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).
In this post, we are looking into some potential Week 11 waiver wire pickups for guards. We'll provide options for guards, eligible at PG, SG, or PG/SG who may be available in both standard leagues (less than 50% owned) and deeper leagues (less than 25% owned), and will typically provide a boost in points, assists, threes, and steals. All position eligibility and ownership rates based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
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Standard League Waiver Wire Guard Adds
Malcolm Brogdon, PG/SG, MIL (40% owned)
I've brought up Brogdon before in this space as a rookie who's had surprising efficiency in a limited role as backup the "point guard" to Matthew Dellavedova in the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Bucks offense. Things have only gotten better. With Delly sitting out due to a hamstring injury, Brogdon blew up on Saturday for a triple double, pulling down 11 boards and dishing 12 assists to go along with 15 points. With that kind of performance, he's got a great chance to steal Dellavedova's job in the starting lineup. There's not much more I need to say to sell you on a pickup -- guy posts triple double, has been efficient, could be new starter. Enough said.
Here are the caveats to temper your expectations. The efficiency has been buoyed a lot by a 44.1% rate on three point attempts. That kind of shooting is unsustainable for basically anyone outside of Golden State. When that percentage goes down, his .462 FG% falls back down into a more typical point guard range, and his already mediocre 13.0 points per 36 minutes goes down as well. He'd really need to add more of an interior or mid-range element to his offense this season to offset those trends. Furthermore, his upside for assists long-term this year is capped by the fact that the Greek Freak is still going to be the lead ball-handler, while his upside for minutes won't stay around the 39 he got against the Bulls on Saturday once Dellavedova comes back -- even if Brogdon takes the starting role, he's not going to put Delly out of a job. That said, the assists he can bring for a free agent pick up will be nice. He's a solid add for that stat, plus solid steals, threes, and some out of position rebounds.
Tyreke Evans, PG/SG, NO (61% owned)
I'm going to break my rule of sticking with players under 50% owned, because Evans's ownership rate makes him a unique situation. Most potential waiver adds who are over 50% owned have been added in all those leagues, meaning they're likely gone in competitive leagues where you've got a roster spot to spare. Evans, on the other hand, was likely drafted in a huge chunk of Yahoo league by a robo-drafting team that hasn't checked its lineup all year, so his ownership is probably very high in the non-competitive leagues, and lower than a typical 61% owned player in competitive leagues. All that is to say -- he's available in one of my 12 team leagues right now, maybe he's available in yours.
It's worth checking, because he's started producing borderline numbers despite a minutes restriction under 20 per game. As the year moves on, his minutes cap will go up and he should turn into the solid multi-category fantasy producer he's been throughout his career. If you're in a roto league with a games played cap, he's a great add since you can just sit on him with a bench spot until it's worth using some of your starts on him. Same theory with a head-to-head league where you feel likely to make the playoffs -- he'll have borderline production in the meantime, while amping up toward good production for the fantasy playoffs.
Standard League Honorable Mentions: Seth Curry, PG/SG, DAL (28% owned); T.J. McConnell, PG, PHI (5% owned)
Deep League Waiver Wire Guard Adds
T.J. McConnell, PG, PHI (5% owned)
Really, McConnell is yet another standard league add right now, since his value is that strong with Sergio Rodriguez currently sitting with a small ankle sprain. Whatever kind of league you're in, it's worth snagging him now for tomorrow's enticing home matchup against the Timberwolves, for which the 3o-year-old Rodriguez is questionable. Still, he's only owned in 5% of Yahoo leagues, so he more than qualifies for the low ownership threshold I use to determine who goes in this space.
At this point, we know McConnell's flaws -- he's mostly allergic to shooting, so he's essentially a non-producer in several categories -- points, treys, and blocks, while providing little impact in the percentages. He'll also naturally have a high turnover rate, being a pass-first point guard. However, he's a very nice plus in assists, steals, and out-of-position rebounds. In roto leagues, he probably doesn't have the upside to be worth more than a few spot starts (like tomorrow), but in head-to-head leagues where you're needing one of his strong categories, he's a great option. Even better if you're punting one of his key weaknesses (especially points).
Deep League Honorable Mentions: Raymond Felton, PG/SG, LAC (3% owned); Garrett Temple, PG/SG, SAC (6% 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.