It’s Friday. 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. With the All-Star break ahead of us, we’ll push pause for a few days for a mid-season break.
Without further delay, let’s get to it, starting with the schedule of games being played for next week.
Five games:
CHI, CLE, DEN, GSW, OKC, WAS
Four games:
ATL, BOS, BKN, CHA, DAL, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIL, MIN, NOP, NYK, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SAC, SAS, TOR, UT
Three games:
DET, MEM
Two games:
N/A
Check out the latest fantasy basketball expert consensus rankings
Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Week 17
Rostered in 50-60% of leagues:
I’m shocked that Mark Williams is still available in so many leagues following the trade of Mason Plumlee. In the last week alone, Williams has two double-doubles, and he’s played 30-plus minutes in three of his last four games. The arrow is pointing up for the rookie out of Duke, and he’s a must-grab player for fantasy managers.
Like Williams, Zach Collins has league-winner written all over him, as he’s the big man to roster in San Antonio after the Jakob Poeltl trade. Since the deal, Collins has put up top-57 numbers for 9-cat leagues, and he should maintain his top-60 pace moving forward as the Spurs continue to tank.
Rostered in 30-49% of leagues:
Jalen Duren is still the player to roster in Detroit, but James Wiseman looked OK in his first real productive outing with the Pistons against the Celtics Wednesday night. Wiseman played 23 minutes and scored 11 points with five rebounds but had no defensive stats to speak of. He’s worth consideration in deeper leagues.
I’m not sure why Deni Avdija is still available in this many leagues, and I’m pretty tired of writing about him, to be honest. The scoring has regressed some for Avdija, but as long as he continues to play in the high-20s in minutes, he should post top-100 numbers moving forward.
Rostered in 15-29% of leagues:
Shaedon Sharpe (SG/SF/PF – POR)
Welcome to the Portland section, apparently. The next three players are all Trail Blazers, and I’m having difficulty deciding who I like the most. So we’ll suggest picking up any that are available, quite frankly. I love what we’ve seen from Shaedon Sharpe this season, and he will be a popular sleeper pick in his second season next year. His minutes are ticking up, and he’s scored 13 or more points in four straight games since the deadline.
Matisse Thybulle (SG/SF – POR)
The scoring returned to form for Matisse Thybulle after his breakout first game with the Trail Blazers, but the defensive stats have been elite so far in his short time in Portland. If you need STOCKs, Thybulle is a must-grab player.
Rostered in 0-14% of leagues:
The year is 2042. I’m still excited about Cam Reddish. He has yet another new leash on life, as Reddish scored 18 points for the Trail Blazers on Valentine’s Day. If Anfernee Simons‘ ankle injury is severe, expect an uptick in production for the Duke alumnus.
He’s a deep-league option, but in his first three games with the Celtics, Mike Muscala has nine made three-pointers. He’ll contribute some rebounding numbers for you, but he’s essentially empty threes and scoring if you need that per-minute help.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.