RADIO
The deeper a fantasy league, the harder it is to hit a winner with your last few picks. It is also harder to find decent help from the waiver wire if your late-round picks don't do you justice. If you picked up a few stinkers, don't lose hope just yet. I will try to help you pick up a winner.
Here are my deeper league waiver wire pickups for your fantasy basketball teams. These players should be available in most leagues and they might just help you out, whether it's a few weeks rental or a long term fix to a problem your team is having.
If a guy on your team is frustrating you with his weak performances, give some of them a go. They might just be worth it.
Ty Jerome (PG/SG, OKC)
8% rostered
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will miss a significant amount of time due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot. That is what we learned last Wednesday via the very own OKC coach Mark Daigneault, and there is even a chance he sits the remainder of the season because of the draft implications. Even though the Thunder seem to not know how to tank a season for their own good, this is a low blow to their postseason aspirations--in case there were any of them still alive. The biggest winner, other than OKC's high-draft-pick odds? Ty Jerome.
Jerome is a second-year man out of Virginia, was drafted as a first-rounder in 2019 by Philly, later traded to Boston, then flipped to Phoenix (he played 31 games there in 2020), and ultimately he landed and debuted for the Thunder this year--just a month ago on Feb. 26. Since that day, though, Jerome is getting 27 MPG while coming off the bench at the PG spot, though that could very well change with Shai out of the picture (whether it means Jerome gets the starting nod at the PG or SG position).
Jerome's scoring can't get much better than it's been this year, so far. The kid is shooting 46% from the floor and hitting 44 percent of the three-pointers he's attempting. No joke considering he's bombing an average of 5+ long-rangers per game and almost 10 per 100 possessions. The only players on his level on both volume and accuracy this season are Joe Harris, Joe Ingles, and Marcus Morris Sr. Uh, oh. Jerome is a good rebounding-guard (3.5 RPG) and he can do it on the dime-department too (3.5 APG). Those numbers might seem low, but keep in mind he's part of the second unit and playing below 30 MPG, something that could rise quickly bulking up his production ROS.
Grayson Allen (SG/SF, MEM)
5% rostered
At this point into the season, with more than 60 percent of all games already played, there is little doubt Memphis has opted to take the Grayson route when it comes to its starting SF. Allen missed time from late-February to right after the break, but he's been the starter since Feb. 12 and only fell off the starting unit on the day of his comeback on Mar. 15.
Allen is playing 28 MPG since getting that starter role for the Grizzlies, and although the large runs have affected his efficiency a bit, they are also helping him put up counting stats easily on a daily basis. Allen is a little bit bouncy when it comes to scoring, yet he's averaging almost 11+ PPG in the past month and a half, and an even better 13 PPG since the break. It's not surprising to watch Grayson hit a couple of triples a night, as that's his season average, and it's very rare to find a game in which he hasn't scored at least one long-ranger. In fact, Allen has hit 3+ triples (3, 4, then 5) in the three games he played last week from Monday through Friday.
Allen provides his fantasy GMs with points and rebounds, the three-point tallies, and is also kinda viable in 9-cat leagues as his TOs sit at just 1.0 per game on the year. The usage rate is often low and that makes Allen a coin flip (it's a make or miss league, I guess), but for someone starting and getting his opportunities nightly, he should be rostered in way more leagues.
Pat Connaughton (SG/SF, MIL)
4% rostered
Patty has played 42 games this season, and it is not that he's just an afterthought or a last-resort play for Bucks' HC Mike Budenholzer. Connaughton is averaging a moderately good 23 MPG on the season... but that's not the truth as he's been playing nearly 30 MPG since Feb. 12 when he started to take on a much heavier role. Forget about watching him starting games any time soon, obviously, but definitely consider him as one of the highest-minutes reserves in the league ROS.
If Pat keeps up his 28-to-30 MPG, that'd make him one of only three players (10 or fewer games started so far) averaging that running-time off the pine along with Josh Hart, Terrance Ross, and rookie Tyrese Haliburton. Looking at the 10 games Pat has played after the AS break, he's been able to average 9+ PPG, 6+ RPG, and 1+ APG. Those numbers are not mindblowing, sure, but keep in mind you can get that production virtually for free.
Most interestingly, Connaughton is a best from beyond the three-point line: Pat has hit at least one triple in 30 of his 42 games, and 17 of his last 19 matches! And it is not that Connaughton just hits the odd three-pointer here and there, far from it. Pat is averaging 1.5 3PG on the year, 2.0 3PG since the break, and he's been able to keep up a nice 49% shooting percentage from the floor on low usage rates. You'll get plenty of treys, rebounds, and some dime-upside from Connaughton ROS, and Milwaukee is known for resting their starters and cutting their minutes per game, which will always favor a second-unit guy like Pat.
Trevor Ariza (SG/SF, MIA)
3% rostered
It took Ariza all of five games since getting to Miami to turn into a really promising play. The Heat traded for the disgruntled Ariza a few days ago, just after the AS break, and everything points toward another Andre Iguodala-like addition for Miami ROS. If you remember, the Heat got Iggy from the Grizzlies last season and the veteran turned into a rather nice contributor down the road in helping Miami reaching the Finals. And now, everything is going up by the day for Ariza too, believe me.
Ariza has gone from playing 6 minutes in his debut to 19, 24, 33, and lastly 31 in Friday's game against Charlotte. With Miami trading Kelly Olynyk to Houston, it's been Ariza who has started the last two games as the PF next to Bam Adebayo (C) in the paint. Ariza couldn't have done much more than he did in those two: 9-5-1-0-1 and 14-9-5-2-2 were the lines, he shot 42% from the floor on almost 10 FGA, only turned the ball over a couple of times, and hit 1 and 2 treys respectively in those two.
While Ariza is obviously going to be down in the pecking order--Bam, Jimmy Butler, and even the likes of Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson are above him--but he's a great addition to a tough-as-nails squad, will keep getting minutes whether it is starting or off the pine, and although he won't be hitting 40+ FP nightly, odds are Ariza becomes a nightly 20 FP play with good counting stats. Definitely a great addition for those in deep leagues, though he might not be available in you're WW for long so go roster him before it's too late.
Dean Wade (PG/PF/C, CLE)
2% rostered
If you're new, welcome to Dean Wade's world, the one where players are eligible at the PG and C position! That's Wade for you, and that already speaks of what Wade can do on a basketball court. Wade, just in case, is a true 6-9 PF averaging a low 4-2-1 on the season with 43/38/55 shooting splits. That's nothing to love a lot. Or is it? Wade only played more than 15 minutes in one of his first 23 games this season, which obviously cut his opportunities and made him a rather mediocre play. These days, though, things have flipped completely.
Wade started at the PF position for the first time back on Feb. 23, strung five starts in a row, and then came back to the pine after the break till nowadays. Not that much of a problem for him, though, and much less of late. In the past five games through Sunday, Wade is logging 25 MPG, producing an above-average 1.00 FP/min, and putting up nightly 11-4-3-1 lines. Not bad, indeed.
It is still unclear which role Dean Wade will play ROS for these Cavs (remember, they acquired Jarrett Allen earlier this season and still have Larry Nance Jr. and Kevin Love around), but so far so good for Wade coming off the bench as part of the second unit. Wade is a virtual lock to drop 10-to-15 points nightly (he's doing so without large usage rates, which bodes well for him), has upside on the rebounds and dimes departments, and best of all he's hitting three-pointers with gusto. The sophomore is shooting 4+ 3PA per game in March, hitting 1.5+ of them, and putting up a nice 39 shooting percentage from beyond the arc and 45 percent from the floor.
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