November 26, 2018

Week 6 fantasy basketball waiver wire adds for standard leagues. Take a look at three NBA players who are owned in less than 50% of fantasy basketball leagues and should be picked up.

Now that we are in week six, the big problem for most players is the lack of bigs available on the wire. In most of my leagues, the wire is dry of new centers to see coming, meaning you might have to look for a player like Taj Gibson or Mike Muscala to fill any gaps. While most teams have started off strong, many of the younger teams will start to fade off as fatigue starts to set in. On the other hand, expect teams like the Grizzlies to slow down around mid-December and open up room for players like Kyle Anderson and Shelvin Mack to see some extra mid-season usage.

Rookies will see their struggles, so look for second and third-year players to start finding their groove now that most teams are about 15 games into the season. Trends will continue all season, but do not expect any drastic changes coming outside of team-rebuilding trades. The Wizards have been all over everyone's "bad team" radar so expect the most changes to come from them. While other teams might lack the talent or depth, the Wizards lack the consistency so be wary when rostering them in standard or DFS leagues.

As a reminder, for standard (10-12 team) league adds, we use a general rule of thumb of an ownership rate of under 50% on Yahoo. All position eligibility based on Yahoo leagues.

Standard League Adds for Week 4

Shaquille Harrison, G  – Chicago Bulls

Ownership: 1%

7.7 PPG / 2.6 APG / .463 FG% / 2.0 SPG

Shaquille Harrison is only averaging 17 minutes a game to this point in the season, but it hasn't held him back production wise. Even in blowouts Harrison is contributing, and while he would be in an entirely different realm if he hit more threes, his steals are too good to pass up. The five steals he had in the loss to Toronto may seem like an outlier, but his speed and quick hands make it fairly easy for him to dismantle opposing second units. Harrison should start to see more minutes with the starting unit because of his defense and but it doesn't mean more efficient scoring will follow suit. He will rebound, take his fair share of shots and play defense. The Bulls are clearly a one-dimensional team looking for talent and using it where it can so Harrison has upside. Lauri Markannan's return could actually open up an easier role for Harrison to get used to.

Iman Shumpert, F – Sacramento Kings

Ownership 8%

7.8 PPG / 1.3 SPG / .430 FG% / 1.9 3PM

This is such a weak option for "forward" but hey, Yahoo allows it. Iman Shumpert may seem like such a bleh source of production, but with the minutes he's getting he has Josh Richardson-type upside. The Kings are improving and have indulged in team basketball, directly playing into Iman Shumpert strengths. Shumpert isn't the strongest scorer and as an athletic, defense-first hybrid, he does a little bit of everything with an unfortunately low ceiling. If someone needs to sacrifice stats, Shumpert is first in line. Luckily, it's hard to keep a player like him from getting his hands on the ball and the Kings have no reason to stop playing him. He's not necessarily young, but his energy and defense are infectious and it has been a staple of the Kings' success. The Kings aren't winning because of Shumpert, but he's playing near 30 minutes a game and his teammates seem to want to feed him when he is shooting well.

Meyers Leonard, C – Portland Trail Blazers

Ownership 1 %

6.1 PPG / 1.1 3PG / .517 FG% / 3.9 RPG

I barely want to talk about this option because it's barely an option. Meyers Leonard isn't really seeing a spike in minutes unless he is shooting well, then his usage goes into near starter levels. Which is great if you managed to play him, but seeing how he has little to zero consistency anywhere, this is merely a, "there are literally no other big men worth mentioning" pick. Leonard has upside being a center that can hit threes in succession, but he will need to secure a spot over Zach Collins before he starts to see real minutes, not to mention Collins is younger and is better on both sides of the ball. Statistically speaking, Leonard actually ranks above Collins but only slightly.

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