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 13
Lance Stephenson (SG/SF, IND) - 13% rostered
Given the information we have, Lance probably poses the highest-risk/highest-reward of the fantasy basketball Week 13 WW target column. That's because Indiana signed Lance to a 10-day deal on Jan. 2 and that contract will end this upcoming week. In other words, Lance might play on Monday his last game for his first-love franchise and then get canned, who knows if he is re-signed by any other team... or if he would stay put in Indiana and keep playing for the Pacers. That latter case, all things considered, should be the one with the highest probability of becoming a reality, though.
Stephenson has only played five games for Indy and although the first three were pretty much afterthoughts (topping at 17 minutes), the last two outings have been sublime: 33 and 29 minutes off the pine for Lance and an average 23-4-9-2 line is what the vet did while scoring five triples total and shooting a scorching hot 60.8% from the field on a healthy 15+ FGA. Of course, those two games make for a tiny sample. It's hard to envision a version of Lance at this point in his career keeping up a steady production of 15+ points a day, 3+ boards, and 5+ dimes. That said, and given the situation, the league still finds it in regarding the positives and players missing time, so odds are Lance re-signs in Indy or gets another short-term deal elsewhere. Potential fantasy steal if only for a few days/weeks as he is expected to have a solid second-unit role no matter where he lands.
DeMarcus Cousins (PF/C, DEN) - 9% rostered
As cold as it sounds, Milwaukee waived Cousins just hours after his last game played for the Bucks on Jan. 5. He logged 20 minutes back then and put up an impressive 15-10 double-double with three steals and a block on top of that. The shooting reached its highest percentage (62.5%) on eight FGA in seven such-volume games for DMC this season. He even hit a season-high two three-pointers on the day. Yet, yes, Milly thought they were done with Boogie. Screw that.
Denver, missing warm bodies everywhere and just three days after DMC was freed, offered Cousins a short-term deal to have him in the roster for at least a week and change. And it makes all of the sense for the Nuggets. Jokic is carrying Denver pretty much alone and it is not that a lot of viable reinforcements are available in the Nugs bench to put in the paint. The younger Zeke Nnaji will keep getting minutes, but it's not too crazy to think about DMC eating from vet JaMychal Green's cake. Cousins was good for 17 MPG in Milwaukee (even got to start five games), put up an average 5-6-1-1 per-game line, and played above-average fantasy levels nightly, posting an average of 1.13 FP/min compared to the league's 0.90 average on the season. Tons of value hiding in plain sight.
Rudy Gay (UTA, SF/PF) - 8% rostered
Rudy Gay has not that much from the wave of COVID cases in the L because Utah has mostly dodged them, but Gay's role has grown a bit since Christmas day and he might be in front of a huge chance through the next few days if some bodies have to hit the shelves in SLC. Gay is logging 20 MPG and has only played more than 21 minutes three times in the past 10 games. Even then, though, it's been seven games in a row for Gay going to the line at least a couple of times per night while hitting all of the freebies he's attempted in that span. Not bad. He's also been able to shoot some more FGA (almost nine per game) in those matches while dropping them at a 43%+ clip.
Three is nothing I can tell you about Gay that you don't know already. Gay isn't washed, but at this point in his career, he is what he is: a very limited player in terms of what he's asked to do. Gay will get open, shoot threes, hit them at a reasonable 38 percent, contribute some rebounding (4.6 RPG), and keep turnovers at bay (0.8) in the few possessions he gets. Not the flashiest of additions you can make to your roster but a solid one for what he does and his wide availability in pretty much all Yahoo leagues out there.
Reggie Bullock (SG/SF, DAL) - 3% rostered
Bullock was the guard trusted by Dallas when it came to cover from players hitting the protocols and missing time with injuries. Bullock got to start 10 straight games from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15, but he was then forced out of the court himself until returning on Dec. 31. He started that game but he didn't do it again until Jan. 7, this time covering for Luka's absence. Don't get things wrong: Bullock is a second unit player and he will stay in that role once the Mavs can field a healthy team.
Even then, though, Bullock should be a bit more rostered than his current figure shows. Bullock isn't anything out of this world, sure, but he does what he gets asked to and provides value on some interesting fronts. Bullock is more of a single-digit scorer than a double-digit one (four games of 15+ points since Dec. 1) but he is often shooting spot-up threes and hitting them daily (1.8 3PM per game in that span) while almost always dropping at least one (he's done so in 11 of his last 14 games). The FG% fluctuates because he just takes hard shots on low volume (six FGA on average), but the turnovers are really low (0.25 TOPG in 2022; four games) and the steals are super nice (1.3 SPG in the last four) as to giving Bullock a chance in deeper formats.
Avery Bradley (SG/SF, LAL) - 1% rostered
The Lakers keep looking for help wherever they can find it. The latest impact move they've attempted was moving Malik Monk into the starting lineup--and it has worked wonderfully. Bradley, a veteran signed this past October after getting waived by GSW, has been starting for the Lake Show virtually all year long with that now-daily instance first taking place all the way back on Oct. 31. It's been 27 games in a row and counting for A-B in the starting lineup, and LA finally guaranteed his deal for the 2022 season just days ago. Well deserved.
Looking at Bradley's last six games played (he missed all matches from Dec. 15 to Dec. 28), he's been playing 27 MPG while contributing 11 PPG, almost three RPG, and one APG, along with some very interesting 1.2 SPG on a nightly basis. It's the first time Bradley has shot the rock above 37% on more than four consecutive games (54.6% from the field in this six-game span) while attempting 8+ FGA on a per-game basis. Of course, the role is minimal as part of the starting lineup (12% usage rate on the season) but Bradley is good for what he does: never-fail triples (2.1 3PM per game since the start of December; never finished a game without scoring at least one), kinda-high stealing rates, and virtually any turnovers at all (though he isn't dishing out dimes either, mind you).
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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.
