Fantasy Basketball: Waiver Wire pickups for week 13
The trade deadline is a month away and we are halfway through fantasy basketball season.
It’s time to focus in and make sure our teams are as strong as possible, while also getting those wins each week.
So, let’s look at the waiver wire and see which players available in over 50 per cent of leagues may be of interest for standard Yahoo points leagues.
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Nic Claxton - Claxton looks like he has got the Nets’ starting centre job to himself.
LaMarcus Aldridge has got a sore foot and was already being marginalised of late, regardless of injury.
Claxton’s ceiling does get capped a bit by Steve Nash’s rotations, but he shouldn’t be sitting on the wire.
Cedi Osman - With Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio out for the season, Osman is the player off the Cavs’ bench that I want to grab.
Not Rajon Rondo, or not Isaac Okoro (not a bench player) when he returns. Osman is shooting well, he can score and pass and should get a nice minutes and usage bump and we saw evidence of that Saturday against Portland.
Lonnie Walker - Walker is more of short term option with Derrick White, Devin Vassell, and Keldon Johnson all in Covid protocols.
He has no long term appeal, but for now, Walker, along with Josh Primo and Bryn Forbes, get a boost in value.
Herb Jones - Jones has been playing at an unbelievable level.
With doubts arising about Zion Williamson returning at all, Jones is locked into a starting spot and shouldn’t be on any waiver wires.
Isaiah Hartenstein - Hartenstein is still out with an ankle injury, but when he returns, I expect to remove Serge Ibaka from the rotation entirely.
Hartenstein needs only 20-22 minutes to be useful for standard leagues and he could find himself in a true minutes share with Ivica Zubac soon.
Patrick Beverley - I don’t understand how this man is still available in so many places. Just add him and deal with the injuries when they happen.
Max Strus - Strus continues to start ahead of Duncan Robinson and has been playing big minutes with great production.
The Heat are still without Jimmy Butler, Gabe Vincent, and Victor Oladipo, so Strus is by no means a lock long-term, but he is worth it for now.
Anfernee Simons - Technically, Simons doesn’t qualify because he is rostered in 60 per cent of leagues.
But, while Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are out, his value is through the roof.
He will indeed lose out when they return, but my mail is that Lillard will not finish out the season and he won’t likely play after the All-Star game.
So, adding and holding Simons for the next month is the prudent move.
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