Fantasy Basketball League Winners: Second-Half Stashes

January 27, 2026

Thunder Dan Palyo gives you some players to consider adding in fantasy basketball for the second half of the 2025-26 season.

We are closing in on the NBA trade deadline, which is next Thursday, February 5th. Every year, there are players who are rumored to be dealt who don't, and then a few surprise moves are made instead. The deadline comes one week ahead of the All-Star break, which takes place about two-thirds of the way through the season (not halfway like you may think), as most teams will have only around 25 games remaining after the break.

The fantasy basketball playoffs start for a lot of leagues in Weeks 19 or 20, which are the first few weeks of March. So we are closing in on the most important part of the fantasy basketball schedule.

In this article, I want to highlight some widely available players who could be real difference makers in the final weeks of the fantasy basketball season and playoffs. We won't go as far as to call them "Silly Season Heroes," but all these players could see a major increase in production if injuries, trades, or shutdowns take place involving players on their current roster.

League Winners: Players To Stash Ahead of Trade Deadline

I tried to narrow down the criteria for my search, limiting these suggested stashes to players who were available in 85% of leagues or more. My theory is that popular stash candidates like Jalen Smith, Cam Spencer, and others are likely already rostered in most competitive 12-team leagues.

These are players who may still be floating on your wire who could return top-100 value or better for the stretch run. Some have more upside than others, but all of them are potential values if things break just right and they end up with enough playing time when it matters most.

I broke these players up into three groups. The first one is players who are doing enough now to be rostered and who could be even more impactful with more minutes. The second one is players who would benefit from a trade that shakes up their current team's roster. And the final group consists of players who are on teams that have no motivation to win in the final months and could shut down some of their regular starters, opening up minutes for these players who are in lesser roles right now.

Good Enough To Grab Now

Jarace Walker - SF/PF, Indiana Pacers (17%)

Walker was under the 15% threshold when I started writing this article, but his strong recent play has made him a popular pick-up in the past few days. We have seen him go on good runs before, but he's struggled to stay relevant for longer than a few weeks at a time.

"In this league, that is one heck of a night."

Jarace Walker continues to elevate his game with a career night 💪 pic.twitter.com/RjiyWWlHJL

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) January 24, 2026

Over the last two weeks, he's averaging 13.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.1 threes. The Pacers just got Bennedict Mathurin back yesterday, and he played well off the bench, so it remains to be seen if he'll stay with the second unit or bump Walker back to the bench.

The Pacers are only one game ahead of the Wizards for last place in the East, so it's probably only a matter of time until we see Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, and possibly Mathurin shut down. We may start seeing some more random rest days for those guys here soon, too, and Walker stands out as one of the young Indiana players who could absorb big minutes and a much bigger role when that happens.

Dylan Cardwell - C, Sacramento Kings (12%)

I've highlighted Cardwell a few times in recent weeks in my waiver wire articles as he continues to find a way to get 20+ minutes a game now for five straight games. He's been a top-30 value in 9-CAT over the last two weeks, even while averaging only 5.7 points per game. That's because he's shooting 73% from the field and adding nine boards, two assists, one steal, and two blocks per game!

Cardwell plays with a ton of energy and enthusiasm and has quickly become a fan favorite in Sacramento. He is also one of the only guys on the roster who attempts to play defense, which is likely why he's jumped ahead of fellow rookie big man Maxime Raynaud.

It feels reasonable to think that Domantas Sabonis is either traded or shut down by the Kings this year, as Sacramento has no chance at making the playoffs in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. I don't think there's another more potentially impactful big man on the wire right now than Cardwell. He could provide Mitchell Robinson-type production for fantasy managers or, even better, since Robinson is limited to about 20 minutes a night.

