Fantasy Basketball 9-Cat Waiver Wire Pickups - Week 3

The NBA is back, y'all! Hopefully the first two weeks of fantasy basketball treated you well. If it didn't — well, we're here for you.

These recommendations are for 9-cat leagues, but if you play in another format, there's a good chance that the information here can still help you. We'll be looking at centers, forwards, and guards whose low rostership and upside make them ideal players to get onto your fantasy team.

Our staff at RotoBaller has great insight and daily columns on how to improve your squad and tips to make your team successful, so be sure to check them out! Now, let's get prepared for Week 3. All players in this article are rostered at around 50 percent or less.

9-Category Leagues Waiver Wire

Columns are written based on H2H 9-category standard size leagues:

Carmelo Anthony, SF/PF - Los Angeles Lakers

58% rostered 

Going a little over the 50 percent threshold for this one because of how Carmelo's leapt up in rostered percentage this week, with Yahoo having him as up 31 percent this week.

(Quick aside: Orlando's Cole Anthony is up 56 percent since last week, but he's now at 76 percent, which is a little too outside of the purview of this column.)

Anyway, Melo. He has two games with 20-plus points over the last four games and is coming off a huge showing against Cleveland, with 24 points and five rebounds, plus six threes. This is the second time he's made six threes this year.

Franz Wagner, SG/SF - Orlando Magic

44% rostered 

Wagner has been huge this year for the Magic and he shows no sign of slowing down considering Saturday saw him set a new career-high in points with 19.

Wagner is averaging 13.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and 2.0 threes on a 49.4/43.8/71.4 shooting split. Just a well-rounded game that can help fantasy managers in a lot of different areas. This young Magic team is going to keep funneling him minutes as long as he's producing.

Kevin Love, PF/C - Cleveland Cavaliers

44% rostered 

I never thought I would be adding Kevin Love in fantasy this year, or at least not unless the Cavaliers moved on from him. On a young team, giving minutes to Love seemed like a thing that wouldn't happen. But considering how hard finding a trade partner is going to be, it shouldn't be a surprise that Love's getting some run.

He's not getting huge minutes, as he's played 24 minutes or fewer in each game, but he has double-doubles in two of his last three games. The efficiency is low, but he's making threes, grabbing boards, and getting a ton of usage when he is on the floor. Love is making the most of the time that Cleveland puts him on the floor.

LaMarcus Aldridge, PF/C - Brooklyn Nets

43% rostered 

Aldridge is going to be a roller coaster. But when things are going well, Aldridge will play 20-plus minutes, with a good shot to score 20-plus points, which he's done twice this year.

He's coming off of a strong showing against the Pacers, scoring 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds. He's also blocked at least one shot in every game this season.

Grayson Allen, SG/SF - Milwaukee Bucks

39% rostered 

I had no idea what to expect in terms of Allen's role in Milwaukee, but he's playing 28.8 minutes per game, with averages of 13.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 3.0 threes.

And he's only shooting 34.6 percent from three, about five percent worse than last year in Memphis. Get that efficiency up and Allen will help fantasy managers win in the three-point category every week.

Cody Martin, SG/SF - Charlotte Hornets

26% rostered 

Martin just set a career-high in scoring and while it was only 15 points, it's still notable that he's scored in double figures in all but one game this year. He also has five steals over the past two games, another boon to his fantasy value.

Will he keep playing this many minutes?

IDK. Terry Rozier will be back at some point, which likely cuts down on Martin's minutes. But fantasy basketball doesn't require you to make a long-term commitment on a player. Pick him up now and ride this hot streak while you can.

Maxi Kleber, PF/C - Dallas Mavericks

22% rostered 

Kleber exited Sunday's game against the Kings after playing just seven minutes, so let's start this with an injury caveat: if Kleber has a back injury that causes him to miss time, he's obviously not a top add.

But hey, he had seven points and five boards in that short time. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and six blocks earlier in the week against the Spurs. There's a lot of ways that Kleber can help fantasy managers right now, assuming he's able to get back on the floor.

George Hill, PG/SG - Milwaukee Bucks

11% rostered 

Here's one for the deeper leaguers.

George Hill is still in the NBA. After his final 16 games last year after he landed in Philly saw him average just 6.0 points and shoot 44.2 percent from the floor, you'd be forgiven for thinking that wherever he landed, he wasn't going to do a whole lot.

But surprise: Hill's averaging 26.5 minutes per game with starts in four of six contests. He's averaging 8.2 points per game, which isn't ideal, but he adds some good numbers in other spots: 1.0 threes, 2.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. Fantasy managers in deep leagues who need threes and steals should be looking at Hill.

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