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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.
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9% rostered
Isaac Okoro is not your average rookie player. Okoro has started all games for the Cavs this season. That's correct. He has logged 29 starts already, is playing an average of 34 minutes per game, and although his per-minute production is not the greatest, the truth is that his counting stats are great because of that massive playing time.
Okoro has played five games in the past ten days and only once has he dropped from 34 minutes of playing time. Those are mental numbers for a rook, although that is normal considering the precarious situation of the Cavs and their rebuilding status. In this past week, Okoro has put up an average 11-5-2-1-1 line, which is pretty stuffed no matter how you look at it. The usage, mind you, is rather low at just 12% but the rookie is making the most of his opportunities. Okoro also had his best game of the year on Saturday when he logged a 15-8-3-3 line shooting 67% on 9 FGA and even hitting a trey against Philly in Cleveland's winning effort, reaching 36 FP.
Nothing is telling us that Okoro will hit the bench any time soon, and odds are he keeps logging starts and large minutes going forward. In fact, with Cleveland willing to move other forwards such as Kevin Love, and with Larry Nance Jr. still injured and out, it's even possible that he keeps getting into heavier roles as the season advances.
Isaiah Roby (PF/C, OKC)
8% rostered
The Oklahoma City Thunder, as much as they look like a rebuilding team that should be--Adam Silver permitting--tanking, just refuse to do so, or simply don't know how to do it. Sophomore Isaiah Roby should be one of the Thunder's building pieces going forward at the PF/C position. The Thunder have a big man in Al Harford, and after that, it's slim picks featuring the likes of rookie and G League-bound Aleksej Pokusevski, and fellow sophomore Darius Bazley. Oh, and Al Horford might be on his way out before the deadline via trade or as a bought-out player.
Roby has started 11 of the 28 games he's played this season, and while his usage rates fall below the 20-percent mark more often than not (17% on the season) he's still playing an average of 22 MPG this year. Roby has played at least 17 minutes in all last 12 games, all this month, and he's been excellent on that second-unit role putting up an above-average 0.95 FP/min in the second half of February.
Roby has started to hit treys on a steadier basis lately, scoring at least one per game in seven of his last eight games through Saturday while keeping up a nice 53 percent FG% in those matches. Although he's had a little bit of trouble with personal fouls, Roby is already a 10-7 player off the bench for the Thunder with some upside on the assists cat and averaging 1+ stocks per game. Ramp up his minutes a bit and you have yourself a nightly dub-dubber, which is not entirely out of the realm of possibilities if Horford is in fact moved sooner rather than later.
Facundo Campazzo (PG, DEN)
7% rostered
Garry Harris should be close to returning for the Nuggets, but even when he does it shouldn't affect Campazzo's current role for the team that much. Campazzo has come off the bench for the last six games he's played, he keeps running for an average of 28 MPG, and although he's not the most used player of the second unit he's still productive on that low-maintenance role.
Facu the Rook is averaging 11 PPG, 2 RPG, and 3+ APG in the last couple of weeks for the Nugs. He's also getting great numbers on the steals department with a sweet 1.5 SPG average on that same span. For those in deeper leagues hurting for shooting percentages and three-point numbers, Facu should be a clear WW-target. Campazzo is hitting 2 three-point shots per game even though he's shooting just 7 FGA per game. He's pretty much a playmaker with spot-up shooting prowess, which has his dimes up and his shooting percentage from the floor at a great 49% since Feb. 14.
Campazzo is not someone you'll drop in your starting lineup, but for the minutes and touches he gets he's a monster at every scoring cat. Facu is holding onto a ridiculous 67 true shooting percentage in the past eight games, and he's topped the 73% mark in five of those. Excluding a couple of stinkers against Portland and Washington in the past two weeks, Campazzo's TS% would be a stupid 80% (!) in the other six matches on average.
Pat Connaughton (SG/SF, MIL)
2% rostered
You can count the guys logging more than 27 MPG in the past couple of weeks while being rostered in fewer than 5 percent of Yahoo leagues with the fingers of one hand. Connaughton, of course, is one of them. Going back to Feb. 12, Pat has played an average of 28 minutes per contest and dropped below 26 minutes just once (23 against OKC on Feb. 14). The playing time is so high that his per-minute numbers are always going to be low, making him look like an underperformer and inefficient player, but those minutes are also helping him racking up counting stats nightly.
Connaughton has come off the bench every game he's played for the Bucks, though his minutes have steadily increased and that should stay the same as the season grows older and Milwaukee gets ready for the playoffs once they lock into a homecourt-advantageous position. Pat is averaging a 9-4-2 line in the second half of February, and he's adding 1.5 stocks per game to that line. Nothing mindblowing, but good enough for someone logging usage rates south of 12%...
Pat finds his mojo on three-point shooting (seven consecutive games with 1+ triples and an average of 1.7 per game in that span) and assisting (almost 5 APG from Feb. 16 on). Connaughton tends to avoid turnovers (0.35 per game on the season) and although he's shot a low 6 FGA per in the last eight matches, his shooting percentage from the floor is up at 49 percent as he drills plenty of his often-open attempts.
Isaiah Stewart (PF/C, DET)
4% rostered
Detroit Pistons rookie Isaiah Stewart is still down in the team's pecking order when it comes to big men. He's coming off the pine every time he plays, with both Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee above him. Only two times has Stewart started this season, both on back-to-back nights a little over two weeks ago facing Indiana and Boston. Other than that, and as a second-unit man, Stewart has been a nice finding by Detroit in the last NBA draft.
Isaiah is playing 18 MPG in the past two weeks while putting up nightly 5-7 lines. While that's nothing superb, Stewart is only getting a low 14% usage rate and his mojo comes on the blocks department as he's averaging 1.3 per game in that span. Stewart is one of only 37 players (min. 20 games) blocking at least one shot per game, and he's doing so playing the sixth-fewest minutes per game.
The Pistons are looking to move Blake Griffin via trade and he will play no more for the team. Plumlee has been nice in Detroit, but Stewart keeps improving nightly. Just in his last two games at the time of this writing, happening on Wednesday and Friday, he had two great performances to the tune of 11-10-0-2-1 and 6-11-2-1-1 stuffed lines. He's shot the rock at a sweet 69% from the field in his last five games, and although he only hit 1-of-2 freebies he still found his way to those 11 minutes against New Orleans. Good flyer to pursue by those in super deep leagues, with upside to grow as the season advances and Detroit tests its young assets.
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