Jordan Miller - SG/SF, Los Angeles Clippers (10%)

I have been driving the Jordan Miller hype train for several weeks now, and this feels like another good opportunity to remind everyone how good he has been lately. Yes, he's seen his minutes trimmed down to the mid-20s in the Clippers' last three games, but Miller has scored in double-digits in all three with excellent shooting percentages from the field and the free throw line.

we saw y’all talking about this move by Jordan Miller 👀🤯 crazy, huh?!?@QuickBooks | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/KY6TYCHQ9X

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 19, 2026

He's still inside the top-50 over the last two weeks, adding 2.2 steals per game over that stretch to go along with that efficient scoring.

Right now, the Clippers are slotted into the final playoff spot at tenth in the West. Memphis and Dallas could both challenge them for that spot, but the Clippers are likely at least in the mix for the play-in until the final weeks of the season. So the angle here for an increase in value for Miller has less to do with tanking and more to do with Kawhi Leonard and John Collins being injury-prone.

Miller is doing enough right now as a sixth man to be rostered in standard leagues, but when we saw him really pop was when Leonard was out, so it might take an injury to Kawhi or another start for Miller to have a path toward a big finish.

Need A Trade For Value

Jamal Shead - PG, Toronto Raptors (7%)

The Raptors are a team that has been rumored to be looking to make a deal ahead of the deadline. Despite several injuries to their starting five, including a bad back that has kept starting center Jakob Poeltl out for most of the season, the Raps are ten games above .500 and sitting in third place in the East.

With Poeltl looking like he could be done for the year, the Raptors are supposedly looking for a starting-caliber big man. Sandro Mamukelashvili has been great, and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles has also been solid, but Mamu is probably best suited for a 25-minute role, and CMB is undersized to play exclusively at the five. Toronto has too many guards, so don't be surprised if they ship Immanuel Quickley and/or R.J. Barrett off to try to get a big man, with Domantas Sabonis being someone whose name has popped up as a potential target.

WOW What a pass by Jamal Shead pic.twitter.com/8ndz9B4LDa

— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) January 26, 2026

Shead is having a solid second year in the pros, averaging 5.6 assists in a 22-minute super-sub role this season. He's made seven starts for Toronto, averaging 12.9 points, 7.6 assists, 2.0 threes, and 1.1 steals in those contests. If Toronto sends a guard elsewhere at the deadline and gets a big man in return, we would probably see Shead move into the starting lineup, where he could provide some elite assists down the stretch.

Maxime Raynaud - C, Sacramento Kings (6%)

Yes, Raynaud has fallen on hard times, but let's not forget what he did as a starter when Sabonis was out. He averaged 11 points and eight boards across 24 starts with six double-doubles (and another three games where he finished with 9 boards, one shy of a dub-dub).

If Sabonis is dealt or shut down, we could see the Kings roll with Raynaud at center, and Cardwell at the four in a twin towers lineup, and the two have shared the court before for short stretches. He's not as exciting as Cardwell, who can provide the more scarce defensive stats, but Raynaud is an efficient scorer and a solid rebounder. He was the only college player to average 20 and 10 last season, and that early stretch of production we saw from him in his first 2-3 weeks as a starter is a good reminder of what he's capable of with regular minutes.

Ty Jerome - SG, Memphis Grizzlies (5%)

I am not in a big hurry to stash Jerome, but he's on my watch list. He could be ready to return to action sometime in the next week, and with Ja Morant out through the All-Star break, we could see Jerome get solid minutes right out of the gate.

Cam Spencer has been incredible this year and is piling up assists as the starter, but Jerome can get buckets and is more of a scorer than a passer. His skills complement Spencer's, and the two could be a solid duo in the backcourt for Memphis.

Ultimately, we need a Morant trade (which I have no idea how likely that is to happen) or a shutdown (perhaps that is more likely) for Jerome to have long-term value. But once he's ready to take the court, he should be snagged off the wire and held until we see how all the drama surrounding the Morant situation plays out.

Players on Tanking Teams

Justin Champagnie - SF/PF, Washington Wizards (10%)

The Wizards are a team loaded with potential difference-makers in March. While players like Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson are probably already rostered in a lot of leagues, Champagnie is still widely available. The key to a Champagnie run of production, for me, will be the potential shutdown of veteran Khris Middleton.

