October 29, 2016

Emil Agarunov looks at NBA waiver wire players with quality games in Week 2. Follow RotoBaller for more fantasy basketball strategy, rankings, and more.

When you are trying to stream players to win your head-to-head fantasy basketball matchup, often when your streamer is playing matters as much as who he is.  A player with games on Wednesday and Friday doesn't help when you've already got a full lineup worth of players playing on each of those days.  However, a player with a game on Thursday would help a lot if the vast majority of your existing players have the day off.  Games on mostly "off" days like that are called "quality games."  Here we'll feature a few enticing streamer options for players with quality games in Week 2 who are available in the majority of Yahoo! leagues.

All position eligibility and ownership rates based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.

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Monday 10/31 Quality Game Streamers

T.J. Warren, SF, PHX (Owned in 29% of Yahoo! Leagues)

T.J. Warren is entering his 3rd NBA season and is looking to establish a larger role on the young Phoenix squad. There is arguably no competition at his position, as his backups are P.J. Tucker (on minutes restriction after back surgery) and veteran Jared Dudley (who also gets minutes at the 4). Warren has established himself to be a very efficient scorer, going for 16.3 PPG, at 50.7% per-36 minutes over his career. If you need a boost in Points, FG%, and Rebounds, then Warren is your guy.

On Monday, with only four NBA games to choose from, Warren matches up against the revolving door that is the Clippers SF position; in their last two match-ups Warren averaged 14.5 PPG, 0.5 3PM, 3 RPG on 57.1% shooting. While there is a glaring lack of peripheral stats, he did only average 23.5 MPG in those games; through 6 preseason games and 1 regular season game he's averaged 26.9 and 30.4 MPG respectively, so its safe to assume that with an uptick in minutes those counting stats should be on the rise, and even more so for a young player on a team currently in their youth movement era. Both teams, but especially Phoenix, play with high pace (4th in Pace during 2015 season), so there will be some major opportunity for Warren to rack up stats. He looks like a safe bet to have a quality night.

Other options: Wilson Chandler, SG/SF, DEN vs. TOR (24% Owned); Matt Barnes, SF, SAC vs. ATL (17% Owned); Marquese Chriss, PF, PHX vs. LAC (24% Owned)

Thursday 11/3 Quality Game Streamers

Matt Barnes, SG/SF, SAC (19% owned)

Matt Barnes is a great candidate to consider for a stream pickup on Thursday's five game slate. Sacramento is not really known for its fantasy contributors other than DeMarcus Cousins, but Barnes is a favorite of head coach Dave Joerger from their days in Memphis and can conceivably carve out a role for himself in the rotation. Even though Rudy Gay is entrenched in the starting SF role (barring a trade), Barnes still has a pathway to minutes by virtue of the Kings not having a second reliable starting caliber big man on the roster, which would logically result in a small ball lineup being trotted out for stretches of time. Through two games that has been the case, as natural big men Willie Cauley-Stein and Kosta Koufos have averaged a paltry 16.8 MPG between the two compared to Barnes' 27.1.

Positional flexibility also helps his cause since he can play and guard the SG through PF positions. His most useful contributions are going to be in three-pointers, steals, and blocks as he averaged 1.7 3PM, 0.9 SPG, 0.75 BPG in his last 2 seasons. Barnes will rarely give you eye popping numbers, but when he's on the floor you can guarantee he will be out there going for every play which should translate into some defensive stats.

Other options: Matthew Dellavedova, PG/SG, MIL vs. IND (41% Owned); Jaylen Brown, SF, BOS vs. CLE (11% Owned); Wilson Chandler, SG/SF, DEN vs. MIN (24% Owned)

Sunday 11/6 Quality Game Streamers

Maurice Harkless, SF, POR (12% Owned)

Portland's starting SF Moe Harkless deserves a look as a stream add for the final day of week two match-ups, with only six games. Harkless, like Barnes and Warren, is a versatile forward who happens to be on a team that employs the small ball lineup from time to time. Portland has embraced the times to the point that coach Terry Stotts is starting two natural SF's as his SF-PF combo in Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu. From this we can assume Harkless has a solid role for the Trailblazers as a tertiary scorer (after Lillard and McCollum have gotten theirs), as well as a competent defensive player.

Last year over a stretch of time that ranged from late March to mid-April, Harkless started 11 consecutive games as Portland's SF. He compiled impressive averages of 11.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.0 BPG, 1.2 STL and 1.0 3PM in 28.7 MPG in that time. The Portland wing rotation has gotten more crowded as of late with the addition of Evan Turner, but Harkless at least for now seems to be the preferred forward being used with the starters. Through his first two games his minutes have hovered around that 11 game stretch last year, so its safe to think he can come close to those numbers this year and maybe even become more than a streaming option.

Other options: Brandon Jennings, PG, NYK vs. UTA (24% Owned); Lou Williams, PG/SG, LAL vs. PHX (44% Owned); JaMychal Green, PF, MEM vs. POR (26% Owned)