RADIO
The waiver wire is where leagues are won and lost. The draft is long past and now your rosters feel completely different if you are even moderately active. Players come and go due to poor performances and/or injury all the time. Staying on top of your needs is essential to winning matchups and grinding your way to a championship.
Be mindful of some of the players on your roster as they may be off to slow starts, and it could take another week or two to see the return you expected when drafting them. Typically, you should be looking to drop those on the end of your bench who, even if productive, do not provide a real long-term outlook. Stay the course with the talent you drafted.
As a reminder for most leagues, it is crucial to plan ahead. Waiver wire adds, scheduling and player injuries are all things to consider. Make an effort to improve your team by maximizing your weekly adds and utilizing streamer spots via the waiver wire. Be wary of weekly streaming options and stay ahead of your opponents. Our staff at RotoBaller has great insight and daily columns on how to improve your squad and tips to make your team successful, so be sure to check them out! Now, let's get prepared for Week 7.
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 7 Schedule
4 Games - Heat, Blazers, Pacers, Hornets, Bulls, Lakers, 76ers, Nuggets, Kings, Wizards, Hornets, Mavs, Suns
3 Games - Pelicans, Magic, Grizzlies, Nets, Hawks, Clippers, Jazz, Bucks, Cavs, Raptors, Knicks, Warriors, Rockets, Thunder, Pistons
2 Games - Spurs, Celtics
Week 7 Standard Leagues - Waiver Wire Pickups
*Securing your categorical needs at this point is important, especially if you're playing in head-to-head leagues*
Columns are written based on H2H 9-category standard size leagues:
Derrick White - PG - San Antonio Spurs (42% owned)
As the Spurs' offensive struggles growe, they decided to make a change in the starting lineup. Dejounte Murray was replaced by Derrick White in a move to increase their scoring efficiency and spark some positive momentum early on in the season. White's breakout campaign last year was halted this season as he was relegated to a bench role in which he played fewer minutes and lost usage while on the floor. His insertion into the starting lineup recently may just be a wake-up call to the Spurs to increase his involvement and thus create more opportunities for White to provide fantasy-friendly stat-lines. His ability to provide a steady stream of assists, rebounds, stocks, points, and threes all with good percentages makes him an ideal fantasy asset. If he can find his footing and provide this consistently, he could be a mid-season steal.
Mohamed Bamba - SF - Orlando Magic (25% owned)
With Nikola Vucevic sidelined due to an ankle injury, Mo Bamba has stepped into a larger role in Orlando. He is still a backup but playing moe minutes and providing more production. He's played 20 minutes per game since Vuc's injury and is averaging 10 points, eight rebounds, and nearly three blocks. Unfortunately, Bamba may not play in back-to-back games this season as a result of the leg injury he suffered last year. This limits his production ceiling week-o-week but does not make him any less of a priority. It is hard to find blocks on the wire that come along with proper production elsewhere. He's a must-add until Vucevic returns.
Tim Hardaway Jr. - SF - Dallas Mavericks (38% owned)
Impact scoring off of the waiver wire is hard to find. THJ's insertion into the starting lineup In Dallas has been a god-send for his fantasy production. Playing next to Luka allows him the opportunity to take a ton of open shots, and luckily, he is hitting plenty at a good clip. Since becoming a starter, he has hit 60 percent of his shots from the field and from three. Given that he is taking nearly seven threes per game, this is an incredible five-game stretch. Although he undoubtedly will not keep this up (booooo regression) he should still be a hot add this week for any and all teams.
Rajon Rondo - PG - Los Angeles Lakers (28% owned)
Rondo is a known asset who is best added purely for depth. His main sources of production are assists, threes, and steals. He can sporadically score and provide a few rebounds at the cost of turnovers and a mediocre field goal percentage. Know the trade-off when adding him and only do so if need be. He is not someone you really want on your team but he is getting solid minutes and does help in a pinch for teams that are built to punt some of his weaknesses.
Marquese Chriss - PF - Golden State Warriors (11% owned)
Adding this name might curse the entire article but he has played himself into relevance of late. Chriss is becoming a staple of the Warriors lineup and with Draymond Green's minutes limit going forward, he might not be going anywhere. He's provided stocks, boards, and good percentages of late. The scoring has improved to roughly double-digits per game over the past month and for who he is, we will take that. Drop him at the first sign of a slightly extended struggle.
Keita Bates-Diop - PF - Minnesota Timberwolves (2% owned)
As a former first-round pick, Bates-Diop has some pedigree to back him. His recent stretch of production is very solid and could help owners in deeper leagues who need upside off of the waiver wire. His minutes have fluctuated since he cracked the rotation two weeks ago. However, with at least 24 minutes played over his last three games, there is hope for consistent play-time going forward, especially due to the production provided. Bates-Diop is making threes at a high clip and adding an extra element to a thin Timberwolves lineup. He could potentially be starting full-time in a few weeks if he can somewhat keep this up and outplay Jake Layman.
More Fantasy Basketball Analysis
By popular demand, RotoBaller has aggregated all of our fantasy basketball NBA waiver wire pickups into a running list of NBA waiver options, so bookmark the page and check back often for updates.
