Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers for Week 8 (2025): 12/8-12/14

December 8, 2025

Thunder Dan's fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups for Week 8 of the 2025-26 NBA season. Consider these players as fantasy basketball adds, streamers, and stashes.

Welcome to Week 8 of the fantasy basketball schedule - also known as "that super weird week that is all jacked up because of the in-season tournament."

Yes, the NBA Emirates Cup quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, so we have quite the strange schedule and a very small number of total games this week. That is going to magnify the importance of every game, and if you can stream some roster spots to maximize games played, you could have a major advantage over your opponent.

Most of the league is only going to end up playing one game this week, while a handful of teams will play twice, and just a few will play three times. I cover all of those scenarios in the schedule breakdown, so you can plan accordingly, and my overall player pool is much smaller this week because I chose only to highlight players who are going to play two or three games this week. Let's get right into it!

Week 8 Schedule Breakdown (12/8 to 12/14)

Schedule Highlights

• Eight teams are guaranteed to play only ONE game this week (BOS, DAL, DEN, DET, HOU, LAC, MEM, UTA).
• The following teams will end up with only ONE game if they lose their NBA Cup quarterfinal matchups (LAL, MIA, NYK, OKC, ORL, TOR).
• Two teams COULD have three games IF they win their NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup (PHX, SAS).
• Only four teams are guaranteed THREE games this week (IND, MIN, NOP, SAC).

Standard League Adds - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 8

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

I am using 30% or lower as the cutoff again this week, since we have so few teams playing more than one game, with 10% or below being right around where I draw the line between standard league and deep league adds.

Jeremiah Fears - PG/SG (29%)

With the Pelicans guaranteed to play three games this week, it's worth checking to see if Fears is available in your league. He's always a risk for FG% as he's posted 4-16 and 5-17 shooting performances recently; however, he's also poured in 20+ points in three of his last four.

We still have no updates on Jordan Poole, other than the Pelicans are willing to trade him. I'd be surprised if we saw him this week. Fears has upped his assists lately, too, dishing out five or more dimes in his last three games. He doesn't shoot a lot of threes, but he could help you win points, FT%, assists, and steals this week.

Anthony Black - PG/SG (28%)

So Orlando plays in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday, and they are not guaranteed a second game unless they win. However, Black deserves to be rostered in standard leagues going forward based on what happened to Franz Wagner in yesterday's game against the Knicks.

Franz Wagner injury. Prayers up pic.twitter.com/SI8Az605BJ

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) December 7, 2025

We don't have an update on Wagner's injury yet, but it didn't look good. It's bad luck for the Magic as they just got Paolo Banchero back from an extended absence, but it could be potential good news for Black's fantasy value. Black has been outstanding off the bench this year and was seeing starters' minutes when Banchero was out. He isn't likely to slide into the starting lineup, but he played 30 minutes yesterday and finished with 14 points, 11 boards, and four assists.

So consider this a PSA that Black should be rostered in all formats going forward!

Jay Huff - C (27%)

The Pacers play three times, including a smash matchup for centers tonight against the Kings and another one against the Wizards to finish out the week on Sunday. Make sure someone in your league didn't drop Huff after his stinker against Denver last week.

He bounced back with five blocks and two steals against the Bulls on Friday night and continues to be an excellent source of threes and blocks even on those nights when he's not scoring or rebounding all that well.

Keldon Johnson - SF/PF (20%)

The Spurs have one of the best possible matchups for fantasy purposes tonight against the Pelicans and have at least one more after that against the Lakers on Tuesday.

We could see Stephon Castle return to the lineup soon, but we aren't likely to see Wemby for another week or so, which means Johnson's 25-minute sixth man role is secure. He's been in this column most of the year because he doesn't do quite enough other than rebound and score for managers to keep on their roster for the long term; however, he's an elite streaming option if you need FG%, points, and rebounds.

