Fantasy basketball tips and projections for Saturday - ESPN

ESPN's fantasy basketball and basketball betting tips cheat sheet is your pregame destination for basketball betting predictions and our best intel and data, featuring ESPN's proprietary Basketball Power Index (BPI) to help you make smart fantasy and wagering decisions. Fantasy advice is based on ESPN 10-team leagues.

New this season, ESPN Analytics will also generate daily NBA fantasy projections. By combining historical player and team data and specific game factors ESPN is able to accurately predict player box score stats. Accounting for injuries, trends in playing time, and other factors impacting future performance the statistical models can be used to help NBA fantasy players gain an edge in their league.

With several new roles and rotations set to debut around the league during Saturday's busy 11-game slate with the dust is officially settling from the trade deadline. Friday afforded fantasy managers a look at some of these shifting scenarios, such as the Washington Wizards empowering rookie Bilal Coulibaly (rostered in 2.1% of ESPN leagues) in a starting role in the wake of dealing starting center Daniel Gafford to the Dallas Mavericks.

Coulibaly scored a career-best 21 points in Friday's competitive loss to the top-seeded Boston Celtics and the team appears primed to trust smaller lineups, which could lead to a post-break breakout for Coulibaly and his elite defensive rates.

It's possible Washington's rookie stopper is most ideal for deeper and dynasty formats, while Saturday's matchup with a reshuffled Philadelphia 76ers roster comes on the heels of the team lofting 45 3-pointers in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. Volume shooter Buddy Hield (67.4%) lived up to his reputation with a dozen looks from