RADIO
Welcome back to RotoBaller's weekly fantasy basketball waiver wire column and schedule breakdown. We've reached the weird week that is All-Star week, which is actually two weeks long, but with a break in the middle for the All-Star Game itself.
The NBA season just keeps on chugging along, and so does the fantasy basketball season. If you need to bolster your roster or turn around a downward slide, then let's find you some help.
These recommendations are mainly for 9-cat leagues, but if you play in another format, there's a good chance that the information here can still help you. We'll be looking at centers, forwards, and guards whose low rostership and upside make them ideal players to get onto your fantasy team. 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 18.
Upgrade To VIP: Win more with our NBA and DFS Premium Pass, get expert tools and advice from proven winners! Will Priester (@ChiefJustice06) from RotoGrinders joins the RotoBaller team in 2023-24 with his exclusive DFS picks, Prop picks and more. Gain VIP access to our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, DFS Cheat Sheets and VIP Chat Rooms. Go Premium, Win More!
NBA Week 18 Schedule Guide
Let's take a look at some notable things on the schedule this week.
Teams with five games: Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Golden State, Oklahoma City, Washington
Teams with four games: Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Indiana, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, Toronto, Utah
Teams with three games: Detroit, Memphis
Number of teams playing each day:
Monday: 22
Tuesday: 10
Wednesday: 20
Thursday: 6
Thursday (second week): 18
Friday: 16
Saturday: 14
Sunday: 18
Back-to-Backs:
Monday/Tuesday: Golden State, Orlando, Portland, Washington
Tuesday/Wednesday: Boston
Wednesday/Thursday: Chicago
(second week) Thursday/Friday: Cleveland, Golden State, Oklahoma City, Sacramento
Friday/Saturday: Charlotte, Miami, New York
Saturday/Sunday: Denver, Toronto
9-Category Leagues - Waiver Wire Adds
This column is written based on H2H 9-category 12-team leagues. All players in this article are rostered at around 50 percent or less.
Jeremy Sochan, F - San Antonio Spurs - 40% rostered
Sochan (back) missed five games, but returned and picked up right where he left off. Before the injury, Sochan posted back-to-back games with big stat lines: 30 points, eight rebounds and five asissts against the Suns, followed by 17 points, two rebounds and five assists against the Wizards.
And on Saturday, he had another good one. In just 21 minutes of action, Sochan had 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block while draining a pair of threes. On a Spurs team that's heading straight for the lottery, Sochan has been a bright spot, and after the trade deadline has passed, he should see even more minutes than he was getting before as the Spurs work on getting minutes for their young players.
Josh Green, G/F - Dallas Mavericks - 37% rostered
If you thought that Luka Doncic's absence was inflating Green's numbers, then I have some bad news for you. With Luka and Kyrie Irving in the lineup on Saturday, Green scored 23 points, draining five three-pointers and adding five rebounds, one assist and one steal. He shot 66.7% from the floor. With Dorian Finney-Smith gone via trade, it looks like Green has moved into his spot in the lineup. We should probably expect to see Green on the floor for 35-plus minutes each night, and while the presence of ball-dominant players like Doncic and Irving will limit some of his appeal, he should still have plenty of chances to post strong numbers.
Dennis Schroder, G - Los Angeles Lakers - 37% rostered
With Russell Westbrook gone, the Lakers look to use a Schroder and D'Angelo Russell backcourt going forward. And, well...the first few games of that are working out in Schroder's favor, as he's scored 25 and 26 points in the last two games, which includes a 12-assist effort against the Bucks in one of those games. While the Lakers were shaken up a lot at the trade deadline, it appears that Schroder's minutes are safe.
Sam Hauser, F - Boston Celtics - 16% rostered
Hauser went from barely getting minutes to getting 20-plus minutes in four consecutive games. He's scored at least 12 points in each of those games...and maybe more importantly when it comes to fantasy value, he's made at least four threes in each contest. Hauser has been starting with Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart sidelined and should continue to see minutes until the Celtics are healthy. Consider him a top streaming play until then.
Talen Horton-Tucker, G/F - Utah Jazz - 19% rostered
THT scored 23 points last time out, going 8-for-12 from the field and also adding seven assists and two boards. This makes three games in a row that Horton-Tucker has recorded at least six assists per contest. He also has at least one block in each of those games as well. Horton-Tucker is taking advantage of the trades that sent a lot of key Jazz pieces away, and with Utah rumored to buy out the contract of Russell Westbrook—who the team acquired at the deadline—Horton-Tucker should continue to see 20-plus minutes per night. Good affordable source of points and assists if that's something you need.
Shaedon Sharpe, G/F - Portland Trail Blazers - 7% rostered
Sharpe has played well over the last two games, scoring 13 points in both contests while shooting over 60% from the floor. Now that the Trail Blazers have moved on from Josh Hart, there's room for Sharpe to get on the floor consistently, and Portland definitely needs some bench scoring, which he's currently providing, so I'd expect to keep seeing Sharpe out on the floor a lot. He won't provide a ton other than scoring and threes, but considering he's rostered in just 7% of leagues right now, I think there are definitely people who could use his contributions.
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy basketball mobile app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, lineup notifications & DFS articles. All free!
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.
