It’s Thursday. You know what that means.
We are looking ahead to Week 15 as we inch closer and closer to the NBA trade deadline. Next week, we’ll dive into those players who could benefit most from a move.
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.
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 14
Five games:
N/A
Four games:
BOS, CHA, CLE, DEN, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SAC, SAS, UTA, WAS
Three games:
ATL, BKN, CHI, DAL, DET, GSW, NOP, TOR
Two games:
N/A
Rostered in 50-60% of Leagues
Don’t look now, but Henderson is starting to show the consistent flashes that we expected from him being the No. 3 pick. It takes time for guards to settle into the league, more than bigs or wings, and we are seeing that with Scoot. The turnovers still aren’t great, but on two games again this week, he had seven assists to just one turnover. Portland has no reason not to play the guys of the future down the stretch, which means we’ll see Scoot’s usage continue to climb in the second half of the season.
Hayward is one of the more likely trade candidates in the league, as he’s on an expiring deal. He’s a guy who I’m looking to get before he gets dealt. If he ends up in a bad situation where he’ll play 18 minutes per night, I’ll ditch him. But if he goes to a situation where he’s a No. 3 option on offense, I’d rather beat the rush.
Rostered in 30-49% of Leagues
We saw what Thompson is capable of during the first few weeks of the season, before Detroit questionably went away from him. Now, his minutes are trending back up, playing at least 22 in four of his last five games. He posted a 22-point, 9-board game in one of those, and we know what he’s capable of on the defensive end of the floor. Having a unit with Thompson, Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Jalen Duren during the second half of the season is an exciting possibility.
With Pascal Siakam joining the fold in Indy, Toppin’s minutes have gone down. He’s reportedly on the trade block, which opens him up for fantasy relevance depending on the landing spot. He still ranks No. 93 on the season in 9-cat leagues, but over the last two weeks, he’s finished outside of the top 200.
Rostered in 15-29% of Leagues
It’s almost like rushing a player back from a hamstring injury is a bad idea. I get it though, as Tyrese Haliburton would lose eligibility for awards if he doesn’t play in at least 65 games. But a quick return for Haliburton just led him to reaggravating the hamstring, which makes McConnell a must-start option once again. If someone dropped him upon Haliburton’s return, make him your priority add.
Merrill just can’t miss from behind the arc. Over his last three games, he scored 17 three-pointers. Yes, three games. He’s the latest guard that is helping Cleveland survive the losses of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, and Merrill has quietly been a top-80 player during that stretch without the two young studs for the Cavs. Ride the wave, folks.
Rostered in 0-14% of Leagues
There is only one player who is untouchable for the Wizards at the deadline and that’s Coulibaly. He’s a guy you look at and just see it. Raw? Yup. But should he be the player the Wizards build around for the future? Absolutely. Once guys like Kyle Kuzma and Tyus Jones are traded, and perhaps Jordan Poole and Deni Avdija, expect a big-time run for Coulibaly in the second half.
This is hopefully just a short-term add, as Isaiah Hartenstein has been fantastic in the absence of Mitchell Robinson. But with Hartenstein dealing with an Achilles injury, the Knicks are forced to turn to Sims, who had four blocks in his first start in 27 minutes. He’s better left to deep leagues for now, but if you were counting on Hartenstein, he’s worth grabbing as insurance.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.