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).
Today we will be looking at some wings who are ready to fly off your waiver wire and help their owner march towards the playoffs and even the championship. So if your small forwards have failed you, take a look at some of the names possibly still not owned in your league. They just might make the difference you need to beat your buddies.
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Standard League Waiver Wire Wing Adds
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, CHA (52% owned)
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a guy who has had his share of injury woes throughout his career. He's had trouble with his right back in 2013 and again in 2014. He's also had his hand broken in 2013 and his ribs bruised in 2014. Then he strained his hamstring in February 2015 and one month later he sprained his ankle. All those saw him miss 51 games in his first three years in the NBA. But none of them were nearly as serious as his shoulder injury which cut his 2015-2016 season short with just seven games played.
This season though, he has missed only one of Charlotte's first 25 games. And he has been pretty decent in those 24 games he played. 9.3 PTS, 7.0 REB, 1.3 AST, 0.8 STL, 1.0 BLK and just 0.8 TO in 29 minutes of action. His percentages, along with the relatively low scoring and the lack of threes, are what is keeping him from being owned in most leagues. His field goals are down by 2.1% from his career average and are sitting at 44.4% on the season. His is hitting 75% of his free throws this season, which is an improvement compared to his 69.9% shooting from the stripe during his career.
If you've built your team for punting FT%, points or threes, Kidd-Gilchrist should definitely not be on your waiver wire! Even if you are looking for a balanced squad, him hitting 2.6 of 3.5 FTs per game will not hurt too much, and his FG% could go up a bit if his career percentage is any indication. It's hard to get nice defensive stats and boards with such a multicat contribution from the waiver wire, without hurting some other stats. With Kidd-Gilchrist you get just that. Furthermore, he has recorded five double-doubles already this season, which is a nice bonus for all the owners whose leagues reward that.
His minutes are steady at just under 30, and his contribution across the board is pretty consistent. If you have faith that Kidd-Gilchrist's body will hold out through the season, and you like what he brings to the table, by all means pick him up!
Jamal Crawford, SG/SF, LAC (49% owned)
Now one might argue that at age 36, Jamal Crawford is passed his best. But he is the current holder of NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. And he won it twice before in 2009-2010 and 2013-2014. That is a clear indication that Jamal is not slowing down.
If the aforementioned Michael Kidd-Gilchrist didn't fit your team's needs, Crawford just might, since they appeal to completely different fantasy team mentalities and aspirations. In contrast to Kidd-Gilchrist, Crawford is an established scorer with three-point range. He is also a great free throw shooter and gets you a few assists too. On the other hand he doesn't rebound as well, and he's not much of a shoot blocker.
This season he averages 12.8 PTS with 1.4 3PM on 42.7 FG% along with 89.1 FT%, 1.4 REB, 2.1 AST, 0.7 STL, 0.1 BLK with 1.2 TO in 26 minutes per game. He is a pretty consistent scorer, contributing to his owners with double-digit scoring in 11 straight games. He has also failed to hit a three in just two of his previous 21 games (that is also true for Stephen Curry).
Jamal is sure to minutes in the mid to upper 20s this season. He could even get some more run if an injury bug hits the Clippers as it did during last seasons playoffs, which took out both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
On the other hand Crawford is a pretty durable player, having missed more than 23 games just once in his career, in his second season in the NBA back in 2001-2002. Furthermore, the Clippers have 5 games in week 22 (March 20-March 26) so that can be pretty useful in your fantasy playoffs.
The owners in the market for some threes, steals and excellent free throw shooting should give Jamal Crawford a look, he rarely disappoints.
Other options: Courtney Lee, SG/SF, NY (41% owned) and Evan Turner, SG/SF, POR (40% owned)
Deep League Waiver Wire Wing Adds
Thabo Sefolosha, SG/SF, ATL (21% owned)
Thabo Sefolosha is the kind of player that fills every statistical category standard leagues count. So far this season he is getting his owners 7.4 PTS, 0.4 3PM, 4.7 REB, 2.0 AST, 2.0 STL, 0.4 BLK with just 1.0 TO in 25 minutes a night. He is shooting a decent 47.8% from the field and hits 0.8 of his 1.1 free throws a game.
He is a lovely fit for all the balanced teams out there, looking for something extra on the defensive end. His 2.0 steals are tied for 4th best in the league this season. His field goal percentage and rebounds are also above average for his position. Moreover, those two assists every game and a block every other game come in handy too.
Considering he helps out everywhere and doesn't hurt you in any category, Sefolosha is a bargain for all those teams looking for a multicat, across the board production for their Roto or well balanced Head-2-Head teams, since he is owned in just every fifth Yahoo! league. If he fits your plans, make sure he is on the wire in one less league.
Other options: Tony Allen, SG/SF, MEM (26% owned) and Wayne Ellington, SG/SF, MIA (22% 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.