Finals of the fantasy playoffs are upon us. Congratulations to all of you who made it to the very end. To the championship game. To the Big One. I wish you the best of luck and hope you prevail in the end and lift that Cup. And I'll try to help out by suggesting some options for all of those owners who would like to bolster their frontcourt.
Welcome to RotoBaller's Week 23 waiver wire pickups for power forwards and centers.
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Standard League Waiver Wire Big Adds
Alex Len, PF/C, PHO (42% Owned)
At the start of the season Phoenix Suns' frontcourt was envisioned very differently by most fantasy owners than what it has become. Most of us thought that it would be Tyson Chandler and Alex Len handling most of the playing time with youngsters Marquese Chriss and Alan Williams seeing minutes in garbage time. Boy has that changed.
When Phoenix realized that the playoffs were out of reach they decided to focus their efforts on developing their talent. That saw Chandler move completely out of the rotation. For a while, Alex Len was in the dog house, playing minutes in the mid teens and even picking up some rest nights with Chriss and Williams playing some great basketball.
But lately Len has finally started to show us the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft. In his previous seven he has averaged 9.7 PTS with 0.3 3PM on 48.2 FG% and 54.5 FT%, 7.9 REB, 0.9 AST, 1.0 STL, 1.6 BLK and 1.6 TO in 25 minutes per contest. Now that's more like it! The free throws do sting a bit, but he only shot 3.1 per game so it's not too hard to swallow. The turnovers also aren't ideal, especially coming from a center who plays 25 minutes but the his rebounds, field goal efficiency and especially the defensive stats more than make up for his shortcomings.
If Alex keeps playing like he has lately he will certainly be given enough time to help his fantasy owners. Furthermore, his Suns play four games this week, two of which are on five-game nights, so that is another reason to consider adding Len.
Ivica Zubac C, LAL (34% Owned)
Ivica Zubac is another player favored by the trend of teams that are written-off giving more minutes to their youngsters. Timofey Mozgov is in exactly the same situation as Tyson Chandler and Zubac is the primary beneficiary. Ivica has been getting pretty inconsistent minutes, with them varying from 11 to 36 in his previous nine games. Despite the instability, in that period he has averaged 12.6 PTS on 49.8 FG% and 60.0 FT%, 5.9 REB, 1.4 AST, 1.0 BLK, 0.3 STL and 1.0 TO in 23 minutes per outing.
The points, rebounds and defensive stats along with good field goal percentage is something that could appeal to owners in deeper leagues. He only shot 1.7 free throw attempts in the aforementioned period so that 60% doesn't hurt too much. Moreover, the Lakers new GM Magic Johnson said recently that he would like to see if Ivica Zubac is a 30-plus minute a match kind player. It might not mean anything, but it doesn't hurt his owners to hear such news.
The Lakers play on the exact same days as Phoenix in the next week, so all the good schedule stuff that was written above applies to Zubac's situation as well. So if you're pondering over whether to pick Ivica up or not the schedule could prove enough reason to sway you towards "YES".
Standard League Honorable Mentions: Willie Cauley-Stein (58% Owned), Willy Hernangomez (43% Owned)
Deep League Waiver Wire Big Add
Skal Labissiere, PF/C, SAC (30% Owned)
Skal Labissiere has really taken off since the DeMarcus Cousins deal. He is getting more minutes and using them the right way. Kosta Koufos, although just 28-years-old, is slowly but surely starting to make way for the frontcourt of the future in Sacramento, Labissiere and Willie Cauley-Stein.
He did put on a weak performance in his last game against the Clippers on March 26, going 1-of-7 from the field for two points and adding just four rebounds and one assist before fouling out in 19 minutes. And it's such a shame too, since there could have been even more minutes in store for him with Koufos being rested.
But in the six games before this dud Skal has averaged 14.7 PTS with 0.2 3PM on 59.7 FG% and 76.5 FT%, 7.8 REB 1.8, AST, 0.7 STL, 0.8 BLK and 1.5 TO in 25 minutes a game. He might not be able to keep his stats on that same, unreal level, but it gives us a general idea of what we can expect from him going forward.
He will keep getting minutes in the mid-20s and if you could use a player of Skal's characteristics he is definitely someone to consider. Even more so with the Kings playing four times this week and two of those games coming on five- and six-game nights.
Deep League Honorable Mentions: JaMychal Green (26% owned), Amir Johnson (14% owned)
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