Fantasy Focus: NBA Week 21 Salary Cap Update

The playoff picture is becoming clearer, as teams at the top and bottom of the standings have accepted their positions. This shift has opened up more opportunities for certain bench players to shine.

Get NBA League Pass TODAY >

Play NBA Fantasy: Salary Cap Edition >

That ups the intrigue for

NBA Fantasy Salary Game

players, looking to make late-season transactions that can grant the ever-important extra edge.

Here are all the need-to-knows midway through Week 21:

Story so far

Dominoes have begun to fall. First it was the elimination of the 15th-place Utah Jazz (15-51) on Monday. Then it was the clinching of postseason berths Wednesday by both the Cleveland Cavaliers (55-10) and Oklahoma City Thunder (54-12).

Utah counts seven players with at least 1000 total fantasy points (TFP), but lacks a true game-breaker, and that’s evident in its grand total of zero with 2000 or more.

Keyonte George

and

Kyle Filipowski

– a pair of 21-year-olds – have shown real fantasy promise as of late, though, and figure to be steadier contributors for the squad’s future.

The story for Oklahoma City is a triumphant one, and

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

has been the posterboy. His 3462.9 TFP and 54.1 fantasy points per game (FPPG) rank second and fourth, respectively, among all players while missing just two contests this campaign. And with 16 games still to go, he’s on pace to smash his 3940.0 TFP from last season by nearly 400 points. 

It’s always been about balance for Cleveland. The group boasts four 2000-TFP scorers in

Donovan Mitchell

(2336.5),

Evan Mobley

(2293.0),

Darius Garland

(2177.1) and

Jarrett Allen

(2175.4) – each of whom also average between 30 and 40 FPPG. Mitchell is the undisputed leader among them, and has a team-best 29 showings with 40-plus fantasy points to his name.

Top performances

As he often does,

Nikola Jokić

brought the boom to commence the week, scoring 73.6 fantasy points Monday in a 140-127 triumph for the Denver Nuggets (42-24) over the Thunder. The Kia NBA MVP favorite racked up 35 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists to secure his league-leading 18th contest with 70 or more in the world of fantasy. And across his last four outings, he’s outperformed his season average of 64.0 FPPG with a mark of 70.1.

A season-best stretch rolls on for

Miles Bridges

over in the Eastern Conference. The sixth-year forward notched 66.7 fantasy points for the Charlotte Hornets (16-49) in their 123-110 loss to the Atlanta Hawks (32-34) on Wednesday, totaling 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. He’s now submitted 50-plus fantasy points in four consecutive contests for the first time in 2024-25, and hadn’t even crossed that threshold until Week 10.

Deni Avdija

rounds out the top three with his 62.2 fantasy points Monday, registered for the Portland Trail Blazers (28-39) in their 130-120 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors (37-28). That signals a new season high for the fifth-year forward and the first time he’s cracked 60, earned via 34 points, 16 rebounds and six assists. Portland sits 13th in the Western Conference, but Avdija remains a perpetual bright spot with 1855.6 TFP and 30.4 FPPG.

Transaction tips

A pair of emerging contributors on the Philadelphia 76ers (22-43) are worth a look for the back half of Week 21. They’re fourth-year guard

Quentin Grimes

and first-year forward

Adem Bona

, each becoming more involved in the rotation as of late.

Grimes has pitched in 40-plus fantasy points in five of his last seven outings, including a current streak of three in a row. He’s become an offensive leader of sorts with injuries piling up for Philadelphia’s starters, and for just $5.4M, he’s already ranked among the top-three top value scorers for two GameDays this week.

Bona is a bit more of a gamble based on the recency of his results. He hadn’t even hit 30 fantasy points until dropping 51.5 against the Jazz last Sunday – his first NBA double-double – but just tallied a strong 34.3 on Wednesday with 13 points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes played. If injuries linger for the 76ers, he could prove to be worth the $4.4M salary.