Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers for Week 2 (2025): 10/27 to 11/2

Thunder Dan's fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups for Week 2 of the 2025-26 NBA season. Consider these players as fantasy basketball adds, streamers, and stashes.

The first week of NBA action is in the books, but most teams have only played three games so far this season, and many of them are still dealing with preseason injuries and are tinkering with rotations. We want to be aggressive and snap up players with potential, but we also want to be patient and don't want to drop anyone with long-term value too hastily. If you have players on the IL or happen to have an extra spot that you want to stream, then this is the article for you!

Most leagues have a weekly moves cap, and some have season-long caps. I would recommend checking your league settings to plan how many moves you want to make each week. This week, I'm looking at players who are still widely available to start the season despite a strong start to the year.

I have always been an advocate of being aggressive on the waiver wire! If your league has daily lineups, you should use that to your advantage and maximize your weekly games in H2H formats when necessary. Every week, I will give you my top adds for standard 10-12 team leagues as well as deeper formats and the schedule breakdown for all 30 teams. I am using Yahoo for the percentage rostered; however, I am adjusting my benchmarks as the new 10-team high score leagues on Yahoo have impacted those percentages.

Week 2 Schedule Breakdown (10/27 to 11/2)

Schedule Highlights

• The Clippers are the only team that plays only two games this week.
• Most valuable back-to-backs: GSW (Mon-Tues), OKC (Mon-Tues), PHI (Mon-Tues), ORL (Wed-Thurs), CHA (Sat-Sun)
• Most valuable streaming schedules: CHA (Tues-Thurs-Sat-Sun), GSW (Mon-Tues-Thurs-Sat)

Standard League Adds - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 2

Percent owned numbers for Yahoo! "Standard Leagues" refer to 10- or 12-team leagues.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. - SG/SF (25%)

Last week, we started the list around 30% rostership, but I am going to drop it down to 25% so we can avoid wasting your time with players who are too widely rostered in competitive leagues.

If the "other JJJ" is available in your league, I think he makes for a great pickup. Miami plays only three games, but they play on games with fewer days (Tues-Thurs-Sun), and Jacquez has value beyond this week as Tyler Herro is going to miss at least a few more weeks.

He won't shoot 70% from the floor for long, but his value is not just tied to scoring as he's been chipping in on the boards and dishing out assists. He's a solid source of points, rebounds, assists, and a few steals. And if he keeps NOT shooting threes, who knows - he might keep that FG% pretty high.

Rui Hachimura - SF/PF (25%)

Hach is getting as much run as he can handle. LeBron James has missed the first three games, and then Luka Doncic missed last night's game, causing Hach to play 40 minutes. He's purely a points, threes, percentages guy (he doesn't even rebound much), but the large volume of minutes and shots is hard to ignore.

Grayson Allen - SG/SF (24%)

Allen has been one of the few bright spots for the Suns so far. With Jalen Green yet to make his Suns debut, Allen has been the second-leading scorer behind Devin Booker and has knocked down at least three triples in each game. He's one of the most efficient three-point shooters in the NBA and should be rostered in standard formats anytime he's seeing 30 minutes of playing time per night. With four games on the schedule this week and no word on when Green may return, he's a must-roster player in Week 2.

Cedric Coward - SG (24%)

Coward has taken the NBA by storm, proving to be one of the most intriguing rookies coming out of the draft. He's coming off the bench in Memphis, but has played 22 minutes or more in all three games and is making shots at a ridiculous rate (70%).

While his shooting will surely fall off, it's great to see him perfect at the charity stripe and chipping in 1.7 steals per game. He has an incredibly long wingspan that allows him to clog up passing lanes. Even with some regression to his shooting numbers, Coward looks like a great prospect to buy now for the short-term and long-term.

Ryan Kalkbrenner - C (23%)

The rookie big man finally had his first dud yesterday when he had just four points and five boards against Washington. However, he has started all three games for the Hornets and has held his ground against NBA bigs. If he's going to play 25 minutes a night as the starter, he has plenty of appeal for teams that need FG%, boards, and blocks. The Hornets have a fantastic streaming schedule this week, too.

Neemias Queta - PF/C (23%)

Queta is doing pretty much what we expected him to do - providing some decent value in FG%, boards, and blocks as the starting center in Boston. It was good to see him rack up some defensive stats yesterday (2 steals and 3 blocks), and it looks like he's going to get around 25 minutes a night, which keeps him very rosterable.

