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Milos Zvekic's fantasy basketball waiver wire streamers for head-to-head leagues. He reviews the Week 21 NBA schedule (3/9 - 3/15) and streaming options to pick up.
Depending on your league settings, fantasy playoffs have either already started or are very close. This is the time of the year when we need to win the most and therefore can't afford any sentiment towards players who just aren't performing. It's wise to look ahead, even a few weeks in advance and calculate how many games your players will give you in the week you need them the most.
For example, I will be cutting Taurean Prince in my 20-team league where my playoffs start in Week 22. Now, Taurean hasn't really been playing too well lately, but he is still a bit better than the options I have available in such a deep league. Nevertheless, he plays just twice and I have a full roster on both of his playing days, and I will be getting three games from the streamer I am targeting. Prince does play 4 times in Week 21, but I am already in the playoffs so this doesn't mean much to me.
Planning in advance is something I recommend you do for your team as well, whether to set you up nicely for the quarter or semifinal if you're certain you're making the playoffs or to maximize your team's games played in these final weeks of battle for a playoff spot. But for now, we will keep it a bit more simple and take a look at NBA schedule for next week. Here are my thoughts on the fantasy basketball streamers for Week 21.
NBA Schedule Guide - Week 21
Here's the low-down:
Teams with 4 games:
Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Denver Nuggets
Utah Jazz
Teams with 3 games:
Atlanta Hawks
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Washington Wizards
Teams with 2 games:
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
Toronto Raptors
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 6
Tuesday: 18
Wednesday: 12
Thursday: 10
Friday: 14
Saturday: 18
Sunday: 12
Back-to-Backs (beware of older or banged-up players who might rest):
Monday/Tuesday: -
Tuesday/Wednesday: DAL, NYK
Wednesday/Thursday: -
Thursday/Friday: BOS, BKN
Friday/Saturday: CLE, LAC, MIA, MIN, NOP, SAS, UTA
Saturday/Sunday: CHI
Sunday/Monday the following: LAL, WAS
Days with SIX or fewer games
Monday: 3 games
Wednesday: 6 games
Thursday: 5 games
Saturday: 6 games
Teams playing on three of these days:
Charlotte Hornets (4 games - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)
Denver Nuggets (4 games - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)
Teams playing on Monday and Thursday:
Milwaukee Bucks (3 games - Mon, Thurs, Sat)
Teams playing on Monday and Wednesday:
Charlotte Hornets (4 games - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)
Denver Nuggets (4 games - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun)
Utah Jazz (4 games - Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat)
Atlanta Hawks (3 games - Mon, Wed, Sat)
Teams playing on Thursday and Sunday:
Boston Celtics (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Brooklyn Nets (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Chicago Bulls (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Houston Rockets (3 games - Tue, Thurs, Sun)
Los Angeles Lakers (3 games - Tue, Thurs, Sun)
Orlando Magic (3 games - Tue, Thurs, Sun)
Portland Trail Blazers (3 games - Tue, Thurs, Sun)
Teams with a GOOD START to the week (three games from Monday to Thursday)
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Teams with a GOOD END to the week (three games from Thursday to Sunday)
Boston Celtics (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Brooklyn Nets (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Fri, Sun)
Chicago Bulls (4 games - Tue, Thurs, Sat, Sun)
Teams with a POOR START to the week (one or no games from Monday to Thursday)
Detroit Pistons (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Indiana Pacers (2 games - Tue, Sat)
Philadelphia 76ers (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Phoenix Suns (2 games - Tue, Sat)
Sacramento Kings (2 games - Wed, Sun)
Toronto Raptors (2 games - Mon, Sat)
Cleveland Cavaliers (3 games - Tue, Fri, Sat)
Los Angeles Clippers (3 games - Tue, Fri, Sat)
Miami Heat (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sat)
Minnesota Timberwolves (3 games - Tue, Fri, Sat)
New Orleans Pelicans (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sat)
Oklahoma City Thunder (3 games - Wed, Fri, Sun)
San Antonio Spurs (3 games - Tue, Fri, Sat)
Washington Wizards (3 games - Tue, Fri, Sun)
Teams with a POOR END to the week (one or no games from Thursday to Sunday)
Detroit Pistons (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Indiana Pacers (2 games - Tue, Sat)
Philadelphia 76ers (2 games - Wed, Sat)
Phoenix Suns (2 games - Tue, Sat)
Sacramento Kings (2 games - Wed, Sun)
Toronto Raptors (2 games - Mon, Sat)
Atlanta Hawks (3 games - Mon, Wed, Sat)
Dallas Mavericks (3 games - Tue, Wed, Sat)
New York Knicks (3 games - Tue, Wed, Fri)
Baller Streaming Strategy for Week 21
The week starts off with a three-game slate on Monday so most of us fantasy addicts will have to address the lack of players right off the bat. If you need help on other scarce days like Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, the best course of action might be to pick up someone from a team that plays on both Monday and Wednesday and then switch to a player who plays on Thursday and Sunday.
