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In our weekly look at the waiver wire in fantasy basketball, RotoBaller Brad Leibfried gives us some in-depth NBA analysis about which forwards and centers to target off the waiver wire, and which forwards and centers to continue scouting. Fantasy owners would do well to check out Brad's Week 8 Guards Pickups, as well. RotoBaller covers the best fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups each week, so stay tuned!
Waiver Wire Pickups at the Forward and Center Positions
Waiver Wire Must-Add Forwards and Centers
John Henson: The lanky forward from North Carolina has begun to prove why he should be considered a future building block of the Bucks. Henson exploded last week with one game of 19 points, 17 rebounds, and 1 block followed by the best game of his career in which he put up 25 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks. Known as a defensive ace, Henson is averaging over 2 blocks a game, and prior to his last game against San Antonio he had a steak of 15 straight games with at least 1 block. With Zaza Pachulia, Caron Butler and Larry Sanders all missing from the Milwaukee front line, Henson has risen to the occasion as the team’s best big man. It is unlikely he is still available in your league, but if he is, be sure to pick him up immediately, if not sooner.
Kosta Koufos: When the Grizzlies lost Marc Gasol to a knee injury, there were some who wondered if Koufos could fill in until Gasol returned. Koufos has done more than fill in-- in his past eight games, he has six games of double-digit rebounds, five games in double-digit scoring, and he's posted 16 blocks. He has seen his playing time increase to nearly 33 minutes a game over the past two weeks, and has proven to be a valuable asset up front. The disappointing part of his game has been the 38.5% field goal shooting, which has certainly limited his value. Although he is not the all-around player that Gasol is, he provides such great value in rebounding and blocks that he should be owned in nearly all leagues.
Al-Farouq Aminu: With the injury to Anthony Davis, most assumed Ryan Anderson would take over the role of rebounding power forward. Anderson has certainly played well, but he has only pulled down 5.6 rebounds per game. Aminu, on the other hand, has proven to be a rebounding force in Davis’s absence. In his past four games, Aminu has posted 9, 21, 10, and 14 rebounds, respectively. To go along with that, he's put up 48 points in those games, along with 7 steals. Aminu will never be a great scoring threat (just 6.3 points per game for his career), but he is a plus rebounder for his position and he contributes in nearly every other counting category. In shallow leagues, you might want to wait to see if he can keep up his hot play, but in deeper leagues his all-around game is too hard to ignore.
Waiver Wire Forwards and Centers to Keep an Eye On
Mike Dunleavy: With a bevy of injuries to the Bulls, Dunleavy has taken over as the starter at small forward. He has produced excellent results in those games with back to back 20+ point performances, as well as chipping in on the boards. With Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler expected back within the next few days, Dunleavy will likely lose playing time, but if he keeps playing this well, he could still carve out enough time to stay relevant.
Jon Leuer: The backup big man in Memphis has come out of nowhere to post double-figure scoring outputs in four of his past five games. He also has put up over 6 rebounds in each of those contests, as well as 5 blocks over that span. His value is likely to fall quickly when Marc Gasol and Ed Davis return, but if they are out longer than expected, the former Wisconsin Badger could provide some good short term value.
Check out Brad's Week 8 Guards Pickups, and be sure to come back next week as RotoBaller will continue to look at the best fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups for you to own and scout.
