Week 15 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: NBA Category Specialists

Sitting here in the fourth month of the 2014-15 season, it is time to dive back into the NBA waiver wire. Today, the focus is on fantasy basketball sleepers of the “Category Specialist” variety that can each help out in different areas during Week 14.

Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List

Field-Goal Percentage / Blocks Specialist

John Henson (MIL, PF/C) - 38% Owned

Ersan Ilyasova and Zaza Pachulia have unsurprisingly gotten hurt. Larry Sanders is suspended and his future uncertain. Finally, per-minute phenom Henson gets his chance at big minutes once again. In four games as starter beginning on 1/29, Henson’s minutes amped up from 24 to 27 to 29 to 38. In those four games he shot a .600 FG% and averaged 3 blocks a game. He is capable of averaging a double-double in scoring and rebounding, too. The main thing Henson does not do well is shoot free throws, though that is normal for a big man, and he has improved in that area this season by a significant amount, shooting .673 (compared to a career average of .546).

His long-term outlook remains cloudy if/when Ilyasova, Pachulia, and Sanders return to reclaim minutes in the Bucks frontcourt. However, the short term looks very bright for Henson – allow me to be the first to call him (or probably anyone) a poor man’s Hassan Whiteside.

Three-Point Specialist

Wayne Ellington (LAL, SG) - 27% Owned

In a true sign of the Lakers’ newfound irrelevance, a starter earning heavy minutes and scoring plenty of points is only owned a quarter of fantasy leagues. Normally guys who get points in big markets are owned in more leagues than they deserve. If Ellington were on the Knicks, he would be 40% owned. As it is, 27% is actually just about right. He is not a must-own player in standard-sized leagues, but he makes for an excellent specialist if you need threes.

He did lay a stink-bomb in Madison Square Garden on February 1 (7 points on 2/12 shooting), which perhaps scared off a few potential owners. However, he rebounded quite nicely in the following game in Milwaukee with 19 points including 5 three pointers. Over the last four games (1/27-2/4), he averaged an insane 39.5 minutes. Despite all those minutes, he put up a rather shallow average of 19.3 points and 2.5 threes, only adding 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.3 steals do go with. He is typically a better rebounder, also not quite as good at grabbing steals.

If the minutes were to fall back down, his value would plummet. For now – with few better options on the Lakers – he makes an excellent streamer for threes, or an interesting option at guard for leagues where you are punting assists.

Steals Specialist

Jae Crowder (BOS, SF/PF) - 2% Owned

There are plenty of more well-rounded fantasy options available in fantasy leagues than Crowder, but I would like to highlight him as someone who could have a bit more value than he initially appears. Over the last four games, his minutes have ticked up a bit so that he is averaging 28 minutes per game, a number he approached in two starts and two games coming off the bench. If you extrapolate his per minute averages on the season to 28 minutes a game, he would be averaging 9.6 points, 1.1 threes, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.5 blocks, and 0.9 turnovers. He puts up roughly average numbers in both percentages (.452 FG% and .775 FT%).

He may not be a big scorer or a big rebounder, but he can hit threes and get excellent numbers in steals while not hurting your percentages and turning over the ball only a miniscule amount. He is the kind of guy who helps you by not doing bad stuff, as opposed to having to make up for bad stuff by doing good stuff. I would recommend Crowder for a flyer in some deeper leagues, and he makes a nice late week streamer for steals with upside for three pointers.