Corey Kispert: Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups

Corey Kispert is worth considering as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 16 of the NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 0% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The 15th overall selection in the 2021 NBA Draft, Corey Kispert entered the professional ranks as a 2x First-Team All-WCC pick with hardware for Academic All-American of the Year, WCC Player of the Year, the Julius Erving Award (best SF in college basketball), and Consensus First-Team All-American honors, all in 2021. At 18.6 points and 5.0 rebounds a game with 87.8% free throw shooting and 44% three-point shooting for a loaded Gonzaga squad, I'd say he earned the accolades. The 6'7, 220-lb. small forward hasn't seen any G League action in his rookie campaign, actually playing 18.3 minutes on average over 44 games with the Washington Wizards, a squad boasting plenty of different skillsets, yet no one durable enough to consistently take the floor who fills the same niche role as Kispert. Overall, the fan-favorite forward ranks sixth for the Wizards in OWS (0.6) and second among qualified teammates in 3PAr (.569), but he continues to heat up with the more floor-time he sees.

His PT has continuously increased with each month, culminating in 23.7 MP over 14 January contests (four starts) in which he averaged 7.7 points and 2.9 boards while collecting eleven combined steals/blocks and hitting 17 of 48 threes (35.4%), 15 of 15 free throws, netting a season-high true shooting percentage of .590. Additionally, in seven games as a starter (31.4 MP) he put up 12.6 points and 3.7 rebounds with ten for ten FT shooting, 16 for 36 three-point accuracy (44.4%), and a .694 TS rate. In games where he saw 30-39 MP, his offensive performance and modest rebounding stayed well on pace, but he was also able to muster 2.0 assists and a block or steal per game (two blocks and two steals over four games). His best scoring game to date was a 20-point outing against the Knicks in late December, and he has thus far tallied ten double-digit scoring performances, ten games with 2+ threes made, with eight of those ten double-digit evenings coming from the 12/23 matchup vs. the Knicks to the present. There's certainly competition for shares of the PT and three-point attempts among other Washington SG/SF, but most of the Wizard shooters/scorers aren't matching a .545 TS rate, and only Davis Bertans is more likely to shoot a three. For being able to answer the call to greater responsibility with unconscious shooting from all over the floor and plenty of room for upward expansion in the event of an injury, trade, etc., Corey Kispert is a viable, fun option for those in deeper leagues.

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