Working the waiver wire is pivotal to succeeding in fantasy basketball. With so many games, injuries and endless shifts in rotations throughout the marathon campaign, we’ll need to source stats from free agency to maximize imaginary rosters.
A willingness to entertain competition for the last few spots on your fantasy hoops roster can prove rewarding. When curating this fluid collective of statistical contributors, it helps to consider your end-of-bench players in direct competition with the talent floating in free agency.
The goal of this weekly series is to identify players at each position widely available in free agency in ESPN leagues. Some nominations are specialists capable of helping in one or two categories, while others deliver more diverse and important statistical offerings. In the breakdowns below, I’ve ordered players at each position with the priority of acquisition in mind, rather than roster percentage in ESPN leagues.
Point guard
Killian Hayes, Detroit Pistons (Rostered in 22.7% of ESPN leagues): With at least 17 points in four of the past six outings and with strong assist and steal rates fleshing out his profile, Hayes is among the most underrated guards in all of fantasy hoops.
Dennis Schroder, Los Angeles Lakers (28.2%): Playing heavy minutes atop a shallow Lakers’ backcourt rotation, Schroder has responded with 80 points across his last three games and seems to have earned an enduring role for a team in need of his scoring pop.
Immanuel Quickley, New York Knicks (19.4%): Speaking of playing time, Quickley is now in Tom Thibodeau’s inner circle, which often includes netting as many minutes as possible. The third-year guard has averaged a whopping 42.1 minutes since joining the starting lineup in place of an ailing RJ Barrett a few weeks back.
Shooting guard
Donte DiVincenzo, Golden State Warriors (8.9%): Between Anthony Lamb and DiVincenzo, the Warriors are netting some interesting contributions from their depth at guard in the wake of Stephen Curry‘s injury. DiVincenzo claims real value given as a steady starting option producing some difference-making defensive rates. The Villanova product has averaged 1.7 steals to go with 10.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.9 dimes, and 2.7 3-pointers across his last seven games.
Quentin Grimes, New York Knicks (6.6%): We’ve covered how rewarding it can prove to earn Thibodeau’s loyalty, with Grimes securing 36.3 minutes across the past week as an important floor spacer for New York.
Josh Richardson, San Antonio Spurs (2.5%): Injuries to Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson could lead to more scoring and playmaking duties for this veteran wing.
Small forward
De’Andre Hunter, Atlanta Hawks (16.7%): Atlanta has dealt with frontcourt injuries for much of the season, although Hunter appears back in form with 37.1 minutes per game over three appearances since rejoining the rotation. For as long as he’s this busy and productive (18.3 PPG during this recent three-game stretch), Hunter merits more attention.
Naji Marshall, New Orleans Pelicans (5.4%): The Pelicans have also been limited by a series of injuries to their frontcourt, with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram ailing. Marshall has answered the call as a complementary scorer in recent games.
Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder (15.7%): Recently earning small forward status allows managers to move this versatile rookie all over lineups. Williams, after all, has averaged 13.4 points, 4.8 boards, 3.4 assists, and 1.9 combined steals and blocks since becoming a regular starter for the Thunder in mid-December.
Power forward
Jalen McDaniels, Charlotte Hornets (10.0%): Slashing for 13.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.3 blocks over his past four games entering the new week, McDaniels has flourished in a bigger role with Kelly Oubre Jr. dealing with a significant injury.
Kevon Looney, Golden State Warriors (16.7%): A rebounding force with enough passing and defensive production to be more than a pure specialist, Looney is worth rostering amid this recent run.
Zach Collins, San Antonio Spurs (2.3%): A one-game sample is always fun to work with, but Collins was quite productive in a season-high 34 minutes in the team’s recent game without both Vassell and Johnson. With the team now claiming very little creation from the post, Collins could shine for a few weeks.
Center
Thomas Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers (29.2%): Averaging an awesome line over the past few weeks since Anthony Davis‘ injury, Bryant provides a valuable blend of efficient scoring and volume rebounding.
Onyeka Okongwu, Atlanta Hawks (19.9%): Until Clint Capela is fully back from a calf injury, Okongwu is a starting-caliber fantasy contributor while working with two elite passing guards in pick-and-roll sets.
Daniel Gafford, Washington Wizards (8.4%): A recent rise in playing time has Gafford posting fun rim protection and rebounding numbers while also claiming eligibility at power forward.
Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons (14.3%): Volume rebounding is also Duren’s thing, with the rookie averaging a double-double across the past week. Watch for a recent ankle issue, but the work on the glass has already become special.
