Dillon

Brooks

Brooks shot the ball well on Friday, making half of his shots overall and going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. The Rockets wing has reached double figures in three straight and four of his last five, but he remains nothing more than a deep-league option. Brooks and the Rockets end Week 3 on Sunday in Detroit.

Brooks is officially available after the Rockets considered him questionable on the initial injury report. He’ll occupy his usual place in the starting lineup, offering limited fantasy value. Brooks is a deep-league option only.

Brooks and Eason are on the injury report for the same reason, and both sitting would put the Rockets in a difficult spot regarding perimeter depth. Amen Thompson is the player most likely to move into the starting lineup if Brooks and Eason sit, while Cam Whitmore could sneak into the back end of the rotation.

Brooks’ mid-range jumper with 18.0 seconds remaining gave Houston a seven-point lead and sealed the outcome. He isn’t going to be a great option for managers needing a solid field-goal percentage, but Brooks has been a decent late-round option through the first week-plus of this season. He has rarely been a viable fantasy asset for most of his career; hopefully, Brooks can change that this season.

Despite recently dealing with right knee pain, Brooks played both games of Houston’s home/road back-to-back. And he shot the ball well in San Antonio, making half of his 12 shot attempts. Unfortunately, Brooks’ production is too volatile to trust him in standard leagues.

Brooks was listed as probable on the initial injury report, so the status upgrade was expected. He’ll occupy his usual place in the starting lineup but is unlikely to offer reliable fantasy value, even with the motivation of going up against his former team.

The probable designation suggests that Brooks will ultimately play against his former team. If he does not, more minutes become available to Amen Thompson and Tari Eason, with the former being a slightly better option for fantasy managers.

While Brooks averaged 1.8 3-pointers per game in his first season with the Rockets, his accuracy improved. The veteran wing hit nearly 36% of his attempts, compared to 30.9% and 3.26% during his final two seasons in Memphis. Brooks’ inefficiency has limited his fantasy value in previous seasons, making him difficult to trust in most leagues. Getting onto the radar in deep leagues will require him to change that.

Brooks didn’t suit up for their first preseason game, and he was able to have a decent offensive performance in his season debut. He was the starter last year, but with the continued development of players like Amen Thompson, Tari Eason and Cam Whitmore, that spot isn’t guaranteed for long. Whether he’s starting or not, Brooks isn’t a player to target in standard fantasy leagues.

Both of Houston’s veterans will sit out the season finale, since they have been eliminated from the postseason for a little while now. Cam Whitmore should slide into the starting unit in place of Brooks, while Jock Landale will remain in the starting unit in place of FVV, with Amen Thompson filling the point guard minutes.