My first waiver wire article went about as well as I could’ve hoped! It was one of the most critical weeks of the season, because it’s one of the last times you’ll find waiver wire gems that can develop into league-winners. That’s what can happen during the trade deadline, and we’re hoping you jumped on the opportunity to pick up some of those gems. We also have a few carryovers from last week, because some of those players are still widely available. With that in mind, let’s get started with the first week out of the break!
Every week, I will look at the waiver wire for the players you should 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.
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Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Week 18
Five games:
NONE
Four games:
BKN, CHA, CLE, DAL, DET, GSW, IND, MEM, MIA, MIN, NYK, TOR
Three games:
ATL, BOS, CHI, DEN, HOU, LAC, LAL, MIL, NOP, OKC, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SAC, SAS, UTA, WAS
Two games:
NONE
Rostered in 50-60% of Leagues
We took a home run swing when recommending Mann as a pickup last week after the trade from OKC, and his rostership percentages tell you everything you need to know! He was sitting below five percent when we recommended him, but he’s above 50% now. That bump was because Mann is now the starting point guard in Charlotte. We’re unsure if he’ll resume that role when LaMelo Ball returns, but he’s a must-roster player until then. Mann is averaging 13.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.3 steals across 30 minutes in his first three starts with the Hornets. If that continues, Mann will be cemented as one of the best waiver wire adds of the year!
Detroit is another team that made numerous moves at the deadline, and it should force Thompson into a prominent role. They got rid of Bojan Bogdanovic, Killian Hayes, Danilo Gallinari, and Alec Burks, guaranteeing Thompson 30 minutes as a starter. Whenever Ausar has been given that role throughout the year, he’s been a fantasy stud. In his 29 starts, Thompson is averaging 11.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks on 49% shooting. That’s a five-cat stud, and Thompson needs to be rostered everywhere in this newfound role.
Rostered in 30-49% of Leagues
This Jazz rotation has been muddled all year, but the deadline opened up some minutes for everyone. The most important factor is that it moved George into the starting lineup, scoring a career-high 33 points in the final game before the break. In his 19 starts this season, George has averaged 13.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 0.7 steals per game. His shooting has been subpar, but it’s nearly impossible to find six assists off the waiver wire, especially for a blossoming rookie like this.
Bagley might’ve seen the most significant bump at the trade deadline. The Wizards parted ways with Daniel Gafford, leaving Bagley as the only real center on the roster. That’s forced him into the starting lineup, playing 30 minutes a night in this expanded role. That’s all this former top-3 pick needs to be a good fantasy option, and he recorded a double-double in four of his last five starts. This guy won’t do much outside of score points and rebound, but getting a double-double guy off the waiver wire is gold.
Rostered in 15-29% of Leagues
Kispert is another primary beneficiary of Washington’s big moves at the deadline. Despite coming off the bench, the sharpshooter is averaging 16.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.7 steals, and 2.9 threes across his last seven outings. He’s also attempting over 13 shots a game in that span, providing elite shooting percentages on that high volume. There aren’t many players providing that sort of value off of the waiver wire, and Washington needs him to do that since they allow 120 points per game.
Nance has been a fantasy asset in the past, and he’s always valuable when given the opportunity. His ability to stuff the stat sheet makes him a very fantasy-friendly option, and he’s averaged 6.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.3 steals across his last 23 outings. That might not sound like much, but everything outside of the scoring is helpful in fantasy, especially since he’s also posting strong shooting averages. He’s also doing that damage across just 21 minutes a night, and we could see him creep closer to 25 minutes since he’s starting to get healthy. If he plays 25 minutes, Nance needs to be rostered everywhere.
Rostered in 0-14% of Leagues
This Grizzlies team is a disaster, but they will be a waiver wire gold mine for the remainder of the season. They’re missing four of their five starters to long-term injuries, forcing Williams into the starting lineup. In his return, Ziaire had 27 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the final game before the break. This former top-10 pick is one of the only live bodies in this Grizzlies graveyard, and if he plays 30-35 minutes a night from here on out, Ziaire might develop into a must-roster player.
This is a complete shot in the dark, but Wright was released a few days ago and could stumble into a fantasy-friendly situation. Miami decided to take a swing on Wright, which couldn’t be a better spot for the defensive stud. They just lost Terry Rozier for an extended period of time, and we could see Wright play 25 minutes with his defensive skills. This guy has played at least 24 minutes in 32 games since the start of last season, averaging 8.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 2.3 steals in that expanded role. This guy can be one of the league leaders in steals across a 25-minute role, making him a worthy pickup in deeper formats.
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Joel Bartilotta is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @Bartilottajoel.
