Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 7 (2024-2025): December 2 - December 8

Week 7 is upon us and it's the last full week of games before the in-season tournament. Some leagues may lump this week and next week together into one scoring period, so check your league settings to be sure.

For today, I am just covering one calendar week as usual, and next week we can handle the tournament by itself.

I am a big advocate of being aggressive on the waiver wire. If your league has daily lineups, you should use that to your advantage and maximize your weekly games in H2H formats. I'll give you my top adds for standard leagues (25-40% rostered) and deeper formats (less than 25% rostered) every week and the schedule breakdown for all 30 teams. Let's see who we should be eyeing to add to our teams in Week 7!

Week 7 Schedule Breakdown (12/2 - 12/8)

• Tuesday-Wednesday B2B: DET, IND, LAC, MIL, ORL, PHI
• Thursday-Friday B2B: CHI, GSW, SAC, SAS
• Friday-Saturday B2B: BOS
• Saturday-Sunday B2B: CHA, DEN, MEM, MIA, NOP, PHX, WAS

Standard Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 7

Percent owned numbers for Yahoo! "Standard Leagues" refer to 10 or 12-team leagues.

De'Andre Hunter - SF/PF (35%)

Why is Hunter still floating around on so many waiver wires? When he's been healthy, he's been fantastic this season for Atlanta and is thriving right now coming off the bench.

De’Andre Hunter tonight :

— 23 Points
— 4 Rebounds
— 3 Assists
— 4 Threes
— 58% FG

6MOY. pic.twitter.com/EhaOmvmjVx

— HawksMuse (@MuseHawk) November 29, 2024

Hunter ranks inside the top 100 on Yahoo right now as he's averaging over 18 points per game on some strong 47% shooting from the field and 89% from the free throw stripe. He's not adding many defensive stats, but his 2.3 threes on such efficient shooting is a beautiful thing and fits any type of team build in H2H or Roto. This man is criminally under-rostered, add him if you need another efficient scorer!

Malcolm Brogdon - PG/SG (35% rostered)

The Wizards are off to a miserable start, but we knew they'd be rebuilding this season, which is why the trade for a veteran guard Brogdon in the offseason was a bit strange. Perhaps they envision him mentoring Bub Carrington and Jordan Poole a bit, but for right now he's doing it on the court - not from the bench.

Brogdon slid into the starting lineup when Poole was out and has stuck there with Kyle Kuzma now being out for a while. I love Brodgon in fantasy because I have an appreciation for guards who can score efficiently and rebound the basketball as they usually fit nicely on teams that I have built around big men.

Brodgon is now up to 14.6 points per game on 55% shooting while adding 4.6 boards and nearly three assists. He doesn't shoot threes, but I'll take the counting stats and efficiency all day.

Nick Richards - C (35% rostered)

I almost had Richards in last week's column but we still didn't have any kind of timetable for him yet. He returned to action on Saturday and went 12-6 in 25 minutes off the bench with three blocks. He's easily a better option at the center position than Moussa Diabete and he should win his starting job back soon.

With Mark Williams's return date very much still up in the air, we could get a very solid week of production from Richards.

Yves Missi - C (30% rostered)

Missi isn't just a streamer, he's a pick-up and HOLD! I have been pretty adamant about that for a few weeks now and despite some really solid numbers over the last week, managers have been slow to grab Missi for some strange reason.

Yves Missi flies by & flies HIGH on this take 💪 pic.twitter.com/rjNcMMehx9

— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 2, 2024

The Pelicans season is already in the toilet and they have no reason not to keep starting Missi at center going forward. With guards Dejounte Murray and C.J. McCollum back in the lineup, Missi is going to get some better looks on offense and he's already shown that he can be a very good rebounder and shot blocker.

Stephon Castle - PG/SG (28% rostered)

Castle's last game was a dud, but the minutes were still there as he played 33 minutes in last night's win over the Kings. I'm seeing him dropped in some leagues and I just think it's a mistake. He'll have some growing pains, as all rookies do, but as long as he's starting and playing 30+ minutes a night, he probably deserves a roster spot in standard 12-team leagues.

