Thon Maker (PF/C, DET): Week 18 Waiver Wire Pickups

Detroit Pistons forward/center Thon Maker is a worthy consideration as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 18 of the NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add In 12-Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 20% of leagues

ANALYSIS: This season marks the fourth anniversary of Thon Maker being a professional basketball player. He will turn just 23 years old in a couple of weeks. Yet it feels it's been ages since he entered the league. After hitting the jackpot by selecting Giannis in 2013, Milwaukee tried its luck by picking the first prep-to-pros guy to make the straight jump from HS to the NBA in Maker, but it never worked and he's now honing his game in Detroit. So far so good, though, as his raw talents are starting to show and the situation in Motown can't be better.

It's been 52 games played already for Maker this season and in although he just started in three of them from the start of it until Jan. 18, he has done so in eight of the last 11 he has played. With Detroit losing Blake Griffin for the season and trading Andre Drummond away, it's all open for Maker to make use of a quite larger role. Maker's minutes have gone up from 11.9 before becoming a starter to 28 during his last four games. In that short span going back to Feb. 7, Maker's averaging 14 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.5 apg, and  1.5 bpg. Not the biggest or most stable of sample sizes, but in the past seven days those numbers have only been at the reach of just five other big men (min. 3 games played): Kristaps Porzingis, Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Ban Adebayo, and Hassan Whiteside.

Whether or not Maker is able to maintain this level of production is yet to be seen. This is the first time in Maker career that he has logged more than 23 minutes of playing time in four consecutive games. There is nothing indicating that streak will finish, as Detroit needs his presence in the lineup, but we're entering uncharted territory. No matter what, Maker has shown enough as to consider adding him in any league given his role (his usage rate is over 21% in his four last starts) and good numbers as a starter. He is super young and should keep improving for years, so the upside he brings with him is quite high. Take advantage of it and make Maker part of your team.