RADIO
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).
We are looking into some potential power forwards and centers who might fit well with your team and are sitting on the waiver wire in about a half or more of the Yahoo! leagues. So if you're in the market for a big to help your team fill out it's needs, one of the players from this article might just be what you're looking for.
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Standard League Waiver Wire Big Adds
John Henson PF/C, MIL (47% Owned)
In the beginning of the season being a center for the Milwaukee Bucks was kind of a nightmare. Miles Plumlee, Greg Monroe and the hero of our story John Henson were locked in a timeshare at the five position. That prevented any of them from having any real fantasy value. But Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd seems to have made a decision to stick with just two of those three. A decision that saw Plumlee sit out the last five games and play a total of only seven minutes in the three games before that. That decision is just what Henson's owners were hoping for.
Since November 27th Henson has seen his minutes bumped up from 16 to 25 per game. In those eight games since being "unleashed" his averages have come up to 11.7 PTS, 6.5 REB, 1.5 AST, 0.5 STL, an insane 2.5 BLK and just 1.1 TO per game with shooting percentages of 55.6 FG% and a 75.0 FT% which is not too bad for a center. Henson is particularly valuable for a team that is punting threes or free throws, but doesn't hurt too much in neither of those cats and his multicat production and great blocks and FG% are what makes him a great addition to most teams.
Barring any change of coach Kidd's heart, Henson will be getting minutes in the mid to high 20s the rest of the way. That is plenty of time for a fantasy friendly player like Henson to give decent value to the fantasy owner who is fast enough to pick him up from the wire, before the others see his true potential.
Tyson Chandler C, PHX (49% Owned)
Need some rebounding, defense and nice FG%? You don't care too much about FT% scoring and assists? And who needs 3-pointers from a center anyway? Tyson Chandler is your guy. Elite rebounding, anywhere between one and two combined blocks and steals with around 60.0 FG% is what you can expect from the veteran.
Owners should be careful though. Chandler is 34 years old, and he does get injured more often accordingly. Furthermore, his Suns are 7-17 at the moment and it doesn't look as if they will be fighting for a playoff spot this season. That could mean some rest days near the end of the season, or in other words right in the middle of fantasy basketball playoffs.
The aforementioned injury proneness has kept him out of eight games during November. But he is back now, and is playing with style. In his seven games back from the injury (not including the first one in which he played just 11 minutes) Chandler is on a tear with 8.0 PTS on 67.6 FG%, extraordinary 11.3 REB, 0.9 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.7 BLK per game and is shooting a decent 76.9% from the line. He is turning the ball over 1.9 times and doesn't shoot threes, but his stat line of 14 PTS and 21 REB on 83.3 FG% and 80.0 FT% will make you forget all about that.
His rebounds alone are worth an add if that is what your team needs, not to mention the defensive stats and great field goal percentage he brings to the party.
Standard League Honorable Mentions: Cody Zeller (42% owned), Jon Leuer (39% owned)
Deep League Waiver Wire Big Adds
Dwight Powell PF/C, DAL (25% Owned)
Dallas is having big injury problems this season. In addition to their two best PGs replacing each other on the injury list, their top two bigs Dirk Nowitzki and Andrew Bogut are also on the shelf. Nowitzki has only played in five games this season and Bogut in 16, and they are both currently out and there aren't any news on when we should expect either of them back. It could be a few games, a few weeks or even months. Also, Dallas is the worst team in the NBA this season and the playoffs are probably out of their reach so the two veterans are probable to pick up some rest along the way.
Dwight Powell is a light at the end of the tunnel for the Mavericks. In his previous seven games he is averaging 10.9 PTS on 61.2 FG% and 84.2 FT%, 6.0 REB, 1.3 AST, 0.9 STL, 0.4 BLK and just 0.6 TO in 24 minutes per game. Great efficiency along with across the board production is what gives Powell good value in both Roto and Head-to-head leagues.
As long as Dallas' bigs are injured or being rested, Powell should get enough run to help his fantasy owners with this multicat production. Moreover, it is not out of the question that he gets even more minutes and touches if the Mavs decide that it's too late to save the season and give more run and responsibilities to their youth.
Even though Dallas lost the playoff opportunity and some players to injury, they may have gained a decent player in Powell, and so did the fantasy owners who picked him up in their deep league.
Deep League Honorable Mentions: Frank Kaminsky (24% owned), Patrick Patterson (25% 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.