Below, you will find players from teams that either play on both Monday and Wednesday, Monday and Thursday or Thursday and Sunday. But it will be up to you to come up with the streaming strategy that best suits your team's needs.
Streaming Options for Week 21
Shallower League Streaming Adds for the Week:
PJ Washington, SF/PF, CHA, (64% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, REB, STL/BLK - buyer beware: poor FT%
Cody Zeller, PF/C, CHA, (38% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK/STL - buyer beware: in a timeshare with Willy Hernangomez and Bismack Biyombo
Will Barton, SG/SF, DEN, (75% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, a bit of everything
Gary Harris, PG/SG, DEN, (41% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL - buyer beware: just returned from injury
Jerami Grant, SF/PF, DEN, (37% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FG%, STL/BLK
Paul Millsap, PF/C, DEN, (59% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, STL/BLK, REB
Joe Ingles, SG/SF, UTA, (64% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL
Jordan Clarkson, PG/SG, UTA, (46% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%
Kevin Huerter, SG/SF, ATL, (61% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST, STL, FT%
Cam Reddish, PG/SG/SF, ATL, (29% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL, FT%
De'Andre Hunter, SF, ATL, (31% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, REB
Jeff Teague, PG, ATL, (43% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL, FT%
Dewayne Dedmon, C, ATL, (37% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL/BLK, REB, FG%
Enes Kanter, C, BOS, (38% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG% - buyer beware: playing very low minutes lately
Daniel Theis, PF/C, BOS, (54% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, BLK
Marcus Smart, PG/SG, BOS, (79% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL
DeAndre Jordan, C, BKN, (70% Owned) -Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK - buyer beware: dislocated finger, will be re-evaluated next week so check if he is active before adding
Joe Harris, SG/SF, BKN, (64% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%, FG%
Taurean Prince, SF/PF, BKN, (40% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, REB, STL
Coby White, PG, CHI, (64% Owned) - Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, AST, FT%
Thaddeus Young, SF/PF, CHI, (61% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL
Otto Porter Jr., SF/PF, CHI, (71% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, 3PM, STL - buyer beware: just returned from injury and is still rusty
Wendell Carter Jr., SF/PF, CHI, (76% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, BLK/STL - buyer beware: just returned from injury and is still rusty
Tomas Satoransky, PG/SG, CHI, (61% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, AST, FT%
P.J. Tucker, SF/PF, HOU, (51% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL, REB
Eric Gordon, SG/SF, HOU, (36% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT% - buyer beware: dealing with some injury issues
Danny Green, SG/SF, LAL, (42% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK
Kyle Kuzma, SF/PF, LAL, (61% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
JaVale McGee, C, LAL, (36% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Dwight Howard, PF/C, LAL, (46% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, FG%, STL/BLK
Terrence Ross, SG/SF, ORL, (68% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, PTS, additional value with Evan Fournier out
Markelle Fultz, PG/SG, ORL, (55% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL
Carmelo Anthony, SF/PF, POR, (70% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, FT%, REB
Trevor Ariza, SG/SF, POR, (32% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL
Shallower League Add
Coby White, PG, CHI - 64% Owned
Strong Cats: PTS, 3PM, AST, FT%
White has been on a tear! He has been destroying records for rookie scoring, including some set by the legend Michael Jordan. He strung together three straight games with 33 points, hitting at least five threes in all of them.
He is returning top 30 value in the past 14 days with averages of 27.7 points with 4.3 three-pointers, 50.4% from the field and 95.7% from the charity stripe, 3.9 boards, 3.9 dimes, 1.0 steals, 0.1 blocks and 2.6 turnovers in 33 minutes per outing. This is some insane production from the rookie!
And now, with LaVine missing a few games of action, White is sure to get all the run he can handle. And he can handle a lot, and quite successfully so!
If by any chance White is available in your league he should definitely be picked up. With a four-game slate coming next week, he could win you points and threes pretty much by himself if he keeps his hot hand burning.
Deeper League Add
Monte Morris, PG, DEN - 9% Owned
Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST, FT%, STL
I am still shocked that Monte is owned in under 10% of the leagues. I've had him featured as a good streaming option in last week's article as well and he duly delivered with 10.3 PTS with 1.0 3PM on 52.2 FG% and no misses in four free throw attempts, 1.7 REB, 3.3 AST, 0.7 STL, 0.7 BLK and 1.7 TO in 25 minutes a night in the previous three games. Not too shabby for a deep league streamer is it?
