Add. De'Anthony Melton scores more fantasy points when Jimmy Butler is off the floor, and Butler is now out.
Butler was ruled out with an injury the team describes as carrying a nine-to-12-month recovery window. A realistic return falls somewhere between Christmas and March, with a specific target date of 2026-12-01 offered only loosely. This is not a short absence.
Over 35 games without Butler this season, Melton has averaged 25.94 FPG on 24.2 minutes, compared to 20.11 FPG on 20.7 minutes with him on the floor. Thirty-five games is a solid sample to trust.
He sits at 24.1 FPG on the season, ranked 155th, and is only 5.33% rostered, so he should be sitting on the wire in most leagues.
Worth noting his last 10 games show usage trending down and his FPG dipping slightly, so this isn't a pure breakout, it's more playing time filling in for a long-term absence.
For props, points and rebounds are the markets to watch given the minutes bump, assists less so since his passing role doesn't shift much.
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