard with the potential to stuff the stat sheet on a nightly basis. Up until Monday’s loss to the Lakers, the 17-year veteran had tallied the most threes (2.5) and assists per game (8.7) of his career, while averaging his most points per game (18.2) since his time in Milwaukee. He had one of his least productive games of the season on Monday, but the Trail Blazers have been good to start the season, with Holiday’s contributions on the court playing a massive role. If they remain good, there’s a high likelihood he continues functioning as a high-usage guard.
“Ice Trae” will be sidelined for at least four weeks after spraining his MCL last week.
📉 STOCK DOWN
Trey Murphy, SF, PF, Pelicans
If we’re looking solely at the two most recent Pelicans games, Murphy might not make a ton of sense as a “stock down” player. But even with a slight upward trend of late, those two recent performances aren’t coming close to the type of lines many expected the versatile two-way forward to consistently put forth in his fifth NBA season. His current scoring averages are at their lowest since his sophomore season, while the shooting splits from the field and from beyond the arc are career lows at the moment. Given how the 2024-25 campaign went for Murphy and him still being a young player, it doesn’t seem likely that his production will remain insignificant for an extended period of time. However, the Pelicans are 0-6 as I write this, with negative discourse surrounding the state of the organization and its outlook. Murphy rounding back into form isn’t an inevitability.
Jakob Poeltl, C, Raptors
The start to Poeltl’s 2025-26 season has been an unideal one. He’s dealt with a back injury that’s kept him in street clothes for Toronto’s last three games, but even before the injury, he’d been significantly less productive statistically than he had been a season ago. He’s currently down 8.0 points and over 4.0 rebounds per game while playing fewer than half of the possible 48.0 minutes per game across his four appearances. The good news for those fantasy managers who may have Poeltl rostered is that the four-game sample size is incredibly small for a proven veteran, and he’s remained Toronto’s starting center despite seeing fewer minutes. Still, what to expect moving forward feels hard to predict.
Domantas Sabonis, C, Kings
It’s been a rough start to the season over in Sacramento. The Kings own a 2-5 record, one of the worst defenses in the league, and their best players are failing to make a substantial impact. More specifically, Sabonis is struggling to make land his usual production on offense. He’s scoring his fewest points (14.5) and tallying his lowest amount of assists per game (4.0) since his third NBA season, back when he had yet to become a full-time starter in this league. If it weren’t for his sustained dominance on the glass, the concerns from a fantasy basketball standpoint would be even greater. The season is still young, however, a pessimistic view going forward for a player on a team that doesn’t seem to have a great plan of action moving forward seems fair.
