NBA Barometer: Gordon, Adebayo on the Rise

GUARDS

GAINING VALUE

Damyean Dotson, NYK: Dotson is giving Knicks fans a reason to smile during the stretch run of another lottery-bound season. The second-year guard has taken hold of the starting two-guard role following the buyout of Wesley Matthews, and he hasn't been shy with his aggressiveness when on the floor. Dotson is now averaging 10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists across 25.9 minutes per contest for the season, and he's putting up 9.2 shot attempts per game, including 4.3 from three-point range.

Dotson's scoring and attempts are both on the rise recently, as Dotson has put up double-digit FGA in seven straight contests. Since the All-Star break (10 games), Dotson's averages jump up to 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.9 made threes (43.3% 3PT).

Frank Jackson, NOP: Jrue Holiday will likely miss at least a few more games with an abdominal strain, and Jackson has already started taking advantage of the veteran's absence. The rookie has scored in double digits in four straight, and he's played at least 33 minutes in each of the last three games as the starter.

The Duke product has hoisted at least 18 shots in all three of those contests, and he holds a usage rate north of 23 percent since Holiday went down. While he's a sub-par source of assists and defensive stats, Jackson could be of help to deeper-league owners in need of scoring down the stretch, though he's struggled to find his stroke from deep, hitting only four of his last 21 attempts.

ALSO GAINING VALUE: Brandon Knight, CLE

LOSING VALUE

Reggie Bullock, LAL: A move back to the west coast and a starting role hasn't helped boost Bullock's Fantasy profile. On the contrary, the veteran has actually been on a downward spiral in recent games, as he's failed to post double-digit point totals in six straight. Given that Bullock doesn't do much else besides score, that's particularly concerning. After shooting a career-best 48.9 percent last season in Detroit, Bullock slumped to 41.3 percent during his time with the Pistons this season, and he's drained just 39.4 percent of his attempts – including 31.7 percent from three-point range – since arriving in Los Angeles.

FORWARDS

GAINING VALUE    

Eric Gordon, HOU: Gordon is getting a run as Houston's nominal small forward, adding more offensive upside to an already impressive first unit in the process. The veteran has scored more than 20 points in three of his past five games, and his shooting has been locked in overall. Dating back to the start of February, Gordon is up to 40 percent from beyond the arc, and that figure leaps to 51 percent over the last five games (5.2 3PM/G).

Frank Kaminsky, CHA: Along with the rest of the Hornets, Kaminsky struggled Monday against the Rockets, but he's been set free recently after being out of the rotation for much of the season. The floor-spacing big man has scored in double digits in five of his last six contests, playing over 20 minutes in all but one of those.

He's been as aggressive as ever from distance, launching four or more attempts from behind the arc in five consecutive games. Kaminsky hasn't recorded any blocks or steals in his last 109 minutes, however, so he's essentially a points/threes contributor, who sometimes chips in on the glass. Still, Kaminsky's recent emergence comes as a pleasant surprise after it looked as though 2018-19 would be mostly a lost season for the former lottery pick.

LOSING VALUE

Josh Jackson, PHO: Dragan Bender is somewhat inexplicably getting another run at the starting power forward job in the absence of T.J. Warren (ankle), a development that has Jackson running with the second unit. The 2017 first-round pick is still seeing minutes in the mid-20s on average, but he's scored in single digits in three straight, and in four of his last six overall. Moreover, Jackson's scoring efficiency continues to deteriorate, as the second-year pro is draining just 41.0 percent of his attempts from the field. He's not even close that mark in his last three games, going just 5-for-21 from the field during that stretch. At this point, it's fair to wonder where Jackson fits in the Suns' future plans, especially as Kelly Oubre and Mikal Bridges continue to fare well on the wing.

CENTERS

GAINING VALUE 

Bobby Portis, WAS: The Wizards have recently elevated Portis into the starting center role while shifting Thomas Bryant down to the second unit, and Portis is responding with impressive production. Portis is averaging 20.5 points and 10.3 rebounds in his last four games, and he's gone for three double-doubles over his last five contests, overall. Portis was already providing strong numbers off the bench since arriving via trade with the Bulls, but his first-unit role gives his value another boost as the season winds down.

Bam Adebayo, MIA: Adebayo is another young big who's taken ahold of a starting job, as he's made seven consecutive starts at center. The second-year pro has six double-digit scoring tallies in the last eight contests, putting up two double-doubles over that stretch, including a nine-point, 16-rebound, six-assist, two-block effort in a win over Brooklyn earlier this month. Adebayo has logged 25 or more minutes in six of seven games since taking over the starting job, and with the Heat sitting at 5-2 in that span, he looks to have a decent advantage over Hassan Whiteside, who's played 19.0 minutes off the bench since returning from the three-game injury absence that initially thrust Adebayo into the lineup.

LOSING VALUE

Hassan Whiteside, MIA: As noted above, Whiteside has been relegated to a second-unit role for the time being, and he's logged no more than 23 minutes in any of his last four games. While he's still managed a pair of double-doubles during that stretch, it will be difficult for the big man to be trusted game-to-game as long he's coming off the bench. Whiteside went for 18 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in just 20 minutes against Charlotte last week, but that performance stands as a major outlier. And while he can still be a passable rebounds/blocks contributor, Whiteside's ceiling is notably lower than it was a few weeks ago, when he closed February with averages of 14.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks in 25.2 minutes.

ALSO LOSING VALUE: Thomas Bryant, WAS