In the 14 games that Middleton has missed this season, Champagnie is averaging 8.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 0.8 threes, and 0.7 blocks in 23 minutes. Those numbers don't leap off the page, but that has a lot to do with the boom/bust nature of Champagnie's game log.

The minutes are what matter most, and Champagnie has proven that he can stuff the stat sheet on a per-minute basis during his career. His game isn't pretty, but he could be a solid asset in FG%, boards, and defensive stats from the wing.

Walter Clayton Jr. - PG/SG, Utah Jazz (1%)

The Jazz are a team that has perfected the tank. It's been four straight seasons of tanking in Utah, and with Walker Kessler out for the year and a 15-31 record, why should we expect them to do anything different this season?

If you're hoarding Kyle Filipowski, that's a smart move, as Lauri Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkic are players who will surely be "rested" late in the year (and are already being held out quite often). The guard situation is a lot trickier, as Keyonte George is enjoying a career year, and Clayton Jr. also has Isaiah Collier blocking his path to regular minutes.

Clayton Jr. has flashed some nice fantasy upside when he's had the opportunity this year, and he's currently in the rotation, though his minutes have been irregular. He's averaging 7 points and 3.3 assists in 18 minutes a night, so could easily deliver something like 12 and 6 with a 30-minute role if Utah decides to give George or Collier nights off down the stretch. There's no guarantee that George or Collier will be given nights off, but I like stashing Clayton Jr. if you can, as he has some solid potential in another Utah tank-a-thon scenario.

Brooklyn Nets: Egor Demin - PG (9%), Day'Ron Sharpe - C (9%), Danny Wolf - PF (2%), Ziaire Williams - SG/SF (2%)

Last but not least, we have to talk about the disaster, I mean, "potential gold mine" that is the Brooklyn Nets! Brooklyn has the best trade asset of any team in the league right now with Michael Porter Jr. enjoying a career year, so they'd be awfully foolish not to cash in that chip and ship him off to a contender. They also have an emerging talent at center with Nicolas Claxton, who could be an appealing target for teams that covet a starting-caliber big man.

And most importantly, the Nets have zero motivation to win games at the end of the year. So even if MPJ, Claxton, or others (Cam Thomas - but who wants him?) aren't moved at the deadline, they could easily be shut down so that Brooklyn gets a chance to evaluate their young talent as they drafted four players in the first round this season.

I know a lot of folks are excited about the young point guard Demin, but my enthusiasm there has been a little muted considering the fact that Brooklyn also wants to see what they have with rookie guards Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf. Day'Ron Sharpe is a fantastic per-minute producer, but really needs a Claxton trade or shutdown to get the minutes that he needs to be valuable, as Brooklyn only deploys him as a center.

My favorite Brooklyn stash is Danny Wolf, who can play power forward and who I believe would benefit the most (besides Noah Clowney) from an MPJ trade or shutdown. Wolf is a solid three-point shooter, a good passer, and a crafty scorer. He's not a traditional big man at all and has a sneaky good fantasy game. In the games that MPJ has missed so far this year, it's been Wolf who has seen his production go up the most of any of these other players.

Finally, we should also consider Williams, who has moved back into the rotation recently in Brooklyn's last four games. His FG% is also suspect, but he can score and has been a decent source of threes, boards, and steals in the past when he's played significant minutes.

Brooklyn could really mess all this up if they choose not to trade or rest anyone, but I really don't think that happens. And I suppose they could play all of their remaining players like 24 minutes a game (we've seen that happen before), but this year feels a little different as they've invested some draft capital in players like Demin, Wolf, and others so they probably do want to see what they can do with some extended run.

There will most assuredly be someone I didn't cover here who pops up as a potential value next week, but I did my best to cover as many as I could. Good luck in the coming weeks, the "Silly Season" will be here soon enough!

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