RADIO
Thunder Dan Palyo gets you set for the upcoming week of Fantasy Basketball with a schedule breakdown and his top players to add off the waiver wire for Week 21.
We have reached the final month of the NBA regular season, and your league is most likely in some stage of the playoffs by this point. The number of injuries and players missing games daily is at its peak, so you have no choice but to make some tough decisions and timely moves if you are going to compete every week.
If you have Charlotte players, you can dump them after their game with Orlando on Tuesday as they have three days off in a row. Dallas is the other team with only two games, and you can get both of those games from fringe Mavericks players by Thursday and then dump them for some daily streamers Friday through Sunday.
Working the wire is an incredibly important skill and being one step ahead of your fellow league managers means always planning and keeping tabs on players who are 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 from waivers in both standard (10-12 team leagues) and deeper formats (more than 12 teams).
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Week 21 Schedule Breakdown
| TEAM | GAMES | MON | TUES | WED | THURS | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| Atlanta Hawks | 3 | @LAL | @PHO | CHA | ||||
| Boston Celtics | 4 | DET | MIL | @DET | @CHI | |||
| Brooklyn Nets | 3 | NO | @MIL | @NY | ||||
| Charlotte Hornets | 2 | @ORL | @ATL | |||||
| Chicago Bulls | 3 | POR | @HOU | BOS | ||||
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 4 | @IND | MIA | @MIN | @MIA | |||
| Dallas Mavericks | 2 | @SA | UTA | |||||
| Denver Nuggets | 3 | @MIN | NY | @POR | ||||
| Detroit Pistons | 4 | @BOS | IND | BOS | NO | |||
| Golden State Warriors | 4 | NY | MEM | IND | @MIN | |||
| Houston Rockets | 3 | @WAS | CHI | UTA | ||||
| Indiana Pacers | 4 | CLE | @DET | @GS | @LAL | |||
| Los Angeles Clippers | 3 | @POR | @POR | PHI | ||||
| Los Angeles Lakers | 3 | ATL | PHI | IND | ||||
| Memphis Grizzlies | 3 | @SAC | @GS | @SA | ||||
| Miami Heat | 4 | @PHI | @CLE | NO | CLE | |||
| Milwaukee Bucks | 3 | @BOS | BKN | OKC | ||||
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 4 | @UTA | DEN | CLE | GS | |||
| New Orleans Pelicans | 4 | @BKN | @ORL | @MIA | @DET | |||
| New York Knicks | 3 | @GS | @DEN | BKN | ||||
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 3 | UTA | @TOR | @MIL | ||||
| Orlando Magic | 3 | CHA | NO | SAC | ||||
| Philadelphia 76ers | 4 | MIA | @PHO | @LAL | @LAC | |||
| Phoenix Suns | 3 | PHI | ATL | @SA | ||||
| Portland Trail Blazers | 4 | @CHI | LAC | LAC | DEN | |||
| Sacramento Kings | 4 | MEM | @TOR | @WAS | @ORL | |||
| San Antonio Spurs | 3 | DAL | MEM | PHO | ||||
| Toronto Raptors | 3 | SAC | OKC | @WAS | ||||
| Utah Jazz | 4 | MIN | @OKC | @DAL | @HOU | |||
| Washington Wizards | 3 | HOU | SAC | TOR |
Notes:
Dallas and Charlotte have the lone dreaded two-game weeks.
Monday-Tuesday B2B = MIN
Tuesday-Wednesday B2B = NONE
Wednesday-Thursday B2B = MIL, SAC, UTA
Thursday-Friday B2B = NOP
Friday-Saturday B2B = BOS, POR, SAS, TOR
Saturday-Sunday B2B = NONE
Standard League Adds For Week 21
The percentage of owned numbers in parentheses are from Yahoo!
