Overall, this may have been one of our more successful weeks on the fantasy basketball waiver wire forefront this season. Reggie Jackson’s return saw him average nearly 16 points-per-game. Now, if you play in a head-to-head points league, the lack of other contributions are alright, but in categories, he’ll need to step up a bit more to really earn the title of an amazing waiver addition. Trevor Ariza has fallen back to earth after his hot start with the Portland Trailblazers. Now, I’m not ready to completely jump ship as Damien Lillard is currently on a historic tear. He can’t keep up that pace and eventually the likes of Ariza will have to get back involved. Hold tight there. Jerami Grant is our best suggestion of Week 15, as he continues to average well over 30 minutes-per-game, averaging nearly 18 points-per-game over the last week. He also adds rebounds, steals and blocks. If you were able to scoop him up, well done. Marquiss Chriss has continued to hold down the starting job in Golden State after the Willie Cauley-Stein trade. He’s done well there as well, averaging over 11 points, five rebounds and nearly two blocks-per-game. Josh Okogie continues to perform well in his time share with Jarrett Culver in Minnesota.
Week 15 Results (Last 7 Day Average)
Reggie Jackson, PG/SG, Detroit Pistons - 15.7 PPG, 3 APG, 2 RPG & 0.7 SPG in 27 MPG
Trevor Ariza, SG/SF, Portland Trailblazers - 6.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.6 APG & 1.2 SPG in 25:57 MPG
Jerami Grant, SF/PF, Denver Nuggets - 17.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG & 2.3 BPG in 33:15 MPG
Marquiss Chriss, PF/C, Golden State Warriors - 11.3 PPG, 5 RPG, 1 SPG & 1.7 BPG in 26:19 MPG
Josh Okogie, PG/SG, Minnesota Timberwolves - 10 PPG, 5 RPG, 1.5 APG & 0.5 SPG in 25 MPG
Week 16 Suggestions
Cam Reddish, PG/SG/SF, Atlanta Hawks - Owned in 20% of Yahoo and 12.5% of ESPN leagues
Cam Reddish is starting to look like the player the Atlanta Hawks hoped they got when they selected him 10th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft. Over his last six games, prior to Saturday’s game where he left early with a face contusion and entered the concussion protocol, he’s averaged double-digit points. In those same six games he’s averaged 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 28.6 minutes-per-game. He’s getting work done on the glass as well. As the Hawks look to the future and play more to develop the likes of Cam Reddish, look for him to get more minutes and more chances to put up fantasy points in the games to come. It helps that he’s eligible in three different categories as well.
Shabazz Napier, PG/SG, Minnesota Timberwolves - Owned in 36% of Yahoo and 32.3% of ESPN leagues
Let’s revisit one of my top additions from two weeks ago. Napier has been the Timberwolves’ starting point guard for 20 games now. During those 20 games as a starter, he’s averaged 11.2 points, 6.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals. This makes him very valuable and usable in both points and category leagues. We’ve yet to get to the trade deadline and with Minnesota possibly looking to bring in a guard, that could throw a wrench into this addition. But Napier has proven to be a great fantasy player and should be rostered in most leagues.
Jalen Brunson, PG, Dallas Mavericks - Owned in 19% of Yahoo and 12.6% of ESPN leagues
Luka Doncic re-aggravated his ankle injury and is set to miss at least the next two weeks, if not more. Doncic missed four games early in the season with the same ankle injury, where Brunson saw nearly double amount of court time. He went from 15.5 minutes-per-game with Doncic to 30.5 minutes-per-game without Doncic. During Doncic’s absence, Brunson averaged 13.8 points, 9.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 threes. This will be a short term addition, but as long as Doncic is sidelined, get Brunson onto your teams!
Christian Wood, PF/C, Detroit Pistons - Owned in 38% of Yahoo and 25.4% of ESPN leagues
Front court options are limited this week on the waiver wire. Wood is a player who’s made an appearance in these articles before. He still doesn’t get the court time we would all like, as he still only sees about 18 minutes-per-game, but he still remains fantasy relevant during that time. Over the past week he’s averaged 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 0.7 blocks-per-game. There’s also still a chance Andre Drummond gets moved prior to the trade deadline and if that is to happen, Wood’s stock would go way up.
Malik Monk, PG/SG, Charlotte Hornets - Owned in 9% of Yahoo and 5.5% of ESPN leagues
This addition is more in anticipation of what could happen in the future. Monk could be a player that could be moved prior to the deadline. Why do I think this? Randomly, his minutes-per-game has skyrocketed over the past week. His season average is 20:05 minutes-per-game. He’s played 32, 27, 23, 34 and 22 minutes respectively over his last five games. The five games prior to that, he played eight, seven, 13, 24 and 17. Maybe the Hornets are looking to showcase him more now so they can move him. He’s also had some great games recently where he went for 20 points on Jan. 20th against the Magic and 31 points on Jan. 24th against the Bucks.