It’s Thursday. You know what that means. It’s time for another look at the waiver wire to find players that you can add for short-term and long-term success.
We’ll look at players that you should consider picking up who are rostered in four different rostership tiers:
- 50-60%
- 30-49%
- 15-29%
- 0-14%
What’s more, we’ll give you a breakdown of how many games each team has for the upcoming week so that you can maximize the minutes of your streamers. Let’s get to it without further delay, starting with the game schedule for next week.
View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet 
Five games:
SAS
Four games:
CHA, DAL, DET, GSW, HOU, LAC, MIA, NYK, ORL, PHX
Three games:
ATL, BOS, BKN, CLE, DEN, IND, MEM, MIL, NOP, OKC, POR, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS
Two games:
CHI, LAL, MIN, PHI
Rostered in 50-60% of leagues:
After a slow start to the season – in terms of production and minutes – Hyland has played at least 24 minutes in four straight games. In those games, he’s eclipsed the 24-point mark twice and has six steals. The playing time is the big obstacle for Hyland to overcome, but with Denver wanting to take it easy with Jamal Murray‘s knee, expect Hyland to keep getting minutes in the mid-20s as long as he’s producing. He’s been a top-45 player over the last two weeks, so despite the ups and downs over the course of the season, he’s an intriguing player to keep around.
Forget fantasy – what DSJ is doing is just a fantastic story overall. If it wasn’t for the LaMelo Ball injury, he may not have made the team at all and could have chased his NFL dream instead. But here we are, with DSJ coming in as the No. 64 player on the season so far, given his extended run and dearth of scoring options with Gordon Hayward and Ball hurt. Ball’s return will essentially eliminate DSJ’s value, but until that happens, he’s not just a must-roster player but a must-start one.
Rostered in 30-49% of leagues:
There are no winners from the Kyrie Irving situation. It’s ugly and unnecessary, and frankly, I wouldn’t be shocked if he doesn’t play again. For the Nets, during Irving’s suspension, they’ve made Thomas part of the rotation again. His first three games went well – averaging 19 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.6 triples per game – but he struggled his last time out against the Knicks in a blowout win. But what’s most important to me is that he’s played big minutes – especially in the first three games. Thomas showed flashes last year but needed to make improvements off-ball. Regardless of what happens with Irving, I’m taking a flier on Thomas in 12-team leagues as a backend guy for the scoring upside.
Aleksej Pokusevski (SF/PF/C – OKC)
It’s Poku SZN, baby! OK, maybe I’m too excited since we’ve seen this story happen many times before. But it feels different this time around, doesn’t it? The Thunder had a huge win Wednesday night, and Poku’s double-double was a big reason for that. Not only did he have 17 points and 10 boards, but he had 4 STOCKs, as well. He’s the best option they have at power forward right now, and with the number of young players the Thunder has and future draft picks on the way, they have to give Poku every chance to develop so they can decide what his long-term outlook is like with the org. Pick him up.
Rostered in 15-29% of leagues:
I know, I know. But I just can’t quit him – even when I was ready to. Remember how we mentioned above that Thomas had one off-game so far? Well, that came Wednesday, and it was Curry who – finally – showed out for the Nets. Curry played a season-high 23 minutes and scored 23 points thanks to six three-pointers. We’re seeing the rust shake off, and the three-point help on the way. He’s the safest of the options to go with in Brooklyn, regardless of what happens with Irving.
We’ll stay in New York but switch over to the Knicks. Toppin has struggled to find consistent minutes for the third straight year, which will be his life under Coach Thibs. But when he does get those minutes, he’s been shining. He’s hit double-digits in scoring in three of his last five games and even had a four-steal game Monday against Minnesota. The Jericho Sims minutes are annoying, but Toppin could benefit big time if those go away.
Rostered in 0-14% of leagues:
No Nurkic? No Grant? No problem, as the Trail Blazers handled the Hornets despite being short-handed Wednesday night. A big part of that was the play of Sharpe, who scored a career-high 17 points in 29 minutes. Sharpe shot 70 percent from the field and pulled down four boards but didn’t have any STOCKs or assists. He’s young and raw, but the rookie has been a key bench piece for Portland, scoring in double-digits in three of his last four games. Not for nothing, but Sharpe has a higher on-court differential than any Blazer not named Nurkic, Grant, Damian Lillard, or Anfernee Simons. Portland gambled on him, and you should, too.
Speaking of on-court differentials, I was digging around on CleaningtheGlass.com yesterday to explore the new-look Timberwolves lineup and how they’ve performed so far. I saw that their starters had the eighth-lowest differential for lineups that have accrued 100 possessions. But what stood out to me more was the Mavericks. The lineup of Luka Doncic, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, and JaVale McGee had the second-lowest differential (-21) in the league. But if you take the same lineup but swap McGee for Powell, it’s the league’s highest differential lineup (+33.8). That’s one player, and Dallas sees that, too. He got the start Wednesday and did little for fantasy, but I’m expecting more and more run time for Powell over McGree at the five. He’s worth adding to your watchlist, at the very least.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