Dalano Banton - PG/SG (34%)
Banton tops the list again this week. After a slow start to last week, he finished strong, playing 42 minutes in each of Portland's last two games and posted some big numbers, including 28 points against New Orleans this weekend. It appears that he can coexist quite nicely with Scoot Henderson in the backcourt and that he's going to get a shot at a meaningful role with Portland the rest of the way.
With another four-game week for the Blazers this week, fire him up in all formats!
GG Jackson II - SF/PF (30%)
Jackson had a massive week for anyone who rostered him last week, so I hope you grabbed him when he was still just 18% rostered. If he's still on your wire, I'd add him fast as he could be in line for another big week.
Jackson started alongside Jaren Jackson on Saturday and was still very productive, posting a 19-4-4 line with a steal and a block. It's only a three-game week for Memphis, but the matchups against Golden State, Sacto, and San Antonio are appealing.
Caleb Martin - SG/SF (28%)
Martin has been super steady over the last two weeks while the Heat have been without Kevin Love. Miami plays four times this week, and I am surprised Martin is this widely available as he's a solid source of threes, boards, and defensive stats even on nights when he's not scoring a bunch of points.
Trayce Jackson-Davis - PF/C (23%)
Another team with four games this week is Golden State, and it's good to see they got their young big man back in the rotation.
OMG Trayce Jackson-Davis just put Victor Wembanyama on a POSTER!pic.twitter.com/8Bb8Tr9apR
— RotoBaller NBA (@RotoBallerNBA) March 12, 2024
TJD has played 20+ minutes now in four straight games and is producing points, rebounds, and blocks with some sneaky assists, too. He's a nice boon to your FG% as he's shooting a ridiculous 70% from the floor this season.
T.J. McConnell - PG (21%)
TJM doesn't need too many minutes to put up stats and he's seen his role grow in the last week, playing 20+ minutes in three of his last four games. If you need assists and steals, there isn't a better add than McConnell who has averaged five dimes and 1.1 steals this season in just 18 minutes per contest.
Jock Landale - C (18%)
It sounds like starting center Alperen Sengun is going to miss the rest of the regular season. While Landale hasn't replaced him in the starting lineup, he has seen his playing time increase off the bench and he had a few really good games last week. Stick with him (he's being dropped in a lot of leagues) as there are still more good games to come.
Deep League Adds For Week 21
Taylor Hendricks - PF (15%)
Hendricks was cut from a lot of rosters last week when he missed three games with an injury. But the rookie is back in the lineup and fresh off a 15-point, 10-rebound game against Minnesota in 33 minutes. He should continue to be featured by a tanking Utah team and with four games this week, he's a guy who could really help you out in points, boards, and percentages.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker - SG/SF (13%)
NAW is not the greatest 9-cat player, but he is seeing a lot of time on the floor lately for a Minnesota team that is battling injuries. His FG% is going to be up and down nightly, but he can contribute points, threes, and even some assists. The T-Wolves play four times this week, too.
Georges Niang - PF (10%)
The Cavs play four games and continue to be without Evan Mobley and Dean Wade. Niang as stepped up and scored in double figures in five of his last six games while starting at power forward.
Second 20-point game of the season for Georges Niang.
— Across The Cavs (@AcrossCavs) March 11, 2024
He's only going to help with points, rebounds, and threes, but he's widely available and also won't hurt your FG% or FT% categories.
Brice Sensabaugh - SF (3%)
Another young Jazz player who is getting an opportunity, Sensabaugh has had a few decent games and even started for Utah lately as they put Jordan Clarkson on the shelf. Not much stands out here other than some counting stats, but we are scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
Craig Porter Jr. - PG (1%)
My man CPJ is only 1% rostered and we are about to get a four-game week from the Cavs where we don't know if Donovan Mitchell will play at all. CPJ can be very useful if he's going to play 20 minutes off the bench, just think back to what he did earlier in the season when he was given the opportunity.
That's it for this week; good luck in your leagues and thanks for reading!
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