RADIO
Welcome back NBA basketball! I am pretty pumped about the return of the NBA (and hence Fantasy Basketball) to our lives. I am playing in a few very competitive industry leagues this year in addition to our staff league and a few more casual leagues as well. I have to cap my involvement at a certain point because too many teams just become too hard to manage with my writing schedule and then I feel like I am not managing any of them as effectively as I could be.
I think it's become conventional wisdom to some extent, but I will restate this anyway. The key to winning fantasy basketball leagues is NOT about how you draft, but what you do afterwards with waiver additions and trades. And while you might make a handful of trades during the course of a season, you're most certainly going to make dozens of waiver adds and drops as you try to cope with injuries to players or just try to maximize your games played each week in H2H formats.
Working the wire is an incredibly important skill and being one step ahead of your fellow league managers means always planning ahead and keeping tabs on players who starting to play better or earn more minutes. Every week I will do my best to help you plan out your week and give you my top recommendations to add off waivers in both standard (10-12 team leagues) and deeper formats (more than 12 teams).
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!
Week One Schedule Breakdown
| TEAM | GAMES | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| Atlanta Hawks | 3 | @CHA | NY | @MIL | ||||
| Boston Celtics | 2 | @NY | MIA | |||||
| Brooklyn Nets | 2 | CLE | @DAL | |||||
| Charlotte Hornets | 2 | ATL | DET | |||||
| Chicago Bulls | 3 | OKC | TOR | @DET | ||||
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 3 | @BKN | OKC | IND | ||||
| Dallas Mavericks | 2 | @SA | BKN | |||||
| Denver Nuggets | 3 | LAL | @MEM | @OKC | ||||
| Detroit Pistons | 3 | @MIA | @CHA | CHI | ||||
| Golden State Warriors | 3 | PHO | @SAC | @HOU | ||||
| Houston Rockets | 3 | @ORL | @SA | GS | ||||
| Indiana Pacers | 2 | WAS | @CLE | |||||
| Los Angeles Clippers | 3 | POR | @UTA | SA | ||||
| Los Angeles Lakers | 3 | @DEN | PHO | @SAC | ||||
| Memphis Grizzlies | 3 | NO | DEN | @WAS | ||||
| Miami Heat | 3 | DET | @BOS | @MIN | ||||
| Milwaukee Bucks | 2 | PHI | ATL | |||||
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 2 | @TOR | MIA | |||||
| New Orleans Pelicans | 2 | @MEM | NY | |||||
| New York Knicks | 3 | BOS | @ATL | @NO | ||||
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 3 | @CHI | @CLE | DEN | ||||
| Orlando Magic | 2 | HOU | @POR | |||||
| Philadelphia 76ers | 3 | @MIL | @TOR | POR | ||||
| Phoenix Suns | 3 | @GS | @LAL | UTA | ||||
| Portland Trail Blazers | 3 | @LAC | ORL | @PHI | ||||
| Sacramento Kings | 3 | @UTA | GS | LAL | ||||
| San Antonio Spurs | 3 | DAL | HOU | @LAC | ||||
| Toronto Raptors | 3 | MIN | @CHI | PHI | ||||
| Utah Jazz | 3 | SAC | LAC | @PHO | ||||
| Washington Wizards | 2 | @IND | MEM |
Notes:
The four teams playing on opening night all have three games this week and a favorable schedule in that they play at least two of those games on days when the schedule is lighter (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday).
Teams that only play two games (and both games are on Wed + Fri the busiest days) have the worst schedules. They are Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Dallas, and Orlando.
The Sixers and Bucks have to wait til Thursday for their first game (against each other) but the Sixers have the only back-to-back on Saturday-Sunday.
Standard League Adds For Week 1
These are some players that should be rostered in 10 or 12-team leagues already, but check your wire just in case! Percentage owned numbers in parentheses are from Yahoo!
