It’s Thursday. You know what that means.
The NBA season is back, baby, and we are already looking ahead to Week 5. On a weekly basis, I’m going to look at the waiver wire for the players you should be targeting for both short- 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.
Check out the latest fantasy basketball expert consensus rankings 
Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Week 4
Five games:
N/A
Four games:
ATL, BOS, CHI, CLE, DEN, LAC, MIA, MIL, MIN, NOP, ORL, PHX, SAS, TOR, WAS
Three games:
BKN, CHA, GSW, HOU, IND, LAL, MEM, NYK, PHI, POR, SAC, UTA
Two games:
DAL, DET, OKC
Rostered in 50-60% of leagues
Sometimes, it just takes some time. While it was easy to write Suggs off after a less-than-stellar rookie and sophomore season – despite having some good flashes – it didn’t look like he’d live up to the hype of being a top-five pick. But this year, he’s found his footing, making him a top-60 player in 9-cat leagues so far this season. Suggs is averaging 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and three STOCKs over his last two weeks, playing at least 31 minutes in three of his last four games.
You may know McDaniels as the guy who was involved in the initial dustup that led to the latest Draymond Green outburst, but I know him as a lockdown perimeter defender at 6-foot-9 and a knockdown three-point shooter. He’s more of a projection for fantasy, as his game is tailored to the real-life NBA model. But there’s definitely growth opportunity for him offensively, as we’ve seen a bit this season. The Timberwolves are really, really good, and McDaniels is going to be on the floor in crunch time for them given his defensive abilities.
Rostered in 30-49% of leagues
The minutes have fluctuated given the depth and tight rotation that the Knicks like to use, but when R.J. Barrett missed the last two games, it was Hart who stepped up and showed what he can do with a bigger role. In those two games, Hard averaged 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, four assists, one STOCK, and two three-pointers made. If we can just get him to around 27 minutes per night, he could sniff top-110 value in standard leagues.
The Wizards are awful. Straight garbage, but that’s by design (if their tank job earlier this week didn’t spell that out clearly). But that’s not bad news for Coulibaly, who will continue to get extended run. He’s now hit double-digits in points in five of his last six games – the high-water mark being 20 points – and has been a constant presence on the boards and pick-pocketing the opposition. Coulibaly’s length helped him record at least three steals in two of his last three games, and we are seeing him extend his range, too, but knocking down at least two three-pointers in four of his last five. Does he have league-winning potential? No, but he does have top-80 potential easily.
Rostered in 15-29% of leagues
George has moved up a tier in this column. Way to go, all. He’s only two percentage points away from moving up to the next tier, and that should come next week given what we’ve seen so far. Since earning the starting gig, George has averaged 11 points, 3.5 boards, nine assists, one STOCK, two turnovers, and 1.5 3PM per game, making him a fringe top-100 player. He just turned 20, and the Jazz are clearly turning the offense over to him with his extended role and run with the first team. He should be rostered in about 45 percent of leagues right now.
Draymond Green is suspended for five games, and that’s five games too few. Miles Bridges is returning to Charlotte this week, despite a second domestic violence allegation. The NBA has a problem – I’m not at all equating Green and Bridges – and they are just choosing to ignore it with how they levy punishments for their players. With Green out, expect Saric to have some short-term streamability. He’s already putting up top-100 numbers on the season, and he’ll be a hot commodity for the week ahead after his 21-point outing after Green was ejected.
Rostered in 0-14% of leagues
The Grizzlies are in shambles, and the latest incident saw Marcus Smart being helped off of the court after turning his ankle when he landed on role player Austin Reaves‘ foot. The Grizzlies are already turning to 5-foot-9 Jacob Gilyard, who if he’s 5-foot-9 then I’m encouraging all guys who are actually 5-foot-9 to say they are 6-feet tall on Tinder, for regular minutes. And his run should continue in a Tyus Jones-type role with the Grizzlies of the past.
Steve Kerr is a big fan of Podziemski. He said after the Warriors’ loss to Minnesota that, “He’s going to play. He’s going to play every night. He’s earned that.” Podz passes the eye test, too, as a first-rounder out of Santa Clara, and when the Warriors were short against Minnesota after the early fight with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Podz stepped up, scoring 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting with seven rebounds and five assists.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
