Deep Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Adds (Week 13)

January 13, 2020

Deeper fantasy basketball waiver wire adds for Week 13. These are three NBA players owned in less than 50% of fantasy basketball leagues and should be picked up.

If you haven't noticed, Zach LaVine has taken over these previous two weeks. This isn't to overshadow the production of DeMar DeRozan, Jaren Jackson Jr., or Kyrie Irving's spectacular return, but it should be noted that LaVine is helping owners in every category aside from rebounding and turnovers. The turnovers are a given seeing his transition to point guard, but the improvement across the board is slowly generating more and more attention from owners looking to clean up in the playoffs, or teams looking to make a final push for the postseason.

Aside from the three players listed in the article, Markelle Fultz, Bruce Brown, Miles Bridges, and Dwight Howard will all have considerable upside this week due to matchups and injuries. It's tough to gauge injuries and return times, but even if a player misses just one game, it's important to find their replacement quickly and try to capitalize and on any "free" production.

Make sure to stay updated on injuries and return times, but as far as I'm concerned, these next three players will see the biggest benefit. As a reminder, for standard (10-12 team) league adds, we use a general rule of thumb of an ownership rate of under 50% on Yahoo. All position eligibility based on Yahoo leagues. If you have any questions find me in the NBA Chat Room or @HalfCourtJester on Twitter.

Free Agent Waiver Adds for Week 13

Josh Okogie, PG/SG  – Minnesota Timberwolves

Ownership: 3%

7.8 PPG /  4.4 RPG /  .387 FG% /  1.0 SPG  

The season-long stats are not exactly aesthetically appealing, but over the past week Josh Okogie has been posting top-40 value, anchored by his steals. This sign of improvement doesn't look like it's going to slow down seeing how he went from 25 minutes two games ago, to playing 30 last game against the Rockets. It did come in a blowout, but what else are you really expecting from this Timberwolves squad. They are struggling to stay competitive outside of some of the lower-ranking teams, but that struggle works in our favor for standard leagues. With 3% ownership, this is a perfect add for anyone needing steals and looking to fill in any gaps. Okogie hasn't been killing percentages either, so this is for someone looking for help across the board over the next week.

Norman Powell, SG/SF – Toronto Raptors

Ownership 40%

14.6  PPG /  3.9 RPG /  .497 FG% /  1.1 SPG

Both Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell returned to the lineup against the Spurs and were able to hit the ground running. The Raptors lost, but Powell scored 20 points, Siakam put up 15 and Kyle Lowry dished out 15 assists. Seeing how well Powell performed with all this going on in a loss at home, the future is promising. He is having a career season and that won't change as long as he is getting the minutes. Since he did suffer a dislocated shoulder, there always the chance of a lingering injury, but being directly inserted back into the starting lineup is definitely gives Powell a positive outlook for the rest of the month assuming he stays healthy. If you were worried about the rest of the Raptors stealing production and usage, I wouldn't worry seeing how often they look to get Powell involved, especially while Fred Vanvleet recovering.

Omari Spellman, PF– Golden State Warriors

Ownership 28%

 7.8 PPG /  .454 FG% /  4.9 RPG / .9 3MPG

This is the second time Omari Spellman has been on a deep waiver wire adds list, but that's going to be incredibly common with lower-tier teams, especially the Warriors this season. They are going to have consistent sources of production in terms of they will look to get the same players going early each night. Unfortunately, Spellman is not one of those guys, but for the next week or two, he has his chance. Although the Warriors are on a fairly distracting losing streak, that won't keep Spellman from getting his touches and his usage rate and minutes have some decent correlation for the first time all season. It's extremely unclear how long this will last, but as long as he is posting at least 10 points, a few rebounds and multiple defensive stats, it's worth the chance.

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