Jalen Brunson (PG/SG, DAL): Week 19 Waiver Wire Pickups

Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson is a worthy consideration as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 19 of the NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 26% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Jalen Brunson is a starter! He got the Mavs to bench Luka Doncic on Thursday! Yay! Nope. Doncic missed that game, sure, and that kinda forced Brunson into Dallas' starting lineup, but other than that you are not supposed to expect Brunson starting games out there ROS. Not that that's a problem, though, or takes from Brunson's upside as a very neat WW target for those in need of help while managing in a deep fantasy league.

Brunson has been fantastic coming off the pine for the Mavs this season, yet for some reason, he is still widely overlooked and undervalued. While he's been into a little bit of a funk slumping to a poor 34% shooting from the floor in his last four, Brunson's true numbers are closer to 50%+ (his FG% in April without taking those last four into account) and he averaged a more than healthy 12.1 PPG in the month of April to go with 4 boards and 4 dimes on top of that. The steals and the blocks are definitely not there in Brunson's lines, but the rebounds are good for a guard and the assists aren't that bad if you consider the players he has around in Dallas' second unit.

The Mavs can't sleep on their laurels and although they're currently sixth in the West and just one game below the no. 5 Lakers, they also are just one game above no. 7 Portland and at risk of falling into the dangerous play-in if they drop a few games during the home stretch of the year. Brunson will keep his role as the bench leader, will stay on the 25+ MPG dose of playing time, and should be a good addition for even those in 9-cat leagues as his AST:TO ratio is close to 4:1 these days.

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