RADIO
The In-Season Tournament was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I know a lot of fans were into it, too, and fantasy fanatics had to deal with a mild interruption in our usual busy week as every team only played two games (that counted) last week. After another Sunday (two in a row) off, we have a loaded schedule today and the rest of the week! It should be a great week of hoops and I am here, as I am every week, to help you plan accordingly.
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 afterward with waiver additions and trades. And while you might make a handful of trades during 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).
Week 8 Schedule Breakdown
| TEAM | GAMES | MON | TUES | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| Atlanta Hawks | 4 | DEN | @TOR | @TOR | @CLE | |||
| Boston Celtics | 4 | CLE | CLE | ORL | ORL | |||
| Brooklyn Nets | 4 | @SAC | @PHO | @DEN | @GS | |||
| Charlotte Hornets | 4 | MIA | @MIA | NO | PHI | |||
| Chicago Bulls | 4 | @MIL | DEN | @MIA | @MIA | |||
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 4 | @ORL | @BOS | @BOS | ATL | |||
| Dallas Mavericks | 4 | @MEM | LAL | MIN | @POR | |||
| Denver Nuggets | 4 | @ATL | @CHI | BKN | OKC | |||
| Detroit Pistons | 4 | IND | PHI | @PHI | @MIL | |||
| Golden State Warriors | 4 | @PHO | @LAC | BKN | @POR | |||
| Houston Rockets | 4 | SA | MEM | @MEM | @MIL | |||
| Indiana Pacers | 4 | @DET | @MIL | @WAS | @MIN | |||
| Los Angeles Clippers | 4 | POR | SAC | GS | NY | |||
| Los Angeles Lakers | 3 | @DAL | @SA | @SA | ||||
| Memphis Grizzlies | 3 | DAL | @HOU | HOU | ||||
| Miami Heat | 4 | @CHA | CHA | CHI | CHI | |||
| Milwaukee Bucks | 4 | CHI | IND | DET | HOU | |||
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 3 | @NO | @DAL | IND | ||||
| New Orleans Pelicans | 4 | MIN | @WAS | @CHA | @SA | |||
| New York Knicks | 4 | TOR | @UTA | @PHO | @LAC | |||
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 3 | UTA | @SAC | @DEN | ||||
| Orlando Magic | 3 | CLE | @BOS | @BOS | ||||
| Philadelphia 76ers | 4 | WAS | @DET | DET | @CHA | |||
| Phoenix Suns | 4 | GS | BKN | NY | WAS | |||
| Portland Trail Blazers | 4 | @LAC | UTA | DAL | GS | |||
| Sacramento Kings | 4 | BKN | @LAC | OKC | UTA | |||
| San Antonio Spurs | 4 | @HOU | LAL | LAL | NO | |||
| Toronto Raptors | 3 | @NY | ATL | ATL | ||||
| Utah Jazz | 4 | @OKC | NY | @POR | @SAC | |||
| Washington Wizards | 4 | @PHI | NO | IND | @PHO |
Notes:
This schedule is awesome! Five or more games every day this week!
Only a handful of teams play three times (Lakers, Grizzlies, T-Wolves, Thunder, Magic, Raptors) with every other team playing four times.
Golden State has the best schedule for streamers with games on Tues-Thurs and the coveted back-to-back Sat-Sun to finish the week.
Other teams with a Sat-Sun B2B are the Bucks and Blazers.
Standard League Adds For Week 8
Percentage owned numbers in parentheses are from Yahoo!
Kyle Lowry - PG (46%)
Yes, I do think you should add the ageless wonder this week if he's available! Lowry's days of being a star in the league are long gone, but his role on this Miami team right now is very much secure and he's been quite productive for them over the last several weeks as the Heat continue to try to find ways to score enough points on a nightly basis without their best shooter, Tyler Herro.
Lowry has always been a good rebounder for his size and is still pumping out 9-4-4 with 2.1 threes and 1.2 steals. Those are certainly useable numbers for standard leagues. The Heat get the Hornets and Bulls twice each this week, which means four favorable matchups for Lowry.
Patrick Williams - PF (45%)
If you read this article every week, you will remember that I was banging the drum to add Williams last week. If you did, you were rewarded as he turned in some of his best performances of the season, including a season-high 20 points on Friday night.
Patrick Williams tonight:
20 PTS (season high)
6 REB
3 AST
8/11 FG (72.7%)
2/3 3P
+ 20📈📈📈 pic.twitter.com/XEufLlZXLB
— BullsMuse (@BullsMuse_) December 9, 2023
He is nursing an ankle injury but remains probably to play tonight. He should be rostered in standard leagues not only for this week but for the rest of the season as he is a major breakout candidate if and when the Bulls start trading away players.
