February 7, 2017

Milos Zvekic's Week 16 fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups and adds for NBA wings - small forwards, power forwards, shooting guards (SG/SF, SF, SF/PF).

The regular season of the NBA is more than half way through and the trade deadline is just around the corner. If you have a cut candidate on your team be sure to keep your eyes wide open for any trades that would change values of players directly involved or those impacted by the moves. Furthermore he injuries are heaping up. That's one more thing to follow and be careful about.

Today we will be writing about a player on a hot streak surrounded by a trade rumor, a bench player who will be getting more run as a result of his teammate getting injured and one guy who went full on kleptomaniac in his last game.

Welcome to a new edition of Waiver wire pickups for the wing spots for Week 16 here at RotoBaller.

Standard League Waiver Wire Wing Adds

Jamal Crawford, SG/SF, LAC (49% owned)

Crawford has been hot and cold this whole season. The three-time winner of the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award isn't usually so unstable. He is having another hot one in his previous six games with averages of 18.2 PTS and 2.7 3PM on 49.4 FG% and 76.5 FT%, 1.8 REB, 3.7 AST, 1.2 STL, 0.3 BLK and 2.0 TO in 32 minutes per game. Now that's more like it!

It did take him a long time to get it going and take advantage of more offensive responsibility with Chris Paul out with an injury, but he's finally out of his slump. And Jamal is good enough a player to keep it going until Paul returns. And he isn't expected back for another 3-5 weeks. And even when he returns, he will probably be brought on slowly, and Crawford is the first guy off the bench anywas, so it shouldn't impact him too much. And the Clippers have a nice playoff schedule, too. So that's one option, if Jamal stays in L.A.

Now there are rumors the Clippers and the Knicks are talking about a trade including Carmelo Anthony. Crawford would probably be involved in that deal, and if he was to end up in New York, that would definitely boost his value, as he would be one of the primary options on offense there.

Either way, Crawford's rest-of-season outlook seems pretty bright, so if you're in need of some threes and points along with a few steals and assists, give him a look.

P.J. Tucker, SG/SF, PHO (36% owned)

If you take a look at P.J. Tucker's averages from this entire season you wouldn't wonder too much about why he is left on the waiver wire in almost two thirds of leagues as his 7.0 PTS with 0.8 3PM on 42.0 FG% and 77.5 FT%, 5.8 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.5 STL, 0.3 BLK and 0.8 TO in 29 minutes per game don't turn too many heads. He could be viewed as a steals specialist who contributes across the board.

Not that that's bad, it's just that he's been much better lately. In his previous nine, he's averaged 11.0 points with 1.6 three-pointers on 48.6% from the field and 76.5% from the line, 6.0 boards, 2.1 dimes, 2.2 steals, 0.2 blocks and 0.7 turnovers in 34 minutes per game. I like it! How about you guys? Moreover, he had seven steals in his last outing on Feb. 4 against Milwaukee. That's seven. Yep, seven. SEVEN!

He's getting the minutes and using them well. Even though Eric Blesoe, Devin Booker and T.J. Warren all play more backcourt minutes this season, it seems that all four have inserted themselves in front of Brandon Knight. Also, if you take a look at the last month or so, Tucker is steadily getting over 30 minutes which is more than enough for him to be a useful addition to most fantasy teams. Especially those in pursuit of steals.

Other options: T.J. Warren, SF, PHO (49% owned) and Tim Hardaway Jr., SG/SF, ATL (44% owned)

Deep League Waiver Wire Wing Adds

Shabazz Muhammad, SG/SF, MIN (22% owned)

Muhammad struggled to find form whole season long, with just a few stints of decent outings. But in his last eight games he seems to have finally found his groove with averages of 14.3 PTS and 1.8 3PM on 51.7 FG% and 83.3 FT%, 4.0 REB, 0.8 AST, 0.5 STL, 0.1 BLK and 0.4 TO in 26 minutes a game. Now that's some crazy efficiency from the California native.

It is pretty unreasonable to expect him to shoot that well the rest of the way, sure. But his counting stats might see quite a rise because Zach LaVine suffered a torn ACL which effectively ended his season. Although Tyus Jones has played almost 15 minutes alongside Ricky Rubio in two point guard lineups and Kriss Dunn was out in the one game LaVine was out, it's still hard to imagine Muhammad not getting more minutes with the playing time on the table sans LaVine.

If Muhammad can keep shooting at a decent clip and gets even more court time he could be worth a look in even shallower leagues. But until we see true effects of LaVine being out on Shabazz, he remains an efficient option for deep league teams who like some rebounds and a few threes with high percentages and low turnovers, for their all-around, efficient, Roto, or Roto-friendly teams.

Other options: Matt Barnes, SG/SF, SAC (16% owned) and Iman Shumpert , SG/SF, CLE (24% owned)