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.
Trevor Ariza (SF/PF, MIA)
13% rostered
Is there a more hate-inducing guy than Trevor Ariza out there? I don't know, but I do know that I'm an official stan of his. Ariza, as you know, was traded to Miami leading up to the deadline and all he took him to become a starting-lineup fixture was three games. That was it. Six minutes in the first, 19 in the second, and 23 in the third before getting his first start callup as a Heat, something that hasn't changed in the last month of play and has him at 17 consecutive starts at the PF position while logging 29 MPG. Not bad.
The efficiency sucks for Ariza, but that's reasonable because the minutes are high and Ariza is on the court to do very defined things and accomplish quite concrete tasks when it comes to fantasy numbers. Namely: hit triples, grab boards, and avoid screwing up. That's why Ariza is a good play if you're hunting for any of those categories (let's call committing TOs a way of screwing up, something he doesn't do too often with just 0.6 per game) on the cheap.
Ariza often falls in between the 15 and 20 FP although he has upside for explosions here and there. He's had four 30+ FP games this season and his ceiling is at around a 20-10 line, but don't add him to your roster expecting that line coming from him daily. Nonetheless, Ariza will almost assuredly contribute his good 10-5-2 ROS getting at least a steal every couple of days if not nightly, and hitting 1.5+ triples any given day. The shots are low in volume (7.5 FGA) but they've dropped at a 45% clip in the last two weeks with an average true shooting of 60%+ from Apr. 14 on (7 games played in that span).
Facundo Campazzo (PG, DEN)
11% rostered
I already told you about Facu one week ago, and back then it might have sounded a little bit more crazier than nowadays to bet on him. That's because after Jamal Murray got injured, the Nuggets opted to put Monte Morris on the starting lineup for a few games before moving on to play Campazzo as the starting PG from last Monday on as Monte Morris also fell down to injury. The Nuggets can't catch a break, but that's good for us deep-league GMs looking for bargains.
On top of Morris's injury, Denver also lost another guard in Will Barton last Friday, which opens the door to even more minutes of playing time for Facu. Not that he needs many more of them, though, as in the last week of games (4 GP) he's already logging a more than healthy 33 MPG as part of the Nugs first unit. The usage rate is obviously going to stay low with all of Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon around, but Campazzo just keeps on doing his work out there.
The efficiency numbers are always going to be horrific because of the massive playing time (in fact, Campazzo has averaged a paltry 0.69 FP/min) in those last four matches, but the large runs are allowing him to rack up counting stats nightly. He's put up a 7-3-5-1 baseline in that span, which isn't mindblowing but is keeping him on a 22+ FPG average. Campazzo is far from a league-winning player, but he's part of lineups with high upside and that helps his dimes, plus he's a great stealer and three-pointer averaging 1.1 3PG on the season and almost 2 3PG in his last 10 games.
P.J. Dozier (PG/SG, DEN)
6% rostered
It hurts to say, but Jamal Murray played his last game of the season (and potentially of the whole 2021-22 calendar span too...) back on Apr. 12. That same night, as had been the case prior to it, Dozier logged just a paltry 8 minutes of playing time for the Nugs putting up three points on the scoreboard and contributing nothing else than that. Nothing to like about that, honestly. From Dec. 23 to Apr. 12 (included), Dozier (a fourth-year man already) had played 39 games and a total of 796 minutes (20 MPG). From Apr. 14 on: six games played and 174 minutes, first start of the season last Saturday.
Talk about a change. It really sucks to have Jamal off the L's basketball courts, but that has only opened the door to other guards (read about Facu Campazzo below) in the rotation. Oh, and before I forget: Will Barton got injured too last Friday and will miss "significant" time. Can't get much better than that in terms of opportunity and chances for Dozier. In the last 12 days (from Apr. 14 on), Dozier is putting up a nightly 12-4-3-1 line. He's been great on a much heavier role as part of the second unit, commanding an average 20% usage rate in five matches off the pine.
Last Saturday, with Barton already out and against Houston, Dozier started for the first time this season and played 28 minutes. That's not even the greatest news, though. Dozier went on to have a top-20 fantasy performance to the tune of an impressive 23-point night (including 3 3PM) to go with a stuffed rest of line that included 7 boards, 3 dimes, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. That was an insane game, and odds are he won't be able to keep on doing it on a daily basis. Even then, though, it will all be about Dozier and Campazzo at the guard positions for Denver ROS, and with a silly 6% rostership these days, Dozier is one of the most affordable players out there with relatively high upside.
Drew Eubanks (PF/C, SA)
5% rostered
From the season's tip-off all the way back in December to Apr. 11, Eubanks played 33 games averaging a below-average 0.87 FP/min. From Apr. 12 on, though, Eubanks' per-minute fantasy-point mark is sitting at a beautiful 1.35 FP/min, which is pretty much insane and a top-level number all things considered. Obviously, Eubanks is getting there on low minutes of playing time (18 MPG), but that doesn't mean he's not making the most of his chances and squeezing the opportunities he's been given.
Focusing on games played from Apr. 12 on, Eubanks has been part of eight of them while starting once for the Spurs through Sunday. He's been able to put up two dub-dubs in that span, is shooting a masterful 80% from the floor and hitting 68% of his free-throw attempts (3.6 FTA), and his average line reads 9-7-1 with a bonus of 1.4 BPG to spare.
Eubanks is definitely a flier-gamble to take. With the Spurs pretty much locked into the play-in part of the season, the only thing they're battling for these days is to know if they'll finish as the 9th or 10th seed in the West. Eubanks is not going to start many of the remaining games if Jakob Poeltl and Keldon Johnson don't get injured, but he's one of the main backups for those two at the F/C position and will keep getting minutes off the pine while averaging super-high efficiency numbers.
Dwight Powell (PF/C, DAL)
3% rostered
If you follow the league even in the slightest of ways, you know the news popping from Dallas of late: Kristaps Porzingis got canned from the lineup on Saturday after getting injured last Thursday. That's definitely the right move to make by Dallas, given they're fighting to make it out of the play-in and into the postseason with a no. 6 seed that would put the Mavs off the risk of getting out of the playoffs even before getting there. No need to risk Porzingis' health if they really expect to make a long run once the RS is over.
That has made Dallas turn to Dwight Powell on a heavier basis, most of all in their last outing against the Lakers last Saturday when Powell got to play a season-high 29 minutes starting at the C spot. It's been three starts in a row for Powell now, and the minutes in those three outings have gone from 12, to 17, and 29 the last time out. Powell will eventually come back to the pine, but he's efficient on the 15 MPG minutes he's usually on the court.
In the last nine games, he's played, getting back to Apr. 8, he's been able to put up an above-average 0.97 FP/min with an 8-4 average to go with 1.1 SPG. Keeping in mind he's a big man, those steals are nice and the points and boards are good for the low minutes. When the playing time went up on Saturday, it showed: Powell finished with his greatest line of the season at 25-9-1 shooting 92% from the floor on 12 FGA. Definitely a gamble, but rostering Powell could be a great move ROS if Porzingis is forced to miss more time or Dallas opt not to risk his health just one bit. Keep an eye on that development.
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy basketball mobile app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, lineup notifications & DFS articles. All free!
More Fantasy Basketball Analysis
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.
