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.
Without further delay, let’s get to it, starting with the schedule of games being played for next week.
Five games:
N/A
Four games:
CHA, CHI, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIN, NOP, SAC, SAS, UTA, WAS
Three games:
ATL, BOS, BKN, CLE, DAL, GSW, LAL, MIL, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, TOR
Two games:
POR
View the best player prop bets for tonight’s slate with our NBA Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Rostered in 50-60% of leagues:
I’ve been on the Bryant train for a few weeks, monitoring his minutes and role with the Lakers. But now that Anthony Davis is out for an undisclosed period of time with his foot injury, Bryant’s rostership has shot through the roof. I hope you were earlier to the party, too. Bryant has scored 16 or more points in four straight games, and he’s hit multiple three-pointers in three straight games. The minutes and efficiency are there, and he’s getting it done on the boards, too. He needs to be rostered and started.
I wrote about Kessler here last week and insisted everyone pick him up. You’re getting a lump of coal for not doing it. He’s been a top-100 player over the last two weeks despite coming off the bench. His PER numbers are fantastic, and he’s contributing blocks, points, rebounds, and an elite-level FG%.
Rostered in 30-49% of leagues:
There were moving pieces and more that goes into it on the surface, but seeing what Donovan Mitchell is doing in Cleveland and knowing it could have been in New York instead has to sting. Knowing that it was Grimes that the Knicks coveted a ton makes it hurt worse, but for fantasy managers, the hurt is starting to subside. He’s been a top-85 player in fantasy over the last two weeks, regularly playing in the low- to high-30s in minutes during that stretch – a stretch that coincides with the Knicks being one of the hottest teams in the league.
I’m going back to the well with Okongwu, and you should, too. I had Okongwu here after Clint Capela‘s injury last week, and we know he’ll be out for a few more weeks. Okongwu has been the No. 59 player in fantasy during the last week, and we’re seeing the signs that we’ve hoped for out of the third-year big man out of USC.
Rostered in 15-29% of leagues:
This is more of a short-term pickup, as Jakob Poeltl is back for the Spurs, but on a strict minutes count. We should be able to squeeze the juice from the orange here enough to get a good ROI for a couple of games, at least.
Williams had one terrible performance – scoring one point with two rebounds – but besides that, he’s been a steady source of points and assists with a sprinkle across the rest of the categories. He reminds me a lot of a young Khris Middleton.
Rostered in 0-14% of leagues:
Payton has yet to debut for the Trail Blazers, but he’s not far away. When he does, we assume that he will take away from Josh Hart’s value, given the elite defense he brings. We saw in stretches last year that he can bring fantasy value, too. I’m stashing him where I can to monitor him.
It’s been a disappointing season for Moody so far, but he’s averaging three 3 p.m. and 15 points per game over his last two games with Steph Curry out. I’m adding him in deeper leagues while the Warriors continue to find something to get them going.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.