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.
Facundo Campazzo (PG, DEN)
13% rostered
As much as losing Jamal Murray for the remainder of the 2021 season and most probably for the 2022 campaign sucks, it is also the opportunity other Nuggets have been waiting for and will now get to exploit. One of those benefiting from Murray's absence is Denver's backup-point Facundo Campazzo. Campazzo had started three games prior to Murray's injury, and he did not do so in the one following the bad news--Monte Morris was the man of choice--but Facu is the most experienced guy in the Nugs bench and he will stay on a 25+ MPG dosage if only out of necessity.
Campazzo has not been a fantasy darling in his rookie (yes, rookie) campaign, that's for sure. But he's played 20+ minutes in all games played this month with the exception of a 9-minute outing against Orlando back on Apr. 4) and that should stay the same or get even better for him with Murray out for the year. While a low-level producer, Campazzo is great for those looking to bulk specific cats such as triples (2 3PG in the last seven games), shooting percentages (15-of-16 from the charity stripe since Mar. 19; 60% from the floor from Apr. 9 to Apr 16), and steals (1 SPG on the year; at least one in 12 of the last 20 games since the AS break).
Monte Morris is the younger point in Denver's roster, and while he might get some run initially it is probable that the Nuggets allow Campazzo and his experience to start games to then brought in a fresher Morris from the pine. In any case, and whether Facu starts or not, his numbers will be very similar as not a high-FGA player in any situation and will get his number from spot-up shooting, assists, and steals more than anything. Deep-league target, but one with upside given the injuries and status of Denver's squad.
Dean Wade (PG/PF/C, CLE)
11% rostered
I was hesitating between writing about Isaac Okoro or Dean Wade for this week's column, but I ultimately went with the "risky" play and picked Wade over Okoro. See, Okoro has started every game (51 of them) for the Cavs in his rookie season, which is already a bonus, but he's been far from great. His efficiency is putrid (obviously, because of the large playing time) but not even getting 32+ MPG is he even getting to nice counting stats. Wade, on the other hand, came out of left field not long ago (first game with 20+ minutes on Feb. 23) and he's been good/rosterable/playable for less than a month, but he's been fantastic in that time.
Wade's first 23 games played for the Cavs this year totaled 205 minutes... while he then proceeded to top that 205-minute mark in his next 10 alone from Feb. 23 to Mar. 19 (keep in mind that span included a week off due to the AS break). All games considered, from Feb. 23 to Apr. 15 Wade has played 24 games, is averaging 26 MPG, and his fantasy points have gone from 5 FPG (not a typo) to 21 FPG and an even better 26 FPG in April alone.
Just last Thursday Wade went back to the pine and played as part of Cleveland's second unit for the first time since Mar. 29 when he kicked off an eight-game streak of starts. That sucked because he could only finish the Apr. 15 game with a low 3-0-1-0-2 line for 9 FP, but prior to that stinker, he was fantastic scoring 10+ points in four games as a starter, pulling down 6+ RPG, and dishing out 2+ APG. He was even getting 1.5+ stocks per game in that span, which is something he should keep doing if he gets his good dose of minutes. Again, not the safest of plays as he might not get used that much, but a great what-if flier to take in deeper formats.
Bruce Brown (SG, BKN)
7% rostered
James Harden should be back at some point this week, but he's still out and recovering from his last injury scare. That, paired with Kevin Durant's absence of late, put Bruce Brown in a prime position to rack up fantasy points thanks to an extended amount of playing time through the last month. Even with KD back, Brown has kept playing good minutes and although he's now coming off the bench, that has benefited his efficiency and per-minute marks while being part of Brooklyn's second unit.
Brown started seven games in a row from Mar. 23 to Apr. 4, then was benched for one and started the following match on Apr. 7. He's been on the bench for four straight through Saturday, but so far so good for his GMs. Brown's last five games have finished with the wing hitting at least 24 FP in four of them. Brown has been able to score 9+ points in those four games, and his stats are way high in every cat for the "low" 24-to-26 MPG he's playing these days.
