Fantasy Basketball Tank Watch: 5 players Dan Titus is worried about heading for the second half of the season

The second half is when NBA front offices start making “business decisions.” Here are five players I’m worried about in fantasy basketball as their teams race to the bottom for the 2026 draft.

Trae Young, Washington Wizards

Young’s not getting re-evaluated until after the All-Star break. The Wizards are at 10 wins and are getting more reps for second-year PG Bub Carrington while Trae is out. At this point, prioritizing the development of the young core of Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson and Alex Sarr is paramount. But just as vital is securing that top-eight protected pick. To do that, they need to finish with at least the fourth-worst record at the end of the season. As of Wednesday, they’re right on track, which reduces the need to rush Young back.

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Before the trade, Trae was averaging 19.3 and 8.9 — decent, but nothing like peak Trae. Even if he comes back, you’re looking at rest games every other week and mysterious “soreness” whenever they hit a back-to-back. Washington’s got no reason to play him deep into the season. Love the ceiling, hate everything else about this situation, though. I’d try to sell whenever he makes it back to the court.

Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers

The Pacers are also stuck at 10 wins through Wednesday. Without Tyrese Haliburton, Siakam’s putting up 23.8 points, 7.0 boards, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Over his last 10 games, though, he’s giving fantasy managers a reason to sell-high, bumping those numbers up to 25/8/5. The unfortunate news is that Siakam is 31, playing for a team that is firmly playing for more lottery balls.

Benedict Mathurin’s probably getting moved; the Pacers lost Turner over the summer, so Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard are the main guys left to make this team remotely competitive. Playing Siakam heavy minutes late into March does nothing for Indiana except risk injury to one of their building blocks in a lost year. I’d get out of the Siakam business before the unofficial official injury antics begin.

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Michael Porter Jr., Brooklyn Nets

MPJ morphed into a legitimate All-Star, with 25.7 points, 7.4 boards, 3.2 assists, 3.8 3s…

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Author : Dan Titus

Publish date : 2026-01-22 15:43:00

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