Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is near the top of waiver wire targets after a season-high 26-point outing on Sunday.
Each and every week, 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 and offensive pace ratings, thanks to our friends at Razzball.
Five games:
SAS
Four games:
BKN, CLE, DAL, DEN, DET, LAL, MEM, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, ORL, PHI,
Three games:
BOS, CHA, CHI, GSW, HOU, IND, LAC, MIA, NOP, POR, SAC, UTA, WAS
Two games:
ATL, PHX, TOR
Rostered in 50-60% of leagues:
Jarred Vanderbilt (PF/C – MIN) 57%
A week ago, we were talking about how Vanderbilt’s window was closing, and yet, he dropped one percent in rostership. What are we doing here, folks? Vanderbilt balled out again Friday night to the tune of 10 points and 15 boards. He’s the 36th-ranked player in fantasy over the last two weeks, and this will be his last week in this column – I hope.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (PG/SG/SF – WAS) 52%
You down with KCP? Did I just terribly age myself? Ugh. Either way, not enough of you are down with him, apparently. He’s extremely inconsistent, but the one thing that he’s done consistently for the last two weeks is score buckets. Of course, I’m writing this on the heels of a four-point performance, but aside from that, he’s been in double-digits in five of his previous six games, while also contributing from behind the arc. He should be rostered in far more leagues at this point in the season with the triple-eligibility he has.
Rostered in 30-49% of leagues:
Otto Porter Jr. (SF/PF – GSW) 35%
Don’t look now, but it’s almost time for Porter Jr. to hurt fantasy managers again by having us buy fully in. In his last three games – ignoring the rest day, err “foot issue,” Porter has played 24, 30, and 26 minutes as his workload is increasing. In two of those games, Porter dropped 18/10/2 and 16/6/3 lines against the Clippers and Suns, respectively. With the way he’s been trending up and the way the Warriors are playing, he should be rostered.
Devin Vassell (SG/SF – SAS) 34%
Before locking Vassell in, we need to make sure that he’s good to go from his quad injury. If he is, he’s a must-start option this week with the Spurs having five (!) games on the schedule. If he isn’t, Lonnie Walker and Bryn Forbes deserve deep-league consideration.
Rostered in 15-29% of leagues:
Maxi Kleber (PF/C – DAL) 22%
Kleber has back-to-back nine-rebound games for the Mavericks, and what’s more, he’s been benefiting from more playing time, eclipsing the 31-minute mark in his last two games and the 30-minute mark in four of Dallas’ last six games. With four games on the schedule, he’s a nice 12-team streamer this week.
Cody Martin (SG/SF – CHA) 15%
After missing the last two games, Martin picked a great time to get healthy as he’s going to have a big short-term role for the Hornets with their aforementioned injuries. He still ranks as the 99th overall player for fantasy thanks to his hot start, and he’s going to be the No. 2 or No. 3 option in the short term for the Hornets. He’s a must-grab right now.
Rostered in 0-14% of leagues:
Ömer Yurtseven (C – MIA) 1%
Yurtseven was a preseason darling, but he wasn’t able to get any run during the regular season. With Bam Adebayo out for the next few weeks, Yurtseven and Dwayne Dedmon should see equal playing time. Dedmon has next to no upside, while Yurtseven hit six-of-eight shots from the field for 12 points and two blocks in 19 minutes. After playing just six combined minutes in the previous two games, seeing a near-even split of time with Dedmon is promising for Yurtseven’s short-term value.
James Bouknight (SG – CHA) 1%
Should I put the rocket ship emoji in here? No. Do I want to? You bet I do. The Hornets called up Bouknight, Kai Jones, and Vernon Carey Jr. from their G-League squad, and said it was always part of the plan. I don’t buy that, but it’s semantics. What we do have is an exciting rookie in Bouknight who was averaging 26 points, seven rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the G-League getting his first real shot at playing time for the Hornets after LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Mason Plumlee, and Jalen McDaniels are all forced to missed time due to COVID protocols. First and foremost, we wish them a full recovery if they tested positive for COVID. That’s way more important than any fantasy angle. Secondly – by a huge unimportant gap – we could see some run for the two first-round picks (Jones was selected 19th overall) here as the Hornets look to continue their impressive start to the season.
