Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Mind the Shedule, Know What You Need

Hello! Welcome back! If you're still reading, congratulations. With under a month left in the NBA season, virtually every head-to-head matchup is already in their playoffs, and roto managers are grinding for a final couple of points in the standings.

While there are a few familiar names at the top this week, there are also several new names emerging, including low-rostered players throughout the column. 

One thing to be aware of next week – the Magic and the Mavericks play only twice, while 18 teams play four games. That's a huge disadvantage, and it's particularly relevant as multiple Magicians and Mavs get named below. To make matters worse, all of their games are on busy Wednesday and Friday slates, so it's possible a waiver pickup from those teams wouldn't even fit into your starting lineup. Make sure to consider your league format and your own roster's needs when deciding whether to add or ignore these teams. 

As always, the players in this article must be rostered in less than two-thirds of CBS leagues. Players are listed in the order that I recommend adding them, assuming they are equally good fits for your team.

Adds for all leagues

Tari Eason, Rockets (66% rostered)

The last two weeks, the 34% of you in leagues with an available Tari Eason had an excuse. I have no idea how Eason didn't cross our 67% Mendoza Line now that Houston's back-to-backs parade has stopped, and he's finally played five straight. Eason is a top-65 player in 9-cat (top 80 in 8-cat). He needs to be rostered everywhere.

Brandon Williams, Mavericks (33% rostered)

If you missed the Naji Marshall sweepstakes (85% rostered), Williams has emerged as a fantastic consolation prize – in fact, depending on your roster's needs, many managers should actually be prioritizing Williams ahead of his better-known teammate. Williams is a two-way player who is getting a ton of minutes now that the entire Dallas roster has gotten injured (barely an exaggeration). He's fighting through a hamstring injury that cost him Monday's game, but he was able to play Wednesday, so hopefully he will avoid further absences. He's averaged 19-5-6 with 2.0 steals and 1.8 threes since joining the rotation, an awesome stat profile to find on the waiver wire.

Caris LeVert, Hawks (62% rostered)

LeVert's been at the top of this column for a few weeks, so we'll jump to the stats update. Since taking over the sixth man role after arriving in Atlanta, LeVert is averaging 17-4-3 with 2.2 threes and 1.6 stocks and efficient shooting. He's easily rosterable.

Miles McBride, Knicks (40% rostered)

Speaking of sixth men, McBride is currently doing fill-in duty while Jalen Brunson (ankle) recovers. Brunson is out for at least one more week, and possibly longer. In three Brunson-less starts, McBride is averaging 13-2-6 with 3.0 threes and a massive 2.3 steals. He'll be a drop candidate when Brunson returns, but he's a great injection of guard stats until then. 

Kyle Filipowski, Jazz (65% rostered)

Brice Sensabaugh, Jazz (12% rostered)

The NBA finally fined the Jazz for their aggressive tanking this week. The fine was laughable. The NBA hit Utah with the minimum "First Violation" punishment of $100,000, pretending that the first offense was March 5th (not the actual date of January 5th) and sticking with the "First Violation" tier despite the official league statement mentioning that the offense occurred across multiple games. As a way of saying thank you for the leniency, the Jazz made a few extra players actually, you know, play on Wednesday. It's all a charade. If the NBA were serious about cracking down on Utah's tanking, they would have taken much stronger action much sooner. The Jazz are giving a polite nod to the gesture, and will return to business as usual shortly.

That's why I'm not at all concerned about Filipowski's minutes dropping to 16 in each of the last two games, and Sensabaugh's 17 on Wednesday. Of course, the instability is tougher to sustain in a head-to-head playoff, but I really believe Utah's nod towards compliance will be short-lived. Filipowski averaged 19-10-3 with 2.3 threes in the six games before this minutes drop, while Sensabaugh put up 16-4-3 with 3.5 threes in his six games before Wednesday.

Kyshawn George, Wizards (43% rostered)

As the last place Wizards engage in typical last-place-team behavior, rookie George has seen his minutes skyrocket since the All-Star break. He's wildly inconsistent, which is exactly what you'd expect from the 24th overall pick from a weak draft during his debut campaign who is surrounded by other young and inconsistent players. However, if you can handle the inconsistency, the overall numbers are strong in six of the standard categories (bad for points, FG%, and a little bad for TOs). Since the break, he's putting up 10-5-4 with 2.1 threes, 1.4 steals, and 1.7 blocks. If you're targeting defensive stats, he should be your top priority.

Tre Jones, Bulls (21% rostered)

Jones has been great the last five games. I'm just not certain as to why. The most logical explanation would be that his minutes have nearly doubled, and he became a starter in response to Ayo Dosunmu's (shoulder) season-ending injury, but the timing on that doesn't line up. Jones' surge – and his abundance of assists – is better explained by Lonzo Ball's (wrist) absence. The truth is probably the combination of those two injuries and the fortunate staggering of several other short-term injuries around the roster. If that's the case, then a healthy Ball and/or some stability from everyone else would really hurt Jones. That's why he's buried a bit here. The argument in favor of adding him for as long as this lasts is simple: he's averaged 14-5-6 with 1.8 stocks and good shooting efficiency while playing 33.4 minutes per game over his last five.

Scotty Pippen Jr., Grizzlies (32% rostered)

Pippen has emerged as a great steals specialist over the last two weeks. He's doing just barely enough everywhere else to avoid causing any major harm, too. 

Noah Clowney, Nets (13% rostered)

I endorse Clowney as a threes specialist. But I want to be clear – since he's a player who has occasionally received some overblown hype in the Fantasy community – that he should only be treated as a specialist. He can provide solid threes from a big man spot, and good enough points (as long as his minutes are high enough), but he hurts almost everywhere else.

Other recommendations: Dillon Brooks, Rockets (46% rostered); Cole Anthony, Magic (47% rostered); Richaun Holmes, Wizards (11% rostered); Adem Bona, 76ers (6% rostered); Aaron Nesmith, Pacers (26% rostered); Lonnie Walker, 76ers (9% rostered); Kevin Huerter, Bulls (19% rostered); Kessler Edwards, Mavericks (5% rostered); Dennis Schroder, Pistons (55% rostered); Andrew Nembhard, Pacers (47% rostered)

Deep league special

Lonnie Walker, 76ers (9% rostered)

Walker got listed in the "other recommendations" section above, but his widespread availability and the increasing probability that Paul George (knee) gets shut down for the season makes him an important name to highlight here. He's going to miss Friday's game due to a concussion, but the NBA's concussion protocol is notoriously weak, so it is likely to be a short absence. He averaged 14-4-3 with 2.8 threes and 1.2 stocks per game over his last five before the concussion – nothing fantastic, but solid work, especially in threes. If we shorten the sample size and focus only on the games without George, his numbers get even better. Also take note of teammate Adem Bona (6% rostered), also widely available and listed above.

Other recommendations: A.J. Lawson, Raptors (6% rostered); Mason Plumlee, Suns (8% rostered); Karlo Matkovic, Pelicans (11% rostered)