Maxime Raynaud - C (17%)

THIS IS THE ADD OF THE WEEK! The Kings finally did a good thing by inserting their rookie center into the starting lineup, and the big brainiac from Stanford (double major in math and computer science) has not disappointed.

Maxime Raynaud's last 3 games:

17.6 PTS, 60% FG (20/33), 60% 3PT (3/5), 5.3 REBS, 1 BLK, 25.6 MIN pic.twitter.com/cy8QgOLvBR

— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) December 4, 2025

The seven-footer had his first double-double and has shown off his three-point range, drilling three treys across his last four games. He's still widely available and has three games this week with starter Domantas Sabonis out for at least another week or two. He can chip in a little everywhere (other than steals) and has looked very good for a rookie big man. Run, don't walk, to add him for a chance to win your matchup this week.

Harrison Barnes - SF/PF (17%)  and Julian Champagnie - SG/SF (13%)

Again, the Spurs have at least two games this week, with a chance for a third game if they can pull off an upset of the Lakers in the NBA Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Barnes is about as boring a fantasy player as they come, but he's been instrumental as a streamer this season, especially since the Spurs lost their depth when Castle and Wemby went down. He had a rough outing against Cleveland in his last one, but he is only a few games removed from 31-5-5 and seven threes against Washington.

Meanwhile, Champagnie has been pretty inconsistent lately, but is still playing a ton of minutes, and we've seen him post some big numbers in points, threes, and rebounds with a handful of defensive stats. His minutes are more closely tied to Castle's availability, so he's a tad riskier of a pickup than Johnson or Barnes.

Deep League Adds - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 7

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

Jose Alvarado - PG (9%)

Alvarado is going to be a very inconsistent scorer, but he's seeing minutes in the mid-to-high 20s pretty consistently for the Pelicans and can be quite valuable in assists and steals. He's coming off a six-assist, four-steal game against the Nets and should continue to back up Jeremiah Fears in the Pelicans backcourt.

Jeremy Sochan - PF/C (6%)

We are really diving deep this week into these rosters of teams with three games, but Sochan deserves some consideration for the Spurs as well. Luke Kornet is banged up and could miss tonight's game, which would open up minutes for Sochan as a small-ball center.

He's played 20 and 25 minutes in his last two games and is a great rebounder on a per-minute basis. He's also been a pretty solid passer in his short career with the Spurs, so there is a little assist upside there as well.

Jordan Goodwin - PG/SG (7%)

The Suns will be without Devin Booker tonight, but apparently, he is trying to get back for the NBA Cup game on Wednesday. We will have to see about that, and I am sure they won't rush him back if he's not ready just for the play-in tournament.

Dillon Brooks gets a favorable matchup with Reed Sheppard on him. Durant shades over from the strong side corner.

Nice job by Jordan Goodwin to utilize the fake and create a wide-open look pic.twitter.com/QW3HM6Zfhf

— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) December 6, 2025

So Goodwin should have at least one, if not two, games this week as a key rotational player for the Suns. He's played 22 and 24 minutes off the bench in his last two and is a steals machine (1.5 per game) who can also grab a lot of rebounds for a guard. He's been really productive with minutes this season, so give him a look if you need some counting stats and have an open roster spot.

Precious Achiuwa - PF/C (3%)

If you miss out on the Raynaud sweepstakes, then Precious makes for a decent consolation prize. He's coming off the bench behind Raynaud now, but still flirted with a double-double (7 points, 10 boards) in 16 minutes against Miami. He's a decent low-end source of points, rebounds, and blocks for three games this week.

Bryce McGowens - PG/SG (3%)

McGowens is a super sneaky add this week! He's been in the starting lineup for the Pelicans lately and has put up some decent numbers. He really got my attention with a 23-7-5 line against the Lakers on November 30th, and while he hasn't done anything quite that impressive since, he's chipped in 15 and 16 points in his last two games.

Remember, we are guaranteed three games from the Pels this week, and some of these no-name players are going to have more value in three games than a superstar for only one!

Good luck this week - happy streaming, friends!

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