Caleb Martin - SG/SF (31%)
Here's another guy we were out in front of last week. I had Martin recommended as an add last week and his rostership has swelled from 14% to 31% since. He's now entered the standard league conversation with another week's worth of solid production.
Over the last two weeks, Martin is averaging 17 points, 5.2 boards, 2.8 assists, 1.2 STL + BLK, and 2.2 threes all while shooting 51.5% from the field. With the Heat continuing to miss Bam Adebayo and Haywood Highsmith (for at least tonight and who knows how many games this week), Martin is going to be needed to log heavy minutes and as I mentioned in Lowry's blurb, the schedule sets up really nicely for Miami players to produce some solid fantasy stats against Charlotte and Chicago.
Derrick Jones Jr. - SF (22%)
It sounds like I am bragging (and maybe I am a little bit) but I had DJJ as a deep-league add last week at 5% and now he's entering the standard league mix and is 22% rostered after a fantastic week of basketball. He isn't known for his scoring, but has delivered double-digits in points now in five straight to go along with a whole bunch of blocks and steals. He hit four threes in a game and then followed it up with six the next night.
He's not likely to keep the scoring barrage going, but it looks like he's earning more minutes and he could end up becoming a more reliable option if those minutes solidify in the 28-32 minute per night range.
Dante Exum - PG (17%)
If you forgot Dante Exum was in the league, don't worry because a lot of other NBA fans likely did, too. The Aussie was a point guard in Utah for 4.5 seasons and at one point viewed as a major prospect. However, after a year in Cleveland where he failed to do much, he left the NBA for several seasons, only to return as...a small forward!?
Dante Exum tonight:
23 PTS
6 REB
7 AST (1 TOV)
9-15 FGHis best game of the season. pic.twitter.com/56AQX3ExKm
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 9, 2023
Now 28 years old, he's back and has remade his game around his shooting and not just his handles. He was hyper-productive for Dallas off the bench and then he finally got a chance to start last week and opened up a lot of eyes with a massive line against Portland.
Whether or not he can sustain the scoring remains to be seen, but he is an excellent passer and a good rebounder for his size. He may have found the perfect team for his skill set as Dallas doesn't rely on traditional point guards, using Luka as the main initiator of their offense. I am intrigued by his upside and adding him wherever I can.
Deep League Adds For Week 8
Nick Richards - C (14%)
Here's a guy I have added in a bunch of leagues already this morning. Mark Williams is doubtful tonight, and Richards should be in line for a start against a Miami team that should be without their starting center, Bam Adebayo, too.
Nick Richards : 15 points on 5-7 shooting, 5-6 from the FT line & 8 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench pic.twitter.com/BNhmkCt9Z9
— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) December 9, 2023
Richards is a boring fantasy player but can dominate on the glass in a big way and block shots. He put up 15-8 on Friday night and 6-11 with three blocks in a spot start last Wednesday. Even if Mark Williams returns this week, the Hornets are likely to ease him into his minutes and Richards is perfectly productive in a timeshare.
Isaiah Hartenstein - C (11%)
With Mitchell Robinson out again tonight, Hartenstein is a no-brainer add this week, even if you only end up streaming him for a few games. Hartenstein is a fantasy force when given minutes and most of you already knew that. He just piled up 16 rebounds in 29 minutes for the Knicks on Friday and he's an excellent passer out of the post, too, with nine assists over his last two games.
Brandon Podziemski - SG (3%)
The Warriors have had to dig deep into their bench with both Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins missing time lately. Moses Moody has seen a bump in minutes but it's been the rookie B-Pod (I just made that nickname up) who has seen the most minutes and been the most productive.
He's definitely not someone to add unless you are in the deepest of leagues, but he can put up stats when given the minutes and he has a sneaky, slick game. He can shoot and do a little bit of everything else, too.
Troy Brown Jr. - SF/PF (2%)
Anthony Edwards left Minnesota's last game only three minutes into the game, leaving a huge hole on the wing for the Wolves. That hole was filled by several different players, but TBJ ended up playing 30 minutes off the bench and finishing with a 20-4-4 line and four made threes.
He's been a regular in the rotation now for a few weeks but had only hit double-digits in points twice in that stretch. Whether he slides into the starting rotation or not, he should continue to play heavy minutes and soak up some of the usage left behind by ANT, who is leading the team in usage. Guys like Kyle Anderson and Shake Milton are likely to get a bump, too, but TBJ is available nearly everywhere and is the safest bet for reliable production in the short term.
Good luck everyone, and enjoy the in-season tournament!
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