Working the waiver wire is pivotal to succeeding in fantasy basketball. With so many games, injuries, and endless shifts in rotations throughout the marathon campaign, we’ll need to source stats from free agency to maximize imaginary rosters.
A willingness to entertain competition for the last few spots on your fantasy hoops roster can prove rewarding. When curating this fluid collective of statistical contributors, it helps to consider your end-of-bench players in direct competition with the talent floating in free agency.
The goal of this weekly series is to identify players at each position widely available in free agency in ESPN leagues. Some nominations are specialists capable of helping in one or two categories, while others deliver more diverse and important statistical offerings. In the breakdowns below, I’ve ordered players at each position with the priority of acquisition in mind, rather than roster percentage in ESPN men’s basketball leagues.
Point Guard
Keyonte George, SG, Utah Jazz (rostered in 36.2% of ESPN leagues): With Jordan Clarkson sidelined, the team has empowered George to be a high-usage bench guard capable of big scoring and playmaking outcomes. Even with Isaiah Collier productive as a passer and Collin Sexton getting his shots, George has sustained solid fantasy results in this new role. Time will tell if this is a sustainable role and pattern, but it’s the best George has looked in some time.
Scoot Henderson, Portland Trail Blazers (44.0%): Inconsistent playing time has been an issue for Henderson this season. We are witnessing signs of increased trust from Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, however, as Henderson thrived running the second unit offense last night against the Thunder, mimicking some of the success George has established in Utah. There is legitimate potential for Henderson to matter down the stretch if his role stabilizes. Consider him a stash until the sample grows.
Isaiah Collier, Utah Jazz (6.3%): Collier is eighth in the league with 8.1 assists per game over hisast 10 outings. There isn’t much beyond passing success and a worthy steal rate, but this level of assist production is simply hard to find via the wire this deep into the season in most formats.
Shooting guard
Luke Kennard, Memphis Grizzlies (6.6%): The lows will be low, as Kennard is a shooting specialist who can see his minutes and usage fluctuate greatly depending on his spot in the rotation on any given night, but whenever Ja Morant or other perimeter contributors are absent from the Memphis lineup, Kennard has shown an ability to flash with big lines.
Jordan Hawkins, New Orleans Pelicans (2.8%): It’s contingency week at shooting guard, as Hawkins is another heat-check specialist capable of carrying an offense for short stretches. With Dejounte Murray ailing, Hawkins could continue to play big minutes for New Orleans.
Small forward
Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota Timberwolves (31.1%): With Donte DiVincenzo sidelined and the team in need of more offensive pop from McDaniels, he has responded with one of the best stretches of his career. This defensive ace is ranked fourth on the Player Rater the past two weeks, signaling must-add status while he’s hot from the floor and uniquely empowered in the offensive hierarchy.
Kelly Oubre Jr., SG, Philadelphia 76ers (52.9%): Transitioning from unreliable shoot-first wing to floor-diving glue guy has been a nice shift to see from Oubre. He’s still capable of having ugly shooting lines, but busy hands on the glass and in the passing lanes helps create fantasy value in most matchups.
Tari Eason, PF, Houston Rockets (31.0%): If Eason played as many minutes as Oubre, he might be a fantasy star. For now, he’s a really helpful defensive specialist who shines when deployed for at least 25 minutes. Houston is deep, so a major role might not be in the works for Eason, but I’d hold onto him in most formats for the sheer value of his defensive rates and any big lines when he scales up in the pecking order.
Power forward
Toumani Camara, SF, Portland Trail Blazers (21.5%): The Trail Blazers have a bit of an identity crisis in that they are developing talented young players such as Camara, while also finding room for high-priced veterans on the depth chart. I’d much rather roster Camara than Jerami Grant, for instance, given Camara’s ability to produce special defensive, rebounding, and even scoring stretches.
Harrison Barnes, San Antonio Spurs (8.1%): It’s unlikely that Barnes will sustain this recent hot streak of scoring, but we should ride with him until something changes. He’s going to cool down at some point from the floor, but this hot streak also has included solid rebounding results. Enjoy this while it lasts.
Center
Onyeka Okongwu, Atlanta Hawks (45.9%): Whatever Quin Snyder has done to find this balance of playing time and usage between Okongwu and Clint Capela, it’s working. The ascendant center is delivering impact results even as Capela still starts. The breakout is finally happening.
Kel’el Ware, Miami Heat (23.3%): Even in a sluggish showing in regards to rebounding and scoring against the Brooklyn Nets over the weekend, Ware netted five combined blocks and steals. There is a high floor for Ware now that he’s regularly starting and playing big minutes for the Heat.
Special Teams
This section focuses on specialists, players who flash in a singular category and can provide specific value to those in category and roto formats. Nominations are based on which category such players are helpful in and will rotate throughout the season.
3-pointers: Kennard is 13th in added value via 3-point production on the Player Rater the past two weeks. Henderson, most impressively, is 15th in this index during this sample.
Steals: Oubre is fifth in surplus steal value the past two weeks, with Eason ranking 13th in this defensive index. Camara cracks the top 20, confirming his impact as a two-way player.
Blocks: Denver’s Peyton Watson needs to do more than just block shots to really matter, but it remains really interesting that he’s so good at rim protection. Alex Sarr is still swatting shots and providing value. Ware is seventh in added value via blocks the past two weeks.
Rebounds: Atlanta’s rising center Okongwu is sixth in added value working the glass. Miami’s Ware is 13th, again confirming he’s a viable fantasy option as long as the team is starting him.
Assists: Collier is the obvious name to add for dimes; he’s 11th in added value via assists the past two weeks.
