Centers of Attention: Looking Ahead to the Postseason

If you play in a head-to-head season-long fantasy basketball season, you could be just a short six weeks away from the start of the playoffs in your league. Generally speaking, the fantasy playoffs can start as early as Week 21 and end as late as Week 24 of the season.

If you already have a comfortable lead in your league, the time is now to take a look at the schedule and try to acquire players with extra games down the stretch. Let's take a look at three centers to either target or possibly look to trade away, that could hopefully help you bring home the title.

For a full breakdown of the schedule that includes charts showing the number of games for each team, you can also read this NBA Draft Strategy article I wrote before the start of the season.

Clint Capela, Houston Rockets: There are only five teams that play a total of 15 games between Weeks 21 and 24, one of them being the Houston Rockets. That's great news for Capela, who is averaging career-highs in points (14.5), rebounds (10.8) and blocks (1.7) per game this season. He's also shooting a stellar 66.8% from the field, which could give you a big boost in that category with so many games. Not only is Capela shooting well from the field, but he's improved his free-throwing shooting each season he's been in the league, topping out at 59.9% so far this season.

While the Rockets could look to add some depth at center before the NBA trade deadline, they likely won't get anyone significant enough to take playing time away from Capela. With Chris Paul and James Harden running the offense, Capela should continue to churn out double-doubles down the stretch. Now is the time to try and swing a deal for him in your league.

Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies: The injury to Mike Conley (Achilles) has really hurt the Grizzlies this season and the playoff will be all but out of reach once Conley returns. While Memphis will probably try to trade some of its better players for expirings or longer-term assets before the deadline, it's unlikely that they would trade away Gasol since he's about to turn 33 and has been the face of the franchise for close to a decade. He still has another year left on his contract after this season, plus a player option for the 2019-20 season.

While the Grizzlies have struggled, Gasol still provides plenty of fantasy value based on his ability to contribute across the board. Not only is he averaging 18.1 points per game, but he's also adding 8.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 blocks.

His field goal percentage sits at a career-low 41.9%, so there's room for improvement offensively in the second half. Some of that has to do with the fact that he's averaging a career-high 4.2 three-point attempts per game, but that's only slightly above the 3.6 attempts he averaged last season when he shot 45.9% from the field.
As another player with 15 games between Weeks 21 and 24, Gasol is a center to target in your league.

Al Horford, Boston Celtics: On the other end of the spectrum is Al Horford, who only has 12 games between Weeks 21 and 24. That's particularly bad news when you consider the Celtics and Timberwolves are the only two teams with so few games during that span.

Horford doesn't really excel in any one category, but he provides a lot of value in fantasy due to his ability to contribute above-average stats across the board. He is one of only two center-eligible players in Yahoo! leagues who averages at least 13.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.0 block and 1.0 steals per game. The other player is none other than DeMarcus Cousins.

While it's tough to give up on a player who can provide you with help in so many different categories, the lack of games when it matters most makes it at least worth shopping Horford in your league to see what you can get back in return.