He is still returning top-100 value for the past two weeks and the fact that Denver traded away Malik Beasley and waived Jordan McRae shows us that they are happy with having Monte run the second unit.
His minutes are pretty safe at 25-30 and if you could use help in the categories that come so naturally to Monte, he could be quite a good add in deeper leagues for next week with his great schedule.
Insanely Deep League Add
Cody Martin, SF, CHA - 3% Owned
Strong Cats: AST, STL
Cody doesn't really do much offensively and his stats aren't too flashy. But he plays close to 30 minutes a game and contributes in all counting stats. In the deepest of leagues, there's not much more we can ask for from a waiver wire add.
In the previous week, Cody has returned top 120 value with averages of 8.7 PTS with 1.0 3PM on 64.7 FG%, 4.7 REB, 4.3 AST, 1.7 STL, 0.3 BLK, 2.7 TO and hit his only free throw in almost 32 minutes per outing. The turnovers are a bummer, but they seem to be the only downside to otherwise excellent production.
Now, Cody isn't much of a shooter, so both his FG% and FT% aren't expected to be high. And he could put a dent in your attempts to win TO. But with his across the board production, he could provide you with some nice stats to get ahead of your league rival. Especially with such a good schedule he has next week.
Other Deep League Options for the Week
Bismack Biyombo, PF/C, CHA, (4% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK/STL - buyer beware: in a timeshare with Willy Hernangomez and Cody Zeller and got two straight DNP-CDs
Willy Hernangomez, PF/C, CHA, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK/STL - buyer beware: in a timeshare with Cody Zeller and Bismack Biyombo
Jalen McDaniels, PF, CHA, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL
Cody Martin, SF, CHA, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL
Caleb Martin, SF, CHA, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: a little bit of everything
Monte Morris, PG, DEN, (9% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST, FT%, STL
Miles Plumlee, PF/C, DEN, (4% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK/STL
Michael Porter Jr., SF, DEN, (21% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, STL/BLK - buyer beware: poor form and low minutes lately
Donte Divincenzo, PG/SG, MIL, (18% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, AST, STL
Pat Connaughton, SG/SF, MIL, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB, a little bit of everything
Marvin Williams, SF/PF, MIL, (14% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL, REB
Wesley Matthews, SG/SF, MIL, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, a little bit of everything
Royce O'Neale, SF, UTA, (6% Owned) - Strong Cats: FT%, 3PM, REB, STL and plays almost 30 minutes a game
Tony Bradley, C, UTA, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK
Bruno Fernando, C, ATL, (1% Owned) -Strong Cats: STL/BLK, REB, FG%
Grant Williams, PF, BOS, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL/BLK, a little bit of everything
Brad Wanamaker, PG/SG, BOS, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL, AST
Robert Williams, PF/C, BOS, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, BLK, FG%
Semi Ojeleye, SF/PF, BOS, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB - buyer beware: only has value while Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown are out
Chris Chiozza, SF/PF, BKN, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, AST, STL - buyer beware: only has value while Garrett Temple is out
Garrett Temple, SG/SF, BKN, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL - buyer beware: missed a few games but should be back soon, check his status before adding him
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, SG/SF, BKN, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, a bit of everything
Wilson Chandler, SF/PF, BKN, (0% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, REB
Denzel Valentine, PF/C, CHI, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, STL
Shaquille Harrison, PG/SG, CHI, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL, 3PM, AST, additional value with Zach LaVine out
Ryan Arcidiacono, PG, CHI, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: STL, AST, additional value with Zach LaVine out - buyer beware: missed the game on Friday with right Achilles soreness
Daniel Gafford, C, CHI, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: FG%, REB, BLK
Danuel House, SG/SF, HOU, (27% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, a bit of everything
Ben McLemore, SG, HOU, (5% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, a bit of STL/BLK
Austin Rivers, PG/SG, HOU, (2% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, STL
Jeff Green, SG/SF, HOU, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%
Alex Caruso, SG, LAL, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: a little bit of everything
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, PG/SG/SF, LAL, (9% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, STL
Rajon Rondo, PG, LAL, (11% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL
Avery Bradley, PG/SG, LAL, (3% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, FT%, STL
D.J. Augustin, PG, ORL, (19% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS, AST, FT%
Michael Carter-Williams, PG, ORL, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: AST, STL
James Ennis III, SG/SF, ORL, (1% Owned) - Strong Cats: REB, 3PM
Gary Trent Jr., SG/SF, POR, (6% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM, PTS
Anfernee Simons, SG, POR, (4% Owned) - Strong Cats: 3PM
I hope you guys enjoyed the article and I hope that this will help you win your matchups next week and bragging rights for the week after.