Marcus Smart - PG/SG (28% rostered)

Smart has managed to play in four consecutive games now and perhaps it's a sign that he's ready to stay healthy and contribute. Memphis runs a very deep rotation, and their depth has helped them survive stretches when Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and/or Smart have been out. But it also makes it hard to trust their top players as they often play fewer minutes than starters on other NBA teams.

Whether ends up starting or coming off the bench, Smart only needs about 25 minutes to be productive anyway. He's a steals machine (1.4 per game) and a solid passer (4.3 assists) whose offense might benefit from running with the second unit. He hit seven threes and scored 25 points last week, which is an outlier result but a reminder that Smart can still score the basketball.

Deeper Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 7

Percent owned numbers for Yahoo! "Deeper Leagues" refer to 14-team leagues or more.

Julian Champagnie - SF/PF (23% rostered)

We've been waiting for the other shoe to drop with Champagnie and his minutes, but he continues to play well alongside Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama in the starting five. You can't argue with the production at all, he's pouring in double-digit points on a nightly basis while adding solid contributions in threes and boards.

We're even getting 1.7 steals + blocks per game, pushing him inside the Top 100 on Yahoo. He's just an underrated player who would be more heavily rostered if managers were more familiar with his game!

Moritz Wagner - C (19% rostered)

Wagner has become a staple of this column lately. Even with Wendell Carter Jr. back for Orlando, Wagner has still managed to be productive in 16 to 18 minutes a game. His contributions are pretty hollow, but if you need some points, boards, and threes from the center position (and solid FT%) then Wagner fits the bill.

Guerschon Yabusele - PF/C (13% rostered)

Yabusele has started several games for Philly at center and has now shifted over to power forward as he started twice next to Andre Drummond, too.

It was a career-high night for Guerschon Yabusele against the Rockets:

• 22 PTS*
• 7 REB (3 OFF)
• 2 AST
• 1 STL
• 1 BLK
• 7-12 FG, 4-6 3P

The 28-year-old is shooting 43.5% from three on 4.1 attempts per game.pic.twitter.com/WFZTJAx6qO

— Matt Evans (@MattEvansCU) November 28, 2024

Drummond sprained his ankle and looks like he'll miss some time. And we still don't know when Joel Embiid is going to return. I'm adding Yabusele everywhere until we see how things shake out in Philly. He has a unique fantasy skill set for a big man as he can score, rebound, and provide a few threes, blocks, and steals.

Quentin Grimes - SG/SF (14% rostered)

Who knows how long this incredible run will last for Grimes, but he's played well enough during this most recent stretch that you would think that he's earned more minutes in the rotation going forward, even when Luka and Kyrie both are in the lineup at the same time. It helps that Naji Marshall got dinged up a few games ago, too.

I'd add him now and see what happens this week, if his role gets reduced greatly then you can always cut him and move on.

Grayson Allen - PG/SG (12% rostered)

Before the season, I thought Allen would be a standard league player for sure, but he's missed time with injuries and he really struggled with his shot in the first month.

But over the last two weeks, he's started to get it going and is doing what we expected him to do - provide some solid scoring and threes on efficient shooting.

Jaylen Wells - SF (10% rostered)

I mentioned that Memphis's rotation is a mess for fantasy purposes. Morant, Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. are the only players who are guaranteed starters' minutes while 7-8 other players could all play 20+ minutes on any given night.

Wells had a chance to assert himself while Memphis dealt with several injuries to guards, but has now stuck in the starting lineup and is doing just enough to stay on our radars. It's mainly just points, boards, and threes right now, but Wells has been efficient enough (46% shooting) to make his stats worthwhile.

The Single Digit Crowd (Super Deep Leagues)

Miles McBride - PG/SG (10% rostered)

Duncan Robinson - SG/SF (8% rostered)

Cody Martin - SG/SF (8% rostered)

Dalano Banton - SG/SF (7% rostered)

Cason Wallace - PG/SG (6%)

Sam Hauser - SF/PF (4% rostered)

Jalen Wilson - SF (4% rostered)

Ja'Kobe Walter - SG (2%)

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