Patty Mills (PG, SA) - NBA Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 10- and 12-Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 45% Yahoo!

ANALYSIS: Patty Mills is already owned in almost every active 12-team league, but at only 45% owned on Yahoo, he's still out there in many not-so-competitive ones, plus a lot of 10-team leagues. He's been lights out for the Spurs— over the last 11 games, he's been shooting a blistering 51%, including 48% from downtown. That's putting him at close to top-50 value in that timespan. While that kind of insane shooting is obviously not going to keep up, he's going to get plenty of minutes going forward, with the upside for more if the aged Tony Parker were to get injured or regress even further past the point of coach Pop's trust in the lineup. Top 50 is unrealistic, but top 100 in a bench role with upside if he starts is more than enough to warrant universal ownership in fantasy hoops leagues.

Oddly enough, Mills’ most recent outing against Brooklyn, when he played only 16 minutes, might be his most encouraging yet. In those 16 minutes against the hapless Nets, Mills racked up 16 points, four assists, four treys, and three steals on 54.5% shooting, then sat out the fourth quarter to rest in what had become a blowout. Not only is that outstanding production in such limited time, but the fact that he — a bench player! — got rested underscores how important the Spurs see him. Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and even Pau Gasol were still out there at points in the fourth quarter, playing alongside bottom-of-the-benchers like Davis Bertans and Nicolas Laprovittola, but Mills got to take it easy with Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge.  The Spurs see him as that important, so fantasy owners should, too.