It’s Thursday. You know what that means.
We are looking ahead to Week 8. Weekly, I look at the fantasy basketball waiver wire for the players to target 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.
Let’s get to it without further delay, starting with the game schedule for next week.
Check out the latest fantasy basketball expert consensus rankings 
Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Week 8
Five games:
N/A
Four games:
ATL, BKN, CHI, CLE, DAL, DEN, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIN, SASC, TOR, UTA
Three games:
BOS, CHA, DET, GSW, MIA, MIL, NOP, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, POR, SAS, WAS
Two games:
PHX
Rostered in 50-60% of Leagues
Despite a slight dip in production over the last couple of weeks, I was still surprised to see that Jalen Suggs was under the rostership threshold. Suggs, who looks to be on the other side of an ankle injury, played 28 minutes for the Magic in his last game, dropping 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. He’s still ranked No. 67 on the season, and now that the ankle is good, I have a feeling we’ll see him around the 70% rostership mark over the next two weeks.
Malik Beasley has been money from behind the arc for Milwaukee. Over his last eight games, he has six contests where he’s made at least four three-pointers for the Bucks – including high-water marks of five and six, respectively. He’s shooting 50% from the field over the last month, and he’s been a key across-the-board contributor for the Bucks and fantasy managers alike. He should be rostered in far more leagues as a top-50 player thus far.
Rostered in 30-49% of Leagues
And now we get into the Draymond Green discussion … again. After doing his best Kazuchika Okada Rainmaker clothesline on Jusuf Nurkic, Green is suspended indefinitely from the NBA. That’s his fourth suspension of 2023 alone and his second of this short season. The Warriors are reeling, and Green is their second-most important player, so his absence will be felt. While he’s gone, expect many different players to fill the void, led by Chris Paul. But with Paul rostered in most leagues, Kevon Looney has the next-highest rostership numbers and is one of the few true bigs on the Golden State roster. If you need rebounds, grab him.
Mitchell Robinson is having a fantastic year, but he will be out for the next eight weeks minimum. That opens the door for Isaiah Hartenstein to take on a massive load for the Knicks. In three games sans Robinson, Hartenstein has played 29, 27, and 29 minutes, respectively. I’m expecting him to average a near double-double each night, making him my most-targeted pickup of the week.
Rostered in 15-29% of Leagues
Jonathan Kuminga has already been playing more before Green’s suspension, but expect even more usage now. Kuminga has scored at least 13 points in four of his last five games – including a 24-point, 12-rebound performance against the Thunder on Dec. 8, where he knocked down three shots from behind the arc. Steve Kerr has been more willing of late to play the young players in hopes of salvaging the Warriors’ season, so now may finally be the time for Kuminga to shine.
If you need a streamer in a daily league, I recommend Orlando Robinson, who has done an adequate job of filling in for Bam Adebayo in Miami. Adebayo may be back soon, but he hasn’t played a game yet in December. Robinson, meanwhile, is averaging 8.5 points and 6.2 boards over the last two weeks and recorded his first double-double on Dec. 6. The Miami defense has taken a huge hit without Adebayo, but for fantasy purposes, Robinson is getting the job done.
Rostered in 0-14% of Leagues
We’ll finish it off with another player who could benefit post-Green. Brandin Podziemski was in this column earlier this season but was unable to hold on to fantasy relevancy. But Kerr looks to trust him again, and he’s been rewarded. The rookie has at least 12 points in four of his last five games, including a 20-point, 11-rebound and five-assist game against the Suns last time out. Podziemski ranks right below Hartenstein in my priority grabs for the week, given his fantastic fantasy profile.
Lost in the Green drama in Golden State is the fact that Kerr finally played Podziemski and Moses Moody down the stretch of a game over Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson. Wiggins has been dreadful this year, whereas Moody has thrived when given an actual chance. He’s now played 24-plus minutes in four of his last five games, averaging 14.5 points during that stretch. If Kerr continues to lean into playing his best players – not just his longest-tenured ones – we could see a Moody breakout over the last three-quarters of the season.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
