RADIO
With five teams playing a back-to-back over the weekend, this weekend edition focus heavily on players from those particular teams.
Remember, these streamers are solely for short term gains in specific categories. For recommendations on guys to add for the long-term, be sure to check out our Waiver Wire Pickups List. Also, be sure to check out the rest of our Week 9 NBA coverage, including our recommendations for Waiver Wire Centers, Waiver Wire Forwards, and Waiver Wire Guards.
NBA Waiver Wire : Category Streamers – Weekend Edition (Week 9)
Weekend of 12/26 & 12/27
Teams with 2 games: BOS, DEN, MEM, NYK, POR
Teams with 0 games: GSW
Points
Lance Thomas (SG/SF, NYK)
Owned in 11% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues
Weekend Schedule: Saturday, December 26 @ Atlanta & Sunday, December 27 @ Boston
Alan Crabbe (SG, POR)
Owned in 12% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues
Weekend Schedule: Saturday, December 26 vs. Cleveland & Sunday, December 27 @ Sacramento
Kelly Olynyk (C, BOS)
Owned in 20% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues
Weekend Schedule: Saturday, December 26 @ Detroit & Sunday, December 27 vs. New York
ANALYSIS: All three players above have a two-slate game this weekend and offer tremendous upside for those looking to cement their win in the points category. Thomas has not been known as a scorer throughout his career, but has averaged 15.2 ppg over his last 5 contests prior to Wednesday night’s tilt against Cleveland. The Knicks have done a great job this season at getting their scoring from other sources not named Carmelo Anthony, who happens to be banged up at the moment and sat out Wednesday. Crabbe was a bit inconsistent last week after becoming a trendy pickup for points purposes the week prior. Portland is looking for offensive production to take the burden off Damian Lillard, and Crabbe was able to achieve a career-high 19 points on Monday against the Hawks. Olynyk has tremendous range and scoring potential for a big, but has needed consistent minutes to be fantasy relevant this season. With injuries and a lack of production to their frontcourt, Boston has turned back to Olynyk, who has had quite an inconsistent month himself, but has started both games for the C’s this week.
Rebounds
Nikola Jokic (C, DEN)
Owned in 10% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues
Weekend Schedule: Saturday, December 26 @ San Antonio & Sunday, December 27 @ Oklahoma City
ANALYSIS: Jokic is playing significant minutes in the Nuggets frontcourt, and has managed to grab 10 rebounds in two of his previous three games. He is a talented young player, and despite two difficult matchups this weekend, his two-game production should provide a significant boost. He might not hold much long term value with the approaching return of another talented big man in Jusuf Nurkic, but this weekend should get you over the hump. Other options in this category include Clint Capela (25% ownership) who has a tasty matchup this weekend against a bad New Orleans team and Taj Gibson (21%) who should see plenty of front court action for the Bulls with Joakim Noah expected to miss two weeks.
Assists
Jameer Nelson (PG, DEN)
Owned in 22 % of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues
Weekend Schedule: Saturday, December 26 @ San Antonio & Sunday, December 27 @ Oklahoma City
ANALYSIS: Despite missing Wednesday’s game due to an illness, Nelson is expected back for the Nuggets’ back-to-back this weekend. Without rookie Emmanuel Mudiay able to play, Nelson has emerged as the lead floor general and has been racking up the assists, averaging just over 6 per game over his last five. His minutes have exploded to over 30 per night as well, proving that he has earned the trust of the coaching staff to operate the offense. His total assists should certainly reach double digits in his two weekend tilts. Evan Turner (23%) has been distributing the ball well for Boston of late and also has two games this weekend as another option.
Steals*
Courtney Lee (SG/SF, MEM)
Owned in 35% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues
Weekend Schedule: Saturday, December 26 @ Charlotte & Sunday, December 27 vs. Los Angeles Lakers
ANALYSIS: Lee’s entire career has felt inconsistent in a number of ways, and this season, that includes in the steals department. He is still playing over 30 minutes per night, and has managed to collect a steal in 4 of 5 games, but has not evolved into the steady contributor many expected. He does get the nod this weekend however over Dennis Schroder (22%), another inconsistent but high-ceiling player for steals.
Blocks*
Bismack Biyombo (C, TOR)
Owned in 30% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues
Weekend Schedule: Saturday, December 26 @ Milwaukee
ANALYSIS: Biyombo has been quite an important pickup for rebounds over the past few weeks, but he has also been a valuable contributor in the blocks category as well. His season average of 1.4 is impressive, and he had a 7 block night last week against Charlotte. Expecting that Saturday @ Milwaukee is of course unreasonable, but this might be the last chance to take advantage of Biyombo’s shot-blocking ability with starting center Jonas Valanciunas expected back sooner rather than later.
* Matt Barnes at 56% ownership does not qualify as a “waiver pickup”, however, he has been a defensive monster of late, collecting over 2 steals and 1 block per game in his previous 4. If available, he should be on rosters at least through the weekend with a two-game slate.
Three Pointers
Patrick Beverley (PG/SG, HOU)
Owned in 49% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues
Weekend Schedule: Saturday, December 26 @ New Orleans
ANALYSIS: The Rockets season thus far has coincided with Beverley’s. After an underachieving and poor start fueled by ineffective play and off-the-court issues, both the team and Beverley have seemingly gotten on track. Beverley has averaged over 2 three-pointers per game in his previous five contests, and has an ideal matchup this weekend against a Pelicans defense that is allowing opponents to shoot 39.9% from downtown, good for 29th in the league. If Beverley is not available, Isaiah Canaan (12%), Gerald Green (27%), and Omri Casspi (42%) are decent long-ball options this weekend.
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