With Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Golbert injured, consider Minnesota’s Naz Reid on your waiver wire.
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.
I want to note that the top player to grab is Cameron Johnson as he returns from his injury, but he’s just over the 60% threshold. Make sure he’s not on your waiver wire.
Without further delay, let’s get to it, starting with the schedule of games being played for next week.
Four games:
BOS, CHA, CHI, CLE, HOU, IND, LAC, MEM, MIL, MIN, NOP, ORL, SAS
Three games:
ATL, BKN, DAL, DEN, DET, LAL, MIA, NYK, PHX, POR, SAC, TOR, UTA, WAS
Two games:
GSW, OKC, PHI
Rostered in 50-60% of leagues:
The Pelicans are so deep, and while the loss of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson has hurt them, they can still count on contributions from guys such as Murphy. Even when both forwards return, I expect Murphy to maintain fantasy value with his three-level scoring.
McConnell is not only a must-roster player while Tyrese Haliburton is out, but he’s a must-start player, too. He’s been a top-45 player in 9-cat leagues over the last two weeks, averaging 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.9 steals and gives you elite-level production.
Rostered in 30-49% of leagues:
In the past, Reid was a must-start player when Karl-Anthony Towns missed time. With Rudy Gobert nursing an injury, he’s back to being that type of streamer off the waiver wire. Reid has been a top-100 player over the last week sans the big men in Minnesota, and until both are back at full health, he continues to be a solid option if you’re okay with dealing with some foul trouble that he finds himself in.
The Hornets are wounded, as Gordon Hayward hasn’t played in nine straight games. Add to that the Kelly Oubre and LaMelo Ball injuries, and McDaniels suddenly finds himself thrust into a bigger role on offense. He’s averaging 14.3 points and three rebounds over his last four games, including a 26-point performance two games ago against Boston.
Rostered in 15-29% of leagues:
I still think the move is to trade Jackson if you can, but if Myles Turner is potentially traded from Indianapolis, there will be a massive rush to grab Jackson off of the waiver wire. I question if we’ll get the league-winning ability we saw from him last year, but the elite-level blocks he brings along with high rebounding totals make him worth a wait-and-see grab.
As mentioned above, Ball went down with an ankle injury in Wednesday’s game against Houston, continuing the injury-riddled season for the third-year guard. With Ball expected to miss the next couple of weeks at a minimum, it makes Smith Jr. a must-roster and must-stream player once again. He’s rejuvenated his career over the first month-plus of the season, and a similar workload could be thrust upon him again.
Rostered in 0-14% of leagues:
Collins is one of my favorite stash candidates as the trade deadline looms. While the Spurs would love to keep Jakob Poeltl, no deal has been reached, making him a possible trade candidate. If that happens, look for Collins to be one of the biggest fantasy difference-makers going forward.
Like Collins, Williams is another one of my favorite trade deadlines speculative adds. With Mason Plumlee’s trade value in his walk year, and Williams playing ahead of Nick Richards, he’s the likely go-to option in Charlotte moving forward.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
