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Thunder Dan Palyo looks at some early-week waiver wire options for fantasy basketball leagues. These players may be free agents to target on waivers in Week 19.
Happy Monday, Fantasy Basketball Heads! My colleague Lance has been covering early-week streamers for you this season, but I am filling in for him this week. I am going to mess with the format a little and focus on which players I would stream on each specific day - Monday AND Tuesday (with a second game on Wednesday for any non-Brooklyn players) and then check for Mike Barner's late-week streamers on Thursday morning for the rest of the week.
Some leagues start their playoffs this week so streaming will be extra important if that happens to be you and your league! Make sure you know exactly how many moves your league permits so you can plan them out and maximize the number of games your team plays in H2H formats.
The goal of this article each Monday morning will be to help you plan your roster moves for the first half of the week. Planning is important, and I always include which teams play on optimal days for streaming in the very first section so you can look for additional players that I don't mention as well. All the rostered percentages used in this article are from Yahoo! Let's see who can help us start the week strong!
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Weekly Schedule: Monday to Wednesday
Teams that play two games between Mon and Wed (TARGET): ATL, BKN, CHI, CLE, HOU, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIL, OKC, ORL, PHI, POR, SAC, UTA
Monday-Tuesday Back-to-back: BKN
Tuesday-Wednesday Back-to-back: ATL, CLE, HOU, ORL, PHI
Monday-Wednesday combo: CHI, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIL, OKC, POR, SAC, UTA, WAS
Monday Streaming Options
Dorian Finney-Smith - SF (14%)
The Nets have five games this week and are the only team with the back-to-back to start off the week. Ben Simmons continues to be questionable and has missed the last three games while Cam Thomas is already out. DFS is the best Brooklyn option of the remaining rotation players. He's going to do a little of everything but not too much of any one thing, but at least he won't hurt your percentages or turn it over.
In deeper formats, we can look at Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Smith Jr., but neither guy is very reliable and their minutes have been very inconsistent. Day'Ron Sharpe is only an option if Simmons is out.
Onuralp Bitim - SG (1%)
Alex Caruso is questionable tonight. If he misses this game, it's just Bitim and Dalen Terry backing up all the guard and wing spots as Chicago is super thin across the depth chart right now. Bitim has played well the last two games and would mainly be a threes and points play here.
Luguentz Dort - SG/SF (30%)
The Thunder role players are tough to stream as they really go deep into their bench and it kills any of their guys' chances at consistent production. Dort is probably the one guy who stands out here as usually gets 25-30 minutes and can rebound and defend well from the guard position. He's a solid guy for steals if you are hunting for defensive stats.
Rui Hachimura - SF/PF (27%)
I wrote about Rui in my weekly waiver breakdown, too, he's been consistently scoring the ball since entering the starting lineup and continues to play big minutes for the Lakers. It's usually just points, rebounds, and threes from Rui but he can boost your scoring if he has a few big nights shooting the ball.
Memphis Players
GG Jackson II (22%), Santi Aldama (20%), Jordan Goodwin (10%), Lamar Stevens (4%)
Memphis is a disaster in real life, but for fantasy purposes, they could be a gold mine for the stretch run. Jackson is the sexiest stream here, but also the guy who is the least likely to be available in your league. If you need points, boards, and some blocks then Aldama is a solid consolation prize. Goodwin won't score much but provides elite steals + blocks from the guard position. Stevens is a stat-stuffer who busted in his first start last time out but is certainly capable of putting up numbers with minutes.
Portland Players
Jabari Walker (18%), Duop Reath (9%), Kris Murray (2%), Delano Banton (1%)
Walker is my favorite here and I wrote about him in my weekly breakdown, too, and talked about why you should probably just hold him. Reath is more appealing if Ayton is out tonight, which I think he will be. Grant is already out, so Murray should start at SF again, but he has been very hit-and-miss. Banton has come off the bench but has been surprisingly effective with the minutes he's been getting.
Patrick Beverley - PG (3%)
Pat Bev has settled into a 16-20 minute role for the Bucks and is a plus rebounder for his position while also contributing steals and a few dimes.
Taylor Hendricks - PF (15%)
I think Hendricks is worth a long-term add and not just a stream, but either way, the rookie power forward is flirting with double-doubles and getting close to 30 minutes a night. It's clear that Utah wants to develop him and feature him in the final month of the season.
Taylor Hendricks is really figuring it out
Impressive defense, legit threat as a shooter, even showing flashes of self creation pic.twitter.com/5rzCjZ9sdQ
— Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) March 2, 2024
Corey Kispert - SG/SF (25%)
Kispert is a streaky shooter, but he has been shooting it well over the last several weeks and has four 20-point games to show for it. His role seems secure for the rest of the year as he's played 24+ minutes now in 12 of his last 13 games.
Tuesday Streaming Options
Bruno Fernando - C (1%)
With Okongwu out and Clint Capela having his minutes capped, Fernando has been playing 18-19 minutes in each of Atlanta's last four games. With blocks being hard to find on the wire, he's one shot-blocker you might want to take a chance on for the matchups with New York and Cleveland.
Isaac Okoro - SG/SF (9%) and Sam Merrill - SG (1%)
Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert have both missed two straight games. If they end up missing any more time this week, that should continue to lead for minutes and opportunities for these two Cavs youngsters. Okoro is a stat stuffer across the board, while Merrill is a three-point specialist who just knocked down 11 triples in his last two games.
Sam Merrill has been on the floor for 40 seconds
Sam Merrill has hit a 3-pointer pic.twitter.com/ZTGm1p8jtW
— Tony Pesta (@Tony_Pesta) March 2, 2024
Gary Harris - SG/SF (2%)
Harris has been starting for the Magic with both Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony coming off the bench. The Magic like Harris's three-point shooting and defense alongside their starting unit and he's a sneaky source of both threes and steals as long as he maintains that 25+ minute role.
Sixers Players
Kyle Lowry (28%), Mo Bamba (3%), Nicolas Batum (3%)
Lowry has put together two nice games in a row, though Oubre was out for one of those games. He could help your assist totals this week, but beware of his spotty shooting. Bamba has started over Paul Reed but isn't seeing more than 20 minutes. That's still enough minutes to roll up some boards and blocks. Batum is the complete fantasy player and can contribute stats across the board even at this stage of his career as we saw him put up a solid 7-11-3-3-1 line just this weekend.
