Jeremy Lin (PG/SG, TOR) - Week 20 Waiver Wire Pickups

February 24, 2019

Jeremy Lin is a worthy consideration as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup if he's still available as a free agent in your league, heading into Week 20 of the NBA season. Brady Grove recommends Lin for his new backup role on an elite team and consistent floor-general type production.

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Analysis: "Linsanity" was finally able to reach a contract buyout with the Atlanta Hawks and subsequently signed on as the backup point guard for the Toronto Raptors for the post All-Star Break portion of the season behind Kyle Lowry after the organization shipped Delon Wright to Memphis. In 51 games as a member of the Atlanta Hawks this year, Lin served as a respectable member of the back court bench with 10.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 0.7 steals per game while also shooting a rather mediocre 33.3% from beyond the arc (0.9 out of 2.6 converted three-point attempts per game) in 19.7 minutes on average per contest. In the extremely brief time since he has been a resident of Toronto, the Harvard alumni has taken on an encouraging, albeit conservative role.

In just two games so far as a member of the Eastern Conference contending Raptors, Lin has already gotten off to a well-rounded start on the stat-sheet by producing 9.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists which suggests he is taking on floor-general duties off the bench, and a defensively astute 1.0 steals per game in an improved 22.5 minutes per contest. Lin has unfortunately so far failed to convert on a single attempt from downtown as a Raptor out of his 3.0 attempts per game, but that is acceptable as a statistical outlier in Lin's limited sample with Toronto, as he can usually be counted on to shoot anywhere from 32% to 36% on three-point shots. Lin is one of two clear backup point guards for Toronto behind Lowry, and while he seems to share this role with Wichita State diamond in the rough Fred Vanvleet, they seem to occupy very similar roles of serving as reserve floor-generals with an emphasis on well-rounded production. Since he can be counted on for points, assists, and steals, as well as above average rebounding for a point guard; Jeremy Lin is an interesting asset in deep leagues in the post All-Star Break universe.