Tre Jones - PG/SG (23%)

I was all over Jones with my last pick in drafts this season because I am a sucker for point guards who have good FG%. Jones has been fantastic, shooting 53% from the floor while delivering eight assists per game and four steals. Coby White won't be re-evaluated for his injury until the end of this week, so Jones has at least one more week as the starter. He's easily one of the best values out there. Pick him up in all formats and don't think twice.

Ajay Mitchell - PG/SG (22%)

I am not sure how much longer Mitchell gets this much playing time, as Jalen Williams is going to return at some point this week, and Alex Caruso is dealing with only a concussion. However, Isaiah Joe is dealing with an ankle injury, too, and Mitchell's strong play may have earned him a more permanent role in the rotation.

OKC plays four games this week. I would at least add him for the Monday-Tuesday back-to-back and then go from there.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker - SG/SF (20%)

Atlanta is already dealing with injuries to multiple rotation players, which has thrust "NAW" into the starting lineup for the last two games. He's a gunner who can rack up points and threes, but he's really improved his defense over the years and is an asset in steals, too. He's going to be in the mix for a lot of minutes every night, even when Atlanta gets back to full health.

Sam Merrill - SG/SF (19%)

Those of you who follow the Cavs as closely as I do already know that Merrill is a long-ball assassin! Sam got a fat contract in the offseason and has lived up to it so far, drilling 15 threes in his first three starts. He won't shoot that well all season, and the Cavs are going to get some guys back from injury eventually, but in the meantime, Merrill should be rostered everywhere. He is basically Grayson Allen for fantasy (but a much nicer guy in real life).

Kon Knueppel - SF (17%)

The Charlotte rookie is another sharpshooter who needs to be picked up everywhere. Brandon Miller left Saturday's game early and didn't play yesterday, allowing Knueppel to play a season-high 35 minutes and hit five threes on his way to 20 points. He has been efficient as a shooter, and hopefully, he can chip in a bit more elsewhere as he gets used to the speed of the pro game.

Ron Holland II - SF/PF (13%)

The Pistons' schedule isn't great this week, but I really like what I have seen from Holland as the super-sub for Detroit. His role may have been bigger than usual with Caris LeVert out, but I still think he's going to be a significant part of this rotation this season.

Kelly Oubre Jr. - SF/PF (13%)

Paul George is out, and Joel Embiid has been on a minutes limit, allowing plenty of minutes for Oubre and Quentin Grimes to carve out some late-round value. The Sixers play four times this week, so consider Oubre if you need some scoring, threes, and steals.

Deep League Adds - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 2

Percent owned numbers for Yahoo! "Deep Leagues" refer to 14-team leagues or larger.

Brice Sensabaugh - SF/PF (11%)

Sensabaugh is perhaps better in points leagues, but what he's done in the first two games for Utah has my attention even in H2H and roto leagues. He's gunning off the bench and knocking down shots at a high rate. There's value in a bench scorer who can do so efficiently, and Sensabaugh has looked smooth with his shot and is getting buckets with ease.

Ryan Rollins - PG (10%) and Cole Anthony - PG (10%)

Both Bucks' point guards are worth a look this week, with Kevin Porter Jr. dealing with an ankle injury. Anthony missed yesterday's game with an illness, but had a huge performance in the game before that. Rollins is the starter in the short term, but Anthony offers a bit more scoring upside.

Kevin Huerter - SG/SF (6%)

Huerter is seeing some nice run off the bench as the Bulls are still without Coby White. He's always been a solid late-round value when getting enough playing time, as he's a very efficient three-point shooter and an underrated passer on the wing.

Tristan da Silva - SF/PF (5%)

The second-year player has settled into a pretty solid 24-minute role the last two games and is offering some sneaky production off the bench. He's clearly a part of Orlando's future, and I think they will continue to try to keep him in the mix for playing time.

Jeremiah Fears - PG (4%)

The rookie has been getting up plenty of shots with the second unit and is worth a look if you need points. He has been getting to the rim and not settling for threes, which has really helped his FG%.

Walter Clayton Jr. - PG (4%)

I was really impressed with Clayton Jr. coming out of college, and I was hoping he would land somewhere with a less-crowded backcourt. However, he has gotten a chance to play with the second unit thanks to a preseason injury to Isaiah Collier, and he has made the most of it. He's worth a look this week as he has been very productive on a per-minute basis.

AJ Green - PG/SG (3%)

The Bucks have a bunch of guys widely available who are getting a lot of playing time. Kyle Kuzma has been hurt already, as well as KPJ. Green is a shooter who can offer some threes without hurting your FG%.

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