RADIO
The deeper a fantasy league, the harder it is to hit a winner with your last few picks. It is also harder to find decent help from the waiver wire if your late-round picks don't do you justice. If you picked up a few stinkers, don't lose hope just yet. I will try to help you pick up a winner.
Here are my deeper league waiver wire pickups for your fantasy basketball teams. These players should be available in most leagues and they might just help you out, whether it's a few weeks rental or a long term fix to a problem your team is having.
If a guy on your team is frustrating you with his weak performances, give some of them a go. They might just be worth it.
Jalen Brunson (PG/SG, DAL)
8% rostered
Jalen Brunson started the year on the bench, and luck had it bad for him as he was forced out of basketball courts from Jan. 7th to Jan 18th due to the NBA's health and safety protocols related to COVID issues. Good for Brunson and his fantasy GMs, though, since he returned a week ago the guard has started every single game of the four he's played at the SG position and logged 27+ minutes in each of those.
Even though Brunson was only playing 19 MPG in his first eight games (all but one as a reserve), he was still playing really efficient basketball, averaging an above-average 1.03 FP per minute on the court. That mark has gone down a bit (understandably) now that he has a starting role and is playing more minutes, but he's still been able to keep up very nice numbers.
Brunson dropped 14.3 PPG in his four games last week, hit 9+ in all of them and 13+ in three of those four, and he shot the rock a sweet 51.5 percent from the floor on a healthy 9.5 FGA per game. He also was able to go to the line three times per game, hitting 11 of his 12 total attempted freebies. Luka and Porzingis are going to remain the go-to players on offense, but that context will boost Brunson's chances at keeping up with the efficient game he's shown he's got in himself.
Jarred Vanderbilt (SF, MIN)
6% rostered
With Karl-Anthony Towns out after testing positive for COVID, fantasy GMs jumped on a now-starter Jarred Vanderbilt. Minny doesn't have much depth behind KAT other than Vanderbilt, Naz Reid, and Juancho Hernangomez--out due to COVID, too. That's why Vanderbilt has logged four starts at the PF spot last week, playing 29, 17, 27, and 21 minutes in those four matches.
While J-Van has been far from great, the truth is that his per-minute numbers have been good enough to consider him more than his current six-percent rostership says. Vanderbilt has posted 1.15 FP/min in those four games, reaching 8+ points in three of the four games and even logging a dub-dub to close his week against New Orleans last Saturday with a 16-11 line to which he added 2 steals and a block.
Vanderbilt is an interior wing, and he doesn't go for the triple often. He has one in 13 games and a total of 59 FGA on the season, so forget about that. What he does great, though, is scoring at high clips thanks to his interior tendencies. Vanderbilt is shooting 60.5% from the floor, mostly avoiding turnovers and fouls, and only lacks free-throw prowess as he barely goes to the line. One of the best values out there, even with KAT/Hernangomez nearing his respective returns.
Trey Burke (PG, DAL)
5% rostered
As ridiculous as it might sound, the truth is that both Jalen Brunson (read above) and Trey Burke have more than some upside while having reasonably similar games and playing for the same team. Oh, and they are two super-values rostered in fewer than 10 percent of Yahoo leagues each, which should help you find them in the WW pool almost no matter the league you're part of.
Burke's first half of the season (to this point) wasn't so good: seven games with averages of 17 MPG, 7.1 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 1.4 APG were never going to cut it for fantasy GMs. His last eight, though, seem to belong to a completely different player: 26 MPG, 15 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 2.1 APG adore his line in that second half. Burke has leveled up a lot, has put up a league-average 0.98 FP/min in his four games last week, and hasn't had a game in which he's shot below 44% from the floor even though he's shot 9+ FGA in all four.
In fact, Burke's last week has been quite incredible. He's scored 13+ points in all four of his games including at least one triple in each of them (2.3 3PG), and he's stolen 8 combined balls. The usage is up to a season-high average of 22.1 in the past four, which bodes well for him going forward as an off-the-bench microwave-scorer for the Mavs.
P.J. Dozier (PG/SG, DEN)
2% rostered
Dozier is nothing incredible, but for those of you playing in super-deep leagues with really long rosters, he might give you something at the end of the day. Dozier is not starting for the Nuggets, he isn't even a key part of the team's second unit, but he's efficient when he's on the court and his best numbers come from his great shooting stroke.
Dozier has attempted just 91 shots in 16 games (5.7 FGA per game) but he's hit 48.6 percent of them (44-for-91) including 13 treys for an average of 0.8 a game. Nothing mindblowing, but also something respectable considering Dozier is logging just 20 MPG of playing time and a usage rate that has topped 18% just once this season.
With 0.97 FP/min, Dozier sits virtually at the league average in per-minute fantasy production. Getting back to his shooting, he's currently boasting a great 59.3 FG% in the past four games he's played going back to Jan. 17th when he had his best game of the season against Utah: 28 minutes in which he finished with a 9-4-3-3-1 stuffed line and 3-for-5 from the floor with 2 treys and a couple of freebies.
David Nwaba (SG/SF, HOU)
2% rostered
It's been two completely different seasons for Nwaba from his first game on Dec. 26th to Jan. 16th, and then from the start of last week (Jan. 18th) onwards. While Nwaba started 7 of his first 10 games this season for Houston playing 24 MPG, he's been part of the bench mob in three of the last week's four games, starting just once last Monday yet playing a low 21 minutes. First-split Nwaba: 0.65 FP/min; second-split Nwaba: 1.19 FP/min. Not bad.
Nwaba is going to remain a low-maintenance, low-usage player going forward. That doesn't mean his numbers are going to be bad, as you see they haven't in the past seven days. Facing all types of squads in the last week (from lowly Chicago and Detroit to much-better Phoenix and Dallas), Nwaba has scored 7+ points in all of his games, 9+ in three of them, and 13+ in two. He's hit 58.9% of his 7.3 FGA per game, and 10 of his 11 FTA.
The Rockets are letting Nwaba finish just 16.6 percent of possessions this season, but every time he does so he's doing it by either going to the line or shooting the ball, as he's just committing 0.6 turnovers per game. Make Nwaba one of your WW targets (in 14-team or deeper leagues) going forward with upside to start games here and there and enter the 30-FP realm on favorable matchups down the road.
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