If you need a center for your EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge teams this week, we’ve got you covered!
Fantasy Challenge tips: Round 18
The two-round weeks can be tricky times in the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge, but if you dig deep, there seems to always be buried treasure. As we enter Round 18, here are five players who could aid your fantasy team and all of them are centers!
Danko Brankovic, FC Bayern Munich (5.9 credits) – This may be a bit of a gamble, but sometimes that’s what you need to succeed in the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge. With Serge Ibaka out last week, Brankovic produced his finest EuroLeague performance to date with 11 points and 8 rebounds for a PIR of 16 in less than 20 minutes. Twice so far Ibaka has sat out one of the games in a double-round week and when Ibaka is resting, Brankovic could be your man.
Laurynas Birutis, Zalgiris Kaunas (7.8 credits) – How does a player who has averaged a PIR of 17.0 over his last three games and only costs 7.8 credits sound? In that stretch, Birutis has averaged 13.3 points on 17 of 21 shooting (80.9%) and 5.0 rebounds per game. New coach Andrea Trinchieri will surely respect those numbers. Now may be the time to climb aboard Birutis’s shoulders to see just how far he can carry your team!
Joel Bolomboy, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (10.7 credits) – During the month of December, 10 different centers averaged 16.0 or more fantasy points and none of them is cheaper than Bolomboy. Over those seven games, Bolomboy played 26.7 minutes, third most among all centers, averaging 11.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists. Over the last two games, only two centers have posted more than his 42.4 fantasy points. Bolomboy is enjoying the best season of his career and by a wide margin. He has already scored more points (159) during the 2023-24 season than in any of his previous five campaigns in the competition and he should be seriously considered by fantasy managers as a mainstay.
Dan Oturu, Anadolu Efes Istanbul (12.5 credits) – After three games of showing potential when he first joined the club, Oturu has been a monster over the last three, firmly establishing himself as a force in the paint. In that time the big man has averaged 17.3 points on 23-of-27 shooting (85.2%), 7.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks for a PIR of 23.7. This week, with road games at staunch defenses Valencia Basket and Real Madrid, we find out if Oturu is truly matchup-proof.
Roman Sorkin, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (9.4 credits) – If you are in the market for a moderately priced center in great shape, Sorkin could be the answer. The big man has been dominating domestically, where he has averaged 25.3 points and 10.3 rebounds over his last three games, and he has twice scored in double figures in his last three EuroLeague appearances. Sorkin has averaged 9.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and a PIR of 11.7 in his last three games and had a PIR of 13 the last time he faced Monaco.