Kyle Anderson - SF/PF (44%)
Jeremy Sochan - PF (44%)
Slo-Mo is always an underrated 9-cat commodity and is solid even off the bench as long as he's getting around 25 minutes. Sochan's ownership is going to jump up in a big way as soon as he posts a solid line, which could happen in his first game now that he's the official starting point guard.
Jeremy Sochan soars down the lane for the slam before the half 🔥
— Spurs Nation (@SpursNationCP) October 17, 2023
Deni Avdija - SF/PF (44%)
Paul Reed - PF/C (41%)
Kelly Oubre Jr. - SF (39%)
Deni is going to start and should put up some usable numbers in Washington this season. I don't think we see him under 50% rostered after Week One. Reed and Oubre are likely the first guys off the bench for the Sixers and their fate this season could be tied to what happens with James Harden. If Harden is dealt without a prominent rotation player coming back in the deal, then one of these two should start alongside Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris, and Joel Embiid. And we could see guys the entire Sixers' top 7 get a bump in usage and production (other than Embiid who is already the top dog).
Here are a few other guys in the 30% range who deserve a spot on your roster until further notice.
Coby White - PG/SG (32%)
Naz Reid - PF/C (31%)
White has won the point guard job in Chicago and can get buckets. He was great down the stretch for Chicago last year and the rest of the Bulls guards are rather offensively challenged (Caruso, Carter, Dosunmu).
COBY FROM SCHAUMBURG 😮💨@NBCSChicago | @CobyWhite pic.twitter.com/hqCMx9MYA1
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 20, 2023
Reid is likely going to start out with an 18 to 20-minute role off the bench, but he is so efficient that he can still be incredibly productive in that role. He averaged 11.5 points and 5 boards to go along with 1.4 blocks/steals in just 19 minutes per game last season and he is a solid handcuff to hold onto if you happen to have KAT or Gobert on your roster as we have seen him thrive as a starter when either of those big men are out.
Now this just in...
Xavier Tillman - PF/C (24%)
Steven Adams is done for the year and Brandon Clarke is out for a while. Tillman should move up into the starting lineup and has a fantasy-friendly game, especially when it comes to steals from the center position as he averaged 1.0 STL per contest last season in only 19 minutes.
Deep League Adds For Week 1
Quentin Grimes - SG/SF (21%)
Grimes is not a priority for me, personally, but his game is roto-friendly as he can contribute threes, steals, and even a few blocks with solid percentages. He just needs a bunch of minutes to get it done as he is a low-usage player. He's worth monitoring early this season to see if he continues to be a Thibs' favorite and get 40 minutes a night.
Jarace Walker - PF (20%)
Obi Toppin is the starter in Indiana for now, but the rookie Walker had a solid Summer League and some nice preseason minutes, too. He's going to be in the rotation and is guy you can buy low on now in the hopes that he pushes Toppin into a timeshare or even takes his starting job.
Santi Aldama - PF/C (15%)
Aldama is the other add in the wake of the Steven Adams news. He split time between the starting lineup and the bench last season but finished with averages of 9 points, 5 boards, 1.2 threes, and 1.2 blocks/steals in nearly 22 minutes per contest.
Jalen Johnson - SF/PF (14%)
I love Johnson's game and I took him a lot late in drafts as I think he could be a major breakout candidate this season. He's the starting PF coming out of camp and ideally we would see Clint Capela traded at some point (we have been saying that for three years) so the Hawks could free Okongwu, too, and roll with a total youth movement up front.
Max Strus - SG/SF (11%)
The Cavs didn't pay him a boatload of money for nothing. He hit 2.5 threes per game last year in 28 minutes a night while keeping his turnover under one per contest. He will have a role in Cleveland.
Kris Dunn - PG (5%)
Dunn was a waiver hero the final month of the season, finishing 2022-2023 with averages of 13 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.1 steals on 53% shooting. He's coming off the bench and who knows how consistent his minutes will be as the Jazz have a bunch of young players they want to develop. But if they want to win, they are going to turn to Dunn to give them a solid presence off the bench leading the second unit.
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