With fantasy basketball season grinding on and NBA injuries continuing to reshape rotations, staying active on the waiver wire is critical. Week 15 brings a mostly balanced schedule, but with one team playing five games and several clubs trending toward rest and expanded roles, there's real opportunity to gain ground in the fantasy basketball rankings. This waiver wire breakdown highlights players who can deliver short-term streaming value and longer-term upside, while factoring in NBA injury reports, depth chart movement and recent fantasy basketball stats. Whether you're tracking fantasy basketball news or hunting for emerging fantasy basketball sleepers, these pickups can help stabilize and strengthen rosters.
Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Week 15 Pickups
Jalen Smith, Chicago Bulls 
(49% rostered)
The Bulls are the one team that plays five times next week. They will be making up a game against the Heat that was previously postponed because of condensation on their home court. The oddity is that the Bulls will play the Heat three straight games next week over a four-day span. Two of the three games will be in Miami.
Smith has already been a valuable contributor lately, averaging 11.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.8 three-pointers over his last 13 games. He logged 25 minutes a night during that span, with his playing time aided by the absence of Zach Collins (toe). Even if the Bulls didn't play the most games next week, Smith would be worth adding. The additional games are an added
With fantasy basketball season grinding on and NBA injuries continuing to reshape rotations, staying active on the waiver wire is critical. Week 15 brings a mostly balanced schedule, but with one team playing five games and several clubs trending toward rest and expanded roles, there's real opportunity to gain ground in the fantasy basketball rankings. This waiver wire breakdown highlights players who can deliver short-term streaming value and longer-term upside, while factoring in NBA injury reports, depth chart movement and recent fantasy basketball stats. Whether you're tracking fantasy basketball news or hunting for emerging fantasy basketball sleepers, these pickups can help stabilize and strengthen rosters.
Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Week 15 Pickups
Jalen Smith, Chicago Bulls (49% rostered)
The Bulls are the one team that plays five times next week. They will be making up a game against the Heat that was previously postponed because of condensation on their home court. The oddity is that the Bulls will play the Heat three straight games next week over a four-day span. Two of the three games will be in Miami.
Smith has already been a valuable contributor lately, averaging 11.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.8 three-pointers over his last 13 games. He logged 25 minutes a night during that span, with his playing time aided by the absence of Zach Collins (toe). Even if the Bulls didn't play the most games next week, Smith would be worth adding. The additional games are an added bonus.
Kyle Filipowski, Utah Jazz 
(40% rostered)
The Jazz have already started to rest players. Lauri Markkanen has missed six straight games with an illness. Jusuf Nurkic has missed seven of their last 13 games. In a couple of those games, the Jazz didn't even announce beforehand that Nurkic was going to sit out for rest. He just never checked into the game. As they try to rack up losses and improve their lottery odds, plenty more rest days could be coming for their top players.
With the Jazz shorthanded up front, Filipowski has averaged 26 minutes over the last six games. During that stretch, he provided 11.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 three-pointers a game. He also shot 50.0% from the field and 81.8% from the charity stripe. The Jazz play four games next week, which includes a back-to-back set that figures to see players rested. Filipowski shouldn't be available in more than half of leagues at this point.
Sandro Mamukelashvili, Toronto Raptors 
(30% rostered)
Jakob Poeltl (back) has been out for over a month for the Raptors. It wasn't encouraging to hear earlier this week that he was headed back to Toronto to visit with a specialist. To complicate matters for the Raptors, Collin Murray-Boyles (thumb) has missed back-to-back games.
Over his last 15 games without Poeltl, Mamukelashvili has averaged 12.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 three-pointers. He continues to be an efficient scorer, shooting a career-high 52.7% from the field for the season. Although the Raptors only play three games next week, the potential for Poeltl to remain sidelined long term makes rostering Mamukelashvili appealing.
Jock Landale, Memphis Grizzlies 
(27% rostered)
Landale had never averaged more than 14 minutes a game for a season in his career before becoming a member of the Grizzlies. This season, he has provided 11.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 three-pointers over 23 minutes a night. He has even averaged 25 minutes over his last 14 games, generating 12.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 three-pointers during that span.
Unless the Grizzlies make a trade, they won't have reinforcements coming for the frontcourt anytime soon. Zach Edey (ankle) is likely out into March, and Brandon Clarke (calf) is on a similar timeline. Not only is Landale worth adding for the Grizzlies' upcoming four-game week, but he has long-term fantasy value.
Sam Hauser, Boston Celtics 
(24% rostered)
Hauser started the first two games of the season for the Celtics before being moved to the bench. He played limited minutes in that role, but the Celtics recently inserted him back into the starting five. Over nine games since the change was made, Hauser has averaged 28 minutes. That's five more minutes per game than his overall average for the season.
With Hauser playing more, he averaged 14.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 three-pointers during that nine-game span. He shot 50.6% from the field and 46.2% from three. He has never finished a season shooting worse than 40% from behind the arc and is on pace to average at least 2.3 three-pointers for the third straight campaign. The Celtics have four games on the docket for next week, making Hauser a top target for fantasy managers in need of three-pointers. All four of his games will also be played in Boston, where he has shot 42.7% from deep this season. All four of his opponents (Trail Blazers, Hawks, Kings and Bucks) also rank inside the bottom-half of the league in defensive rating.
