January 17, 2017

Milos Zvekic's Week 13 fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups and adds for NBA wings - small forwards, power forwards, shooting guards (SG/SF, SF, SF/PF).

Welcome back RotoBallers. Here are my Week 13 waiver wire pickups for the wing spots. That includes shooting guards, small forwards, and power forwards.

Any fantasy team that wants to fly high needs some good wings. Yeah, cheesy line... Anyways, if you're in need of a good player who plays the SF position, and maybe SG or PF also, just to fit in even better with your team, we will be looking at the current situation on waiver wires across the Yahoo! fantasy leagues. One of these players might just be what you're looking for to improve your team just enough to win your Fantasy Championship.

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Standard League Waiver Wire Wing Adds

Al-Farouq Aminu, SF/PF, POR (53% owned)

Al-Farouq Aminu has been a roller coaster ride for his owners this season. Here's what I mean. Aminu started of slow. In his first eight games of the season he averaged 6.4 PTS with 1.1 3PM on an abysmal 27.4 FG% and 53.3 FT%, 6.6 REB, 1.6 AST, 1.5 STL, 0.9 BLK and 1.5 TO in 26 minutes of action. Now while the rebounds and defensive stats are very useful, his low shooting percentages were very hurtful for his owners. Some of them contemplated cutting him, some of them did.

Then Al-Farouq got injured. He strained his left calf on Nov. 8 against the Phoenix Suns and missed almost a month of action. Even more owners cut him then. When he returned on Dec. 5 he still hadn't found his groove. By this point only the most patient of fantasy owners had kept their faith in Aminu. And it seems to be paying off.

In his last seven games Aminu has finally got his shot together. He is averaging 10.6 points with 0.7 threes on 46.2% from the field and 75.0% from the line, 9.3 boards, 3.0 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.9 swats and 1.6 turnovers in 32 minutes per game. Now those percentages can be digested for his contribution in defensive stats, rebounds, a couple of dimes and a 3-pointer here and there.

If Al-Farouq can keep this up he could be a top-100 player the rest of the year and a great waiver wire pickup for any team who can weather his poor percentages and get the best out of his strong sides.

Terrence Jones, SF/PF, NO (48% owned)

While we're on the subject of fantasy roller coasters, here comes another one. Terrence Jones is a very talented player, noone can dispute that. It's just that his inconsistency is so depressing for his owners.

He's had duds like the one on Nov. 27 against the Mavericks where he failed to score in five attempts from the field, didn't even get to the line, grabbed two rebounds and two steals in 13 minutes of action and that was it. On the other hand he had breakouts like the one on Jan. 12 against the Nets where he scored 24 points, hitting 10 of 17 of his field goals, went 1 of 2 from beyond the arc, had 12 rebounds, one assist and one steal in 38 minutes. He did spoil his double-double performance by going 3 of 9 from the line and turning the ball over twice, but it was still a good game for him overall.

When the Pelicans signed Jones' long time teammate and rival for minutes since their Houston days, Donatas Motiejunas on Jan. 3 Terrence's owners must have gotten a scare. And in their first two games together, that scare seemed to be justified. Jones played a total of just 30 minutes in those two games, while Motiejunas played 36. But in the three games since then Jones is playing 33 minutes per game and D-Mo just 11.

If those last three games are any indication D-Mo won't take too much away from Jones. Furthermore, Jones being Anthony Davis' good buddy from their Kentucky days will be helpful with him getting minutes ahead of Motiejunas and the rest of the competition. If that remains the case and Jones gets more of those breakouts rather than the duds, he will be worth owning.

Other options: Maurice Harkless, SF, POR (49% owned) and Brandon Ingram, SG/SF, LAL (51% owned)

Deep League Waiver Wire Wing Adds

Doug McDermott, SF, CHI (15% owned)

Doug McDermott is just a rotational player coming off the bench in Chicago. But as such, he has played less than 20 minutes in only three games so far this season. In those three he played 17, 18 and 19 minutes respectfully, so those were pretty close too. He can be viewed as just a three point specialist in most leagues and his value definitely depends on the hotness of his hand on any given night.

But he is capable of some extraordinary lines, as he has shown in his last game on Jan. 15. He scored 31 points, going 9 of 16 from the field, 3 of 6 from 3-point range, hitting 10 of his 11 free throws, grabbed six boards, had one steal, one block and turned the ball over just once in 33 minutes of playing time. And this came against the notorious Memphis Grizzlies defense!

McDermott has just turned 25 two weeks ago, and while Chicago is sitting in a playoff spot as the eight seed in the East at the moment, their front office knows that they are a long way away from being a contender. There's been talk about Chicago entering a rebuild soon. Their star Jimmy Butler has been featured in trade rumors. And even though their offseason moves of signing Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo don't reflect those of a rebuilding team, all that could change.

If Chicago was to deal their star player or players away for picks or talent, that would definitely make more room for McDermott to show off his shooting potential. Furthermore, Doug could be pegged as the focal point of Chicago's rebuild which would skyrocket his current fantasy value. But that is more wishful thinking than reality at this point.

Even if Chicago's roster remains the same, McDermott is still worth a look. With his season averages of 10.4 PTS with 1.2 3PM on 43.9 FG% and 89.8 FT%, 3.3 REB, 1.1 AST, 0.3 STL, 0.1 BLK and 0.6 TO in 26 minutes a night he can come in handy for some standard league fantasy teams, even more for teams in a deeper league and if you're in a dynasty league, I bet he isn't sitting on your waiver wire.

Other options: Tony Allen, SG/SF, MEM (26% owned) and Matt Barnes, SG/SF, SAC (12% owned)