Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Adds and Weekly Planner: Week 2 (10/30-11/5)

October 30, 2023

Thunder Dan Palyo gets you set for the upcoming week of Fantasy Basketball with a schedule breakdown and his top players to add off the waiver wire.

Week One is in the books and we now get a full week of games in Week Two starting today. That means some 4-game weeks for certain teams and players. While you don't always have to target a player who playing more games in a given week over another, it's certainly something you should consider. And knowing which teams they will be facing (for matchup purposes) is also a good idea!

I think it's become conventional wisdom to some extent, but I will restate this anyway. The key to winning fantasy basketball leagues is NOT about how you draft, but what you do afterwards with waiver additions and trades. And while you might make a handful of trades during the course of a season, you're most certainly going to make dozens of waiver adds and drops as you try to cope with injuries to players or just try to maximize your games played each week in H2H formats.

Working the wire is an incredibly important skill and being one step ahead of your fellow league managers means always planning ahead and keeping tabs on players who starting to play better or earn more minutes. Every week I will do my best to help you plan out your week and give you my top recommendations to add off waivers in both standard (10-12 team leagues) and deeper formats (more than 12 teams).

Week TWO Schedule Breakdown

Notes:

Most teams play four games this week. Teams playing only three games include BOS, LAL, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, and SAS.

Teams playing only two games (gross) include HOU, LAC, PHI, and SAC.

For the streamer crowd, teams playing back-to-backs include ORL, NYK, LAC, CLE, CHI, BKN, CHA, and PHX. Charlotte and Phoenix have a very useful Sat-Sun back-to-back to finish out the week.

Standard League Adds For Week 2

These are some players that should be rostered in 10 or 12-team leagues already, but check your wire just in case! Percentage owned numbers in parentheses are from Yahoo!

Jalen Johnson - SF/PF (49%)

Johnson was one of the best late-round picks in drafts (so far) and shot up from 14% to 49% rostership in just one week. If he's still out there on waivers for some reason, GRAB HIM. He started last night and is clearly winning the minutes battle at PF. His game is smooth and the Hawks have already recognized that they are better with him on the court.

Starting power forward Jalen Johnson pic.twitter.com/aD8sC2AZke

— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) October 29, 2023

Kyle Anderson - SF/PF (41%)

Deni Avdija - SF/PF (41%)

Slo-Mo's rostership dropped 3% this week, but I am not sure why. Most people just hate dealing with his lack of scoring, but he contributes across the board and is a valuable roto or H2H asset in 9-cat.

Deni dropped from 44 to 41 percent, too, but this is a similar stance of mine on him. He does a little of everything and there should be nothing but opportunity this year in Washington in a rebuilding year. He doesn't need to be a first or second option on offense in order to contribute either.

Bogdan Bogdanovic - SG/SF (36%)

After a rough opening night, Bog-Bog bounced back with two solid outings. He nailed four threes in both of his last two games and is averaging three treys and two steals per game now this season. He's mainly a points, threes, and steals guy but one of the better bench players out there and he can contribute in just 25 minutes per game.

Naz Reid - PF/C (35%)

Why is Naz so lightly rostered? The guy is ranked inside the top 40 after two games and is an absolute fantasy stud with minutes. It looks like the Wolves plan to deploy him more than in prior years so far as he's averaging 26 minutes a night. Run, don't walk to grab Naz if he's still on your wire somehow, you won't regret it.

Cole Anthony - PG (32%)

Anthony seems quite comfortable in his role as the sixth man in Orlando. He won't finish averaging 19 a game, but he's the clear leader of the second unit and getting up a lot of shots while on the floor. We have seen the sixth-man high-usage role become incredibly productive across the league as these types of players also get to feast on bench units and usually some worse defenses. Anthony is shooting over 50% while offering some solid points and assists, I think he will stay on rosters all season at this rate.

Deep League Adds For Week 1

Isaac Okoro - SG/SF (23%)

Okoro has been the beneficiary of the Cavs being banged up to start the season. Jarrett Allen's absence has forced the Cavs to play Evan Mobley at center and allowed for more minutes on the wing for Okoro. And then Darius Garland missed two games this weekend and Donovan Mitchell missed one, too.

Heck of a night for Isaac Okoro in the #Cavs season-opener in Brooklyn. He stayed ready, and J.B. Bickerstaff “can’t say enough good things” about him. pic.twitter.com/n6Zr7zkbCN

— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) October 26, 2023

So Okoro's minutes and production could be at an all-time high. However, I am still intrigued by his skill set. He is a rabid defender who can rebound well for his size and rack up steals and blocks. If he can continue to improve his three-point shooting then he should be able to find his way onto the floor more often, even once the Cavs are fully healthy.

Alec Burks - PG/SG/SF (21%)

Burks is a super boring fantasy player, I know, but he has managed multiple times in his career to work his way into meaningful minutes as a reserve and he can get buckets. He just drilled six threes in his last game and is averaging 3.7 through three games this year. That won't last but Detroit plays four times this week and Burks can provide points without hurting your FG% and boosting your FT% (he went 11-12 from the line just a few nights ago).

Ziaire Williams - SF (11%)

Williams has seen his minutes increase in each game so far this season. Memphis is really thin in the frontcourt right now with Steven Adams out for the season, Brandon Clarke for another month at least, and Santi Aldama has yet to play either.

Williams has 19 rebounds in his last two games and is now averaging 12-7 with 1.7 threes. There's no way to know if he can keep it up, but in the short term, he makes for a compelling add in deeper formats.

Keyonte George - SG (10%)

A lot of folks want to see George unleashed by the Jazz sooner than later and perhaps that is already starting to happen as KG played his most minutes of the season in Utah's third game of the year on Saturday night. George went 12-7-6 with two threes but on some subpar shooting. We saw him post some huge numbers in Summer League and he's dripping with potential. He's definitely worth stashing now if you have the space as it's probably only a matter of time until he works his way into either a starting role or a major role off the bench.

Dorian Finney-Smith - SF/PF (6%)

DFS and the Nets play four games this week. They are awfully thin tonight with Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton already being ruled out, so DFS could draw another start against Charlotte. He played 32 minutes on Friday and produced a decent stat line. He's always been a solid boards and threes guy with a few defensive stats mixed in and when he's playing heavy minutes he is useable in fantasy.

STASH OF THE WEEK

Jabari Walker - SF/PF (1%)

Portland is in the middle of a full rebuild and the only thing blocking Walker from playing bigger minutes is Jerami Grant. I guarantee that there will be teams interested in acquiring Grant before the trade deadline this season and I am really intrigued with Walker based on what he showed in the Summer League, preseason, and in his limited minutes so far this regular season.

He was unleashed for 24 minutes last night and finished with 12 points, 7 boards, 4 steals, a three-point, and a block. Portland would be foolish not to give this kid more run as the season goes along.

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