NBA Fantasy: Week 19 Salary Cap Report

The playoff contenders are heating up as they make their late-season pushes, while the title favorites are feeling the pressure as they cling to their positions.

It’s that time of year when rising stars can make all the difference. They give

NBA Fantasy Salary Game

players plenty to process.

Here are all the need-to-knows midway through Week 19:

Story So Far

It took 17 years, but the wait is over – the Detroit Pistons (33-26) have won eight consecutive games. Just one season after a dreadful 14-68 finish, they’re arguably the hottest team in the league. Wednesday’s 117-97 defeat of the Boston Celtics (42-17) was the perfect punctuation after losing the previous 12 meetings in their all-time head-to-head.

Cade Cunningham

has fueled real movement in the Motor City. He’s now up to 2603.6 total fantasy points (TFP), sitting fourth among all players, and boasting a higher total than

Giannis Antetokounmpo

,

LeBron James

and

Anthony Edwards

. The fourth-year guard’s highly reliable and highly productive nature shines through 45-plus fantasy points in 75.9% of games played while missing only five.

Improved contributions from

Jalen Duren

and

Ausar Thompson

are not to be overlooked. Duren is averaging 39.0 fantasy points per game (FPPG) across the last eight – well above his season-long mark of 31.0. Thompson, meanwhile, has dropped 34 or more in six of his last nine outings after breaking 30 just four times through Feb. 3.

Tobias Harris

,

Malik Beasley

and

Dennis Schröder

constitute other cogs in what’s become a well-oiled machine behind Cunningham. The trio is accountable for 1612.6, 1457.8 and 1381.0 TFP, respectively. 

Top Performances

Luka Dončić

is living up to the billing in his starring role of a revamped ‘Lake Show.’ His impact wasn’t immediate when first donning the purple and gold – ramping back up from injury – but 68.0 fantasy points Tuesday against the all-too-familiar Dallas Mavericks (31-28) was his signature stamp on a 107-99 victory. He secured his first triple-double since Dec. 15 with a balanced 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists after tallying 68.5 fantasy points Saturday.

Trailing not far behind was

Tyrese Haliburton

with 67.1 in a 111-91 victory for the Indiana Pacers (33-24) over the Toronto Raptors (18-41) on Wednesday. That 33-point, 11-rebound double-double represented his finest fantasy outing since Jan. 2, and came at the tail of his best stretch all campaign, now having scored 45 or more four games in a row. Haliburton is one of 32 players averaging 40-plus FPPG in 2024-25.

A typical note opened the week’s symphony of scoring. It came courtesy of

Nikola Jokić

, who delivered 65.3 fantasy points Monday to guide the Denver Nuggets (38-20) past the Pacers, 125-116. The 10th-year center’s 19 assists were a career high, and he’s now crossed the 60-point threshold eight times in the last 10 contests. Such ridiculous numbers are simply the norm for the NBA leader with 3333.2 TFP and 64.1 FPPG.

Transaction Tips

Day in and day out, the Brooklyn Nets (21-37) continue to be well-represented on the shortlist of top-value scorers. Three cracked the top 10 across Monday’s eight matchups, and two ranked among the top three Wednesday with nine games on the league schedule.

Keon Johnson

has been the usual suspect – now responsible for five consecutive showings of 25-plus fantasy points – at a salary of $5.1M. But

Day’Ron Sharpe

and

Ziaire Williams

are also making noise with highs of 63.5 and 34.0 fantasy points, respectively, in that same span.

The Portland Trail Blazers (26-33) await Friday while the Pistons are on deck for Saturday, so adding an emerging Brooklyn scorer to your roster could be fruitful in the near future.