February 21, 2018

Week 19 fantasy basketball waiver wire adds for shallow leagues. Take a look at three NBA players who are owned in less than 65% of fantasy basketball leagues.

It's Week 19 (or still "week 18" where this week and last are both the part of the same H2H matchup).  The All-Star break is officially over and that means we're just a few weeks away from fantasy playoffs. We're in the home stretch of the season and working the waiver wire successfully in these next few weeks are key to making a strong run in the postseason.   Here are some interesting adds that can help you with your season goals.

This year, we're tossing out our old convention of separating waiver wire posts into positions, and instead, we're separating them into of league -- standard, shallow, deep, etc. The NBA is trending to positionless basketball, so we at RotoBaller should too.

For shallow (8-10 team) league adds, we use a general rule of thumb of an ownership rate of under 65% on Yahoo. All position eligibility based on Yahoo leagues.

Shallow League Adds for Week 19

Dwight Powell, PF/C

Ownership: 39%

7.9 PPG / 5.2 REB / .601 FG% / .720 FT%

It's usually around this time of the season that certain players on tanking teams have a late season breakout. It seems like the tanking Mavericks have given Dwight Powell the opportunity to be a late season steal. Powell has slowly become a reliable scoring option for Dallas as he's hit double figures in 5 of his last 6 games. He's also been very consistent on the boards in this stretch as well, having 6+ rebounds in every game since January 29th. He has tremendous upside for the remainder of the season as the tanking Mavs look to secure their spot in the lottery.

Powell's most notable game thus far was just before the All-Star break against the Rockets where he put up 18 points and 12 rebounds. In this contest he went 50% from the field and went 6/6 from the free throw line. In the month of February, he's averaging 16.3 ppg, 8.3 rebounds and shooting close to 70% from the field on 28.3 minutes per game. I can see his opportunities on the Mavericks stay similar to what we are seeing now. Dwight Powell is a must add if you looking for efficient bigs who can contribute to points and rebounds.

Jabari Parker, SF/PF

Ownership: 60%

9.3 PPG / 3.0 REB / .463 FG%  / .842 FT%

The former #2 pick in the 2014 draft has finally returned to action after a season ending ACL injury last February. It's been a long NBA season filled with injuries so congratulations if you were able to hold on to him in your IR spot until his return, your patience will hopefully pay it's dividends. Jabari Parker is still on a 20 minute playing restriction, however he still looks as impressive as he was last season. Before his ACL injury, he was in the midst of his best season so far, averaging 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists, while shooting very efficiently from the floor at 49%.

It's tough to expect that he returns to full form with about two months left in the season but I expect Milwaukee to slowly increase his playing time as we get closer to the post season. His most recent game he put up 12 points and 5 rebounds on 5-8 shooting in just 17 minutes. As the season dwindles down and the Bucks are positioning themselves for their post season run, Jabari has the potential to be an excellent boost for owners who are efficient forwards that can contribute across the board. Pick him up if your team has the flexibility to deal with an occasional rest day as he has tremendous upside.

Jordan Clarkson, PG/SG

Ownership 53%

14.6 PPG/ 3.0 REB / 3.2 AST / .453 FG%

I had my doubts about Clarkson's value when he got traded to the Cavaliers but so far I am pleasantly surprised. He was a reliable scoring option off the bench for the Lakers this season averaging 14.5 points in 23.7 minutes a game. His ownership reduced dramatically when the trade was announced, as fantasy owners couldn't see him having a significant role off the bench with all the scorers the Cavaliers have. So far, Cleveland has given Jordan the green light to create his own shots and be the same player he was in L.A.

In his two games with the Cavs, he's averaging 15.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists. His numbers and minutes are extremely similar to when he was a Laker so that's great news for Clarkson owners. He's currently shooting 62% from the field, which shouldn't be expected from him long term as he is a streaky shooter, but playing alongside Lebron James should help your efficiency, unless you're Isaiah Thomas of course. Clarkson has huge upside as he may see his role increase as the Cavaliers start to figure out the dynamic of their new team.

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