Early-Week Fantasy Basketball Category Streamers For Week 21

Thunder Dan Palyo looks at some early-week waiver wire options for fantasy basketball leagues. These players may be free agents to target on waivers in Week 21.

If you're reading this, then congratulations! It's likely that you have advanced past the first and/or second week of your league's playoffs. Now, things get really tough as the competition gets stiffer and the schedule gets tighter, too. Games are spread almost exactly equally this week with 7-8 games every night with the exception of five on Thursday. Teams will continue to rest key players (both contenders and tankers) and the right moves this week are going to be key to helping you get into that championship!

Most leagues limit how many players you can stream each week in daily leagues. If your league only allows three moves per week, you need to be very efficient with your moves and grab players who will help you maximize your games played and help you win an extra category or two of counting stats.

The goal of this article each Monday morning will be to help you plan out your roster moves for the first half of the week. Planning ahead is important and I always include which teams play on optimal days for streaming in the very first section so you can look for additional players that I don't mention as well. All the rostered percentages used in this article are from Yahoo! Let's see who can help us start the week strong!

Weekly Schedule: Monday to Thursday

Teams that play only one game (AVOID): ATL, CHA, CHI, LAC, NOP, NYK, PHI, POR, UTA, WAS

Teams that play three games (TARGET): DET, MIL, PHX, SAC

Teams that play a B2B set (TARGET): CLE (Tues/Wed), LAL (Tues/Wed), SAS (Tues/Wed)

Shallow League Streaming Options

Jalen Duren - C (49%) and James Wiseman - C (60%)

Detroit has a four-game week and they start off with a nice B2B today and tomorrow. Marvin Bagley III is likely to miss both games and maybe the entire week, and Isaiah Stewart continues to be out. At some point, you'd think they'd consider playing alongside either other, but both guys have shown they can be very productive in 20-24 minutes. Duren just had 16-11 in only 20 minutes against the Pacers this weekend. Neither guy should be on your wire!

Killian Hayes - PG/SG (41%)

Let's keep rolling with the Detroit guys. Hayes had a massive double-double (17-13) this weekend with Jaden Ivey out and should have a chance to follow that one up today with Ivey remaining out for at least one more game as he's in protocols. If he misses tomorrow's game, too, then Hayes can give you two potentially big games to start your week.

Xavier Tillman Sr. - PF/C (44%)

Just a public service announcement that Tillman should not be on any wires, let alone 56% of them in Yahoo! leagues. This is the Memphis big man to own down the stretch and grab him if he happens to have been cut or just wasn't picked up in your league yet.

Austin Reaves - SG/SF (40%)

We are finally seeing Reaves' rostership catch up with his production. With a really nice B2B on Tuesday and Wednesday against Houston and New Orleans, he's at the top of my list to stream this week.

Jalen Suggs- PG/SG (29%)

Suggs' run of production has been really nice and he capped off last week with an insane line against Miami (of all teams) when he went 16-5-4 with four steals, three blocks, and four threes. He's clearly trending up and worth a look if you need help with guard stats.

Josh Okogie - SG/SF (25%)

With three games to start the week and KD on the shelf again for several weeks, Okogie is perhaps one of my favorite adds (and the most likely of the guys on this list to still be floating on your wire). He won't put up the type of numbers he did when Devin Booker was still out, but some solid scoring and percentages with a handful of peripheral stats will do just fine.

Deep League Streaming Options

Isaiah Jackson - PF/C (26%)

I-Jax went nuclear against Detroit when Myles Turner sat on Saturday and he tends to do that pretty much anytime he gets a chance to play 20+ minutes. Turner's status for tonight is not known yet, but if he's out again, then Jackson is the streamer play of the day. If you need blocks, just grab him anyway as he's been blocking shots all year even in limited minutes.

Josh Richardson - SG/SF (21%)

J-Rich was alive again yesterday as he finished with 19 points, four steals, and two blocks. The Pelicans are hurting again with Brandon Ingram battling another injury and we love what Richardson can do in 9-cat when given minutes. It's risky, but he could pay off, especially with Houston on the schedule twice this week.

Santi Aldama - PF/C (18%)

If Tillman isn't on your wire, then check to see if Santi is. He's seen his minutes and production trend up in a big way since Brandon Clarke got hurt. He has scored double-digits in three straight and he can add some boards, threes, and the occasional block, too.

Isaiah Livers - SG/SF (13%)

We are looking at anyone with a pulse in Detroit right now, and Livers is likely to get a boatload of minutes this week for the Pistons. He's coming off one of his best games of the season this weekend when he went 18-4-2 with four steals and two blocks, and he's a super sneaky add if you don't mind risking some FG%.

Andrew Nembhard - PG/SG (11%)

The Pacers rested a bunch of staters this weekend and they could start giving their regulars more time off as they're out of the playoff picture. Nembhard posted 19 points and eight assists when Haliburton sat, so keep an eye on the situation in Indiana, and don't be afraid to pull the trigger here.

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