Week 7 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: NBA Centers

Now more than a month into the 2014-15 NBA season, the waiver wire has taken its typical place in the weekly/daily routine of fantasy basketball managers. The following centers, whether of the “sleeper” variety or just cashing in temporarily on an unforeseen opportunity, almost certainly deserve attention across the various formats.

Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List

Waiver Wire Center in Standard Leagues

Tyler Zeller (BOS, PF/C) - 14% Owned

I have been burned plenty of times trying to find gold at center for the Celtics. Remember when Vitor Faverani was a hot pickup at the start of last season? With Kelly Olynyk still full of promise and getting plenty of minutes on the bench, I am going to temper my expectations with new starter Tyler Zeller. Nonetheless, he is still the starter and has been playing pretty well.

Zeller put up a masterpiece against the Lakers on December 5th, making over 90 percent of his shots and hitting 4-of-4 free throws to score 24 points while bringing down 14 rebounds and blocking a shot. He followed by dropping back to earth against much better competition (the Wizards) on the 7th.

Zeller is not going to give you three pointers like Olynyk does – he has attempted only five three-point shots in his career, and missed all five. However, Zelller will get about one block per game when given starter’s minutes, but that is a baseline for a center. He is going to get rebounds, deliver positive results in both percentages and have a fair number of double-digit scoring games.

If Zeller continues getting more than 25 minutes a game – which you never know with Boston – the numbers he can bring are worth adding.

Waiver Wire Center in Deep Leagues

Tarik Black (HOU, PF/C) - 1% Owned

With Rockets head coach Kevin McHale saying that Dwight Howard “won’t be back anytime soon,” the time has come to start examining who is going to continue soaking up the minutes in the short term for Houston. One option, likely available in all but the deepest of leagues, is Tarik Black.

The Kansas product has been a nominal starter for the Rockets since November 19th, which should continue as long as Howard remains out. In that time frame, Black has averaged 7.3 boards while shooting 55.6 percent from the field in just under 21 minutes per game.

Black is best left untouched in any standard sized league, as he is only scoring 6.4 points a game and doing nothing in steals (0.3/game) or blocks (0.1/game) in his time as starter. However, Black's rebounds can be helpful, particularly if you need a short-term infusion.