On top of his 9+ PPG, Brown is pulling down an impressive 7 RPG, dishing out 3 APG, and most impressively for those of you in the hunt for steals and blocks, getting 2 SPG and swatting 1 BPG. The shooting is good enough at 47 percent from the floor, and Brown has also hit 10 of his last 12 freebies (83 FT%). If only for another week, Brown sounds like a nice addition for those GMs in deep leagues. Once we see Harden come back, and how the Nets rebuild the rotation, we'll be able to decide what to do with Brown, whether that is keeping or dropping him in our rosters.
Desmond Bane (PG/SG, MEM)
5% rostered
If you read Bruce Brown's blurb above or are aware of the daily news going on around the NBA, then you know Bane is in a similar position to that of Brown. De'Anthony Melton has been a fixture in Memphis rotation all year long, but his absence--he's been out since Apr. 4--has put Bane on a prime spot during the past couple of weeks. That is probably about to change a bit with Melton scheduled to come back this week, but until then and until Memphis doesn't adjust its rotation Bane will keep his value up for those in deep leagues.
Bane's minutes have gone down from the first half of the season to the second one. And even then, he's playing way better basketball these days (rookie growing pains softening, one has to assume). Bane's 32 first games as a pro included 10 starts, most of them in a seven-game streak sandwiching the AS break. Since he was sent to the bench on Mar. 17 following that streak, though, he has clearly raised his per-minute efficiency as part of Memphis' second unit.
While Bane was putting up just 0.72 FP/min in that first "half" of the year, he's up to an above-average 0.93 FP/min mark in the last 19 games through Saturday and averaging almost 21 FPG compared to his early-season 16 FPG. Bane does it mostly on scoring almost 10 PPG on the year to go with 1.8 3PG. He has scored 9+ points in 6-of-10 games in April, and he has strung 10 games hitting at least 1 triple (2.2 3PG in April). Bane is more than capable (for a guard) at rebounding with 3.8 RPG this month and although his assists are a bit low (2.8 APG), so are his TOs for a good 4:1 AST:TO ratio, making him a good target in 9-cat leagues. Keep an eye on Memphis' rotation as Melton comes back, but make sore to get some Bane shares till we know more about that.
Furkan Korkmaz (SG/SF, PHI)
4% rostered
Barring a small three-game stretch following the AS break, Furkan Korkmaz has been a below-average performer all year long. He was not playing enough minutes prior to the break (just 18 MPG in 25 games, starting three of them), and he was averaging a measly 0.70 FP/min in that span (league-average 0.90). After the break, though, he's stepped up his game: he's still on a limited 20 MPG average run, but his efficiency has sky-rocketed to 0.92 FP/min and he's put up above-average marks in all of his games (seven of them) from Apr. 4 to Apr. 16.
For someone who is playing fewer than 20 minutes more often than not, there is no need to rush to add him in any type of shallow league. For those fantasy GMs managing in deeper formats, though, Korkmaz can be a life-saver asset to have around. In the aforementioned seven games, Korkmaz has scored at least 9 points in six of them and dropped double-digit points in five of them, going for 10, 12, 20, and 20 in that run closing the seven-game span with an 18-pop outing on Friday. More impressively, though, he got right his three-point prowess hitting 4 triples in back-to-back-to-back games facing New Orleans, Oklahoma, and Dallas in those three, and hitting 5 (!!!) of them against the Clips on Friday.
Korkmaz is not close to being a do-it-all player while on the court, but he knows how to find his shooting spots (1.7 3PG on the season, 2+ 3PG since the break) while on low FGA volumes (just 8 FGA per game), doesn't turn the ball over more than once per game (almost 1.5 AST-to-TO ratio) and comes with a very nice steals bonus upside (almost 1 SPG on the season, up to 1.5 per game since the start of April). The low rostership makes sense on a pure playing-time basis, but Korkmaz might get larger runs if Philly can separate a bit from Brooklyn ROS and the Sixers rotate players more in a resting effort before the postseason tips off.
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