This year, RotoBaller is separating its waiver wire recommendations by position a little differently. In our three position breakdowns, we'll be separating players into GUARDS, including point guards (PG), shooting guards (SG), and combo guards (PG/SG); WINGS, including small forwards (SF), swing men (SG/SF), and small ball fours (SF/PF); and BIGS, including power forwards (PF), centers (C), and bigs who play both front court spots (PF/C).
All of these positional recommendations will be written from the point of view of rotisserie leagues, meaning they'll value across the board category contributions. They're still useful for head-to-head category leagues, but they won't take into account how well a player fits into your ability to punt categories in H2H settings. We'll provide options who may be available in both standard leagues (less than 50% owned) and deeper leagues (less than 25% owned). All position eligibility and ownership rates based on Yahoo! fantasy leagues.
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Standard League Waiver Wire Big Adds
Trevor Booker, PF, BKN (30% Owned)
Booker is the starting PF for the Nets in case you weren’t sure. As a Nets fan, I had no idea he would be the starter until Wednesday came around and the season started. Booker has two double-doubles and looks like an integral part of the team’s offense. Running pick and rolls with Jeremy Lin will give Booker ample opportunity to score easy points. No one will confuse Booker with an elite defender but he’s active and does his best to keep everything in front of him. Right now Booker’s minutes should give him many chances to stuff his stats while the Nets are down 15 points in the second half of games.
At almost thirty years old, no one should expect much growth or change from Booker. But a solid double-double every night will be more than worth risking a flier on Booker until more enticing options open up.
JaMychal Green, PF, MEM (31% Owned)
The Grizzlies have been hit with the injury bug. Again. Right now half the team is on the injury report, meaning that Green will get plenty of opportunity. Green’s 11 points, 7.5 rebounds and one block per game over the first two make him an interesting streaming option until Chandler Parsons and others return.
A full strength Memphis squad would make Green completely useless. Until then, he has value as someone who can contribute a little bit of everything--he even shoots threes--and is worth riding for a few weeks if you need an all-around big man.
Standard League Honorable Mentions: Justin Hamilton (20% owned), Zaza Pachulia (19% owned)
Deep League Waiver Wire Big Adds
Mike Muscala, PF/C, ATL (7% Owned)
Muscala has come off the bench for the Hawks and averaged seven shots per game over the first two. He is averaging 11.5 points and 4.5 rebound during the same small sample size. Muscala is an intriguing pick up not because of his stats, but because of his role. Dwight Howard has simply become an offensive liability at times and Muscala gives the Hawks a big man off the bench that can actually score when called upon.
He can make the occasional three but has a nice shot and quick feet that make him a difficult matchup. Also, Muscala hasn’t been a complete letdown on the defensive side of the ball so there is no glaring weakness that will keep him from getting minutes. Muscala’s only problem is that his talent level is limited so he really has very little upside.
Deep League Honorable Mentions: Amir Johnson (18% owned), Tyson Chandler (17% owned)
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.