Our board moved Bennett Stirtz up 148 places overnight, and we would believe about half of it

Nobody on our points board moved further overnight than Bennett Stirtz, who went from 339th to 191st under ESPN's standard scoring, and he made the same jump on our 9-cat board, from 342nd to 191st. Most of that rise is not his own production. The nightly run read the absences of Cason Wallace and Nikola Topić and handed him 13.8 extra minutes a night, which took his projection to 30.9 minutes and 23.5 fantasy points a game, and he has played 20.7 minutes a game over his last six. Our view is that the direction is right and the size is too generous, so this piece works out what he is worth at the minutes he is really playing.

The direction is right for a reason that has nothing to do with the projection. In Oklahoma City's last four games Stirtz has made 11 of 20 threes, while Jared McCain, who is rostered on 30% of ESPN teams to Stirtz's 0.4%, has made one of 22. On Wednesday the No. 16 pick scored a career-high 16 points on 4-of-7 threes in the 124-116 win over Cleveland, and Sports Illustrated's Derek Parker wrote that he has settled in as a shooter and a secondary ball-handler given the Thunder's injuries.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.