This year, RotoBaller is separating its waiver wire recommendations by position a little differently. In our three position breakdowns, we'll be separating players into GUARDS, including point guards (PG), shooting guards (SG), and combo guards (PG/SG); WINGS, including small forwards (SF), swing men (SG/SF), and small ball fours (SF/PF); and BIGS, including power forwards (PF), centers (C), and bigs who play both front court spots (PF/C).
All of these positional recommendations will be written from the point of view of rotisserie leagues, meaning they'll value across the board category contributions. They're still useful for head-to-head category leagues, but they won't take into account how well a player fits into your ability to punt categories in H2H settings. We'll provide options who may be available in both standard leagues (less than 50% owned) and deeper leagues (less than 25% owned). All position eligibility and ownership rates based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
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Standard League Waiver Wire Big Adds
Tyson Chandler C, PHO (48% Owned)
If your fantasy basketball team needs rebounds then picking up Tyson Chandler is a must. Chandler has had 18 rebounds three out of the seven games to start the season. He’s had less than double digit rebound just once but has also only scored more than double digit points just once.
Chandler isn’t the young athletic big he once was but he still fills up an important part of the stat sheet while shooting 63% on the floor and 70% from the charity stripe. His 28 minutes a game are up four from last year and closer to his 2014 season when he averaged a double double with 1.5 blocks.
Cody Zeller PF/C, CHA (31% Owned)
The Hornets have started Cody Zeller in place of the injured Roy Hibbert over the last few games. Zeller is averaging 11 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks on 60% shooting from the field and 65% from the free throw line to start the season. He’s gone over double digit points in all but one of the Hornets five games.
Charlotte has a three game home stretch coming up this week. It should be a good week to add Zeller and see how well he can do with the starting job. Once Hibbert returns from injury there is a chance the team goes back to a three man rotation with Hibbert, Zeller, and Spencer Hawes.
Standard League Honorable Mentions: Justin Hamilton (20% owned), Zaza Pachulia (19% owned)
Deep League Waiver Wire Big Adds
Jon Leuer PF/C, DET (10% Owned)
Jon Leuer is posting career highs in points, rebounds, blocks, and made threes through just six games this season. The well-traveled vet is now getting a career high in minutes as well. While he hasn’t put up eye popping stats, he has shown that he’s gotten a consistent spot in Stan Van Gundy’s offense.
Given Leuer’s skill set there is still room for improvement from the 27 year old. His 9.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and 1 three per game are all stats that should see an improvement assuming that Leuer continues to get good minutes and opportunities. Van Gundy has always loved big men that can shoot the three and stretch defenses so there’s no reason to not think there isn’t more of a role for Leuer moving forward.
Deep League Honorable Mentions: Amir Johnson (21% owned), Mike Muscala (18% owned)
By popular demand, RotoBaller has aggregated all of our fantasy basketball NBA waiver wire pickups into a running list of NBA waiver options, so bookmark the page and check back often for updates.