2013 Fantasy Basketball: Jason Thompson On a Tear

In his four years in the league, Jason Thompson has proven to be a solid source of points and rebounds for the Sacramento Kings and fantasy basketball owners alike. His fifth season has been a bit inconsistent, but he is now out of a recent funk he was in and should be owned in all formats.

Thompson’s season averages are right in line with his career numbers, but it’s the hot and cold streaks he endures that have made him an enigma in fantasy. Drafted in mostly deep leagues, he started the season extremely well and was added in even standard and shallow leagues. He recorded eight double-doubles through December, and was getting consistent starter’s minutes.

In January, however, something happened. He snapped a streak of six straight games with at least 14 points on Jan. 10 and after that, his minutes were cut in favor of rookie Thomas Robinson and others. In a 13-game span from Jan. 12 to Feb. 2, he saw more than 22 minutes in a game just twice and his numbers took a big hit because of it. His rebounds in January were basically cut in half from December, and he went down in every others stat category in the month.

Things took a turn, however, on Feb. 4 against the Utah Jazz when he played a season-high 45 minutes and recorded his first double-double in a month while scoring a season-high 23 points. He’s built on that game and continues to see over 30 minutes per. He’s scored in the double digits for five straight games and his rebounding is back up to about seven per. Many frustrated owners dropped Thompson en masse last month, and you should scour the wires for him immediately and take advantage of his latest hot streak while you still can. He should continue this solid play as long as he keeps getting consistent minutes.

Rich Arleo is a fantasy sports expert with Rant Sports. Be sure to follow him on Twitter and ‘Like’ him on Facebook.