Week 5 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: NBA Forwards

Now a few weeks into the 2014-15 NBA season, the waiver wire has taken its typical place in the weekly/daily routine of fantasy basketball managers. The following forwards, whether of the “sleeper” variety or just cashing in temporarily on an unforeseen opportunity, almost certainly deserve attention across the various formats.

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

Waiver Wire Forward for Right Now

Anthony Morrow (OKC, SG/SF) - 16% Owned

Offensively and defensively, Morrow can provide value to any fantasy squad no matter the scoring format. Per 36 minutes, he is averaging 15.1 points, 1.2 steals and just 1.1 turnovers, which is good enough for second, second and first, respectively, of all current healthy players on the Thunder roster.

Since Morrow has returned to the lineup, he has yet to play under 14 minutes and his 51.9 true-shooting percentage continues to climb.  As long as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are sidelined by injuries, Morrow has value and could be a solid contributor to any fantasy lineup.

Waiver Wire Forward in Deeper Leagues

Luis Scola (IND, PF/C) - 8% Owned

Another week and another loss to the Pacers lineup. It is getting just plain sad for Indiana at this point and almost like the continued loss of a capo of the Ralph Cifaretto crew in The Sopranos.

With the loss of Roy Hibbert, Scola will need to have more of an inside presence on both sides of the court. His fantasy value will mostly be short term, as Hibbert will probably not miss a ton of time. Still, Scola has had some productive minutes recently, including a full stat line of 14 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in Monday’s win over Dallas.

Scola will lose some of his low-end value upon the return of Hibbert and David West, so temper any long-term expectations.

Honorable Mention

Tarik Black (HOU, PF/C) - 0% Owned

The Rockets have three solid matchups coming up this week and Black could see a plenty of garbage time minutes. He probably will not give owners anything over six points and eight rebounds on any given night, but considering the injury to Dwight Howard, Black’s deep-league owners could use him in a short-term role.

Waiver Wire Forward to Keep an Eye On

Omri Casspi (SAC, SF) - 1% Owned

With low ownership numbers, Casspi should be available in all but the deepest of leagues, so fantasy managers can get away with not adding him immediately and truly just keep an eye out.

As Rudy Gay’s backup, Casspi is probably only worth owning in deeper leagues right now. However, considering his 62.3 true-shooting percentage, he can be the difference maker in field-goal and free-throw percentage category leagues. His .178 win shares per 48 minutes and 123 ORtg (offensive rating- an estimate of points produced per 100 possessions) show that Casspi is not just a fill-in guy off the bench and is actually quite important to what the Kings are doing.

Considering the questions surrounding Gay’s health this season, Casspi could find himself in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.