RADIO
The deeper a fantasy basketball 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 fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups for your fantasy basketball teams. These NBA 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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Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Targets for Week 10
Nicolas Claxton (C, BKN) - 17% rostered
After missing ample time from Oct. 25 to Dec. 3, Nic Claxton returned on that latter date but only got to play three measly minutes back then. Things have changed (obviously) for the good, as Claxton has settled in Brooklyn's rotation and is starting more games than not considering both his season's kick-off and his most recent outings. In fact, he's been out there in the first unit for two games in a row this week, playing 26 and 22 minutes in those two matches last Tuesday and Thursday. With Brooklyn hit hard by COVID, odds are he retains his role no matter what--assuming he can dodge the virus, that is.
Claxton is doing wonders every time he plays more than 20 minutes for the Nets. It's been five such games for him hitting that mark, four of them happening from Dec. 7 on (included) as he's now fully fit and playing as much as he can. In those five games, Claxton averages 10-5-0-1-1 lines per game has topped at 17 points, 9 boards, a dime, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, and his shooting can't be better sitting at 62.1% in that five-game sample. That last bit of information is good but hides another truth: Claxton is a full-time paint center who just refuses to stretch the court and/or attempt three-point shots, so consider the zero in that cat when you target/add him.
Jeff Green (SF/PF/C, DEN) - 11% rostered
The Nuggets have avoided the COVID spread more than they've not, and only have two guys going through the protocols, though they are either injured (Michael Porter Jr.) or out of the rotation (Bol Bol). That, combined with Denver's large bill of injuries (MPJ, JaMychal Green, Dozier, Murray) has opened the door to different "under-the-radar" or at least "unexpected" players to thrive in the Rocky Mountains. Enter Jeff Green, he of the 20 consecutive starts (!) in his 22 played games since Nov. 1st.
Green is far from a newcomer, nor an unknown quantity. He's been around forever. But given the Nuggets current situation he's widely surpassing the expectations attached to him no longer than two months ago. Green is shooting a ridiculous 58.3% in December and an even sillier 66.4% in the past four games. Of course, the volume is as low as less than 7 FGA per game from him, but he's hitting just every shot he takes. In the 9 games, he's played this month, he's averaging a solid 11-4-2 line with almost a stock per outing, and he's scored 1+ triple in five of those nine matches (he's averaging 1.0 3PM per game on December). Fantastic source of three-pointers, shooting percentages (FG/3P/FT), and the odd block in terms of scarce cats. Watch out for the turnovers in 9-cats, though.
Kevon Looney (PF/C, GSW) - 8% rostered
Looney wasn't available at the start of the season--he played his first game on Nov. 10--and then he went on to miss a couple of weeks at the end of November and the start of December. He's now back and in full gear once for all having appeared in the Dubs' last five games without missing one. Oh, and every time he's played he's done so for 20+ minutes and starting at the C position, something that shouldn't change soon with James Wiseman still recovering from injury and not expected back until deep into January/February at the earliest.
It makes sense to look at the most recent sample of games from Looney, who's destroying expectations on a per-minute basis. Looney is averaging a good 0.97 FP/min but if we exclude the bump in the road against the Knicks last Tuesday (still a 4-5-1-0-1 line), he'd be at an impressive 1.07 FP/min average. That's a mark in the Holmes/Jrue/Siakam/Collins/Draymond/Aldridge/Garland realm, just to name a few top-tier players. In the full five-game span of late, Looney is averaging 9 PPG, 7 RGP, 2+ APG, and 1+ BPG. Most encouraging is the fact that he was already doing that before getting out of the rotation (season-long 7-8-2 with almost 1.5 stocks per game), and is now shooting a fantastic 62%+ on 6 FGA a game. Keep in mind the usage is ridiculously low (13.4%) as he starts as part of a mega-crowded five-man unit.
Facundo Campazzo (PG, DEN) - 7% rostered
Facu played just one game before Nov. 14, the day he finally came back to stay on the ration ROS. Since that day (included), Facu has played 15 more matches logging an average of 26 MPG always coming off the pine for the Nugs. Not an even split, but Campazzo played six matches in November with an average line of 12-1-3-1 while he's been part of nine games in December at a bulkier-across-the-board 7-2-5-1. Yes, the shooting/scoring has gone down a bit, but that is related to Facu's change in volume as Denver is asking the Argentinian to play more of an on-ball creator rather than being a shooting threat.
Facu has attempted around 7 FGA per game in the past week (three games) and that span also saw him go through a little shooting slump (35.7% from the field), though that shouldn't concern fantasy GMs that much knowing that he's been able to stay on top of other cats (7 APG, 3 RPG, 2 SPG) where he can truly provide most of the value he carries with him. Facu, don't get it wrong, still pops on the three-point leaderboard often with 1+ 3PM in almost every game (he's missed on hitting at least one in just 2 of his 15 matches), and has upside for 15-point/4+triples explosions on the best of his nights.
Deni Avdija (SG/SF, WAS) - 4% rostered
If you split Avdija's season into two parts from his first game played to the start of December, and from that point through Saturday, the two slices won't probably get much more contrasting than they already are. Avdija in November: 7-6-1 shooting 40% on 6+ FGA (25 MPG); Avdija in December: 11-5-1-1-1 shooting 57% on almost 8 FGA (24 MPG). That's a marked improvement in production while the playing time has (at best) stayed the same, so it's not that he's been getting many more chances to bulk those tallies up.
Avdija has played above league-average levels all month long (seven games) only putting up a dud precisely the only day he started a game for the Wiz this season (4-6-1-0-2 line shooting 33% against Utah). As an off-the-pine player, and in the past week of play (three games from Dec. 15 on) he's put up averages of 13.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.6 SPG. The turnovers are a bit high at 2.0 TOV a day. Other than that, it's all good news for the second-year Wizard. Shotting up at 71% (!) on 7 FGA, 7-for-8 from the charity stripe, and 2-1-2 triples in the past three games are included in his most-recent resume. Not bad for a player rostered in just 4-percent of leagues and--so far--ditching falling on the COVID protocols.
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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.
