Waiver Wire Wishlist - Week 2 (Fantasy Basketball)
As the fantasy football season comes to an end, we make the transition into fantasy basketball. For the first time on the season, Nate will present his Waiver Wire Wishlist, NBA edition. In this series he will present at least five players that should be targeted from the waiver wire. He’ll do his best to touch on each position or positional category in each edition of the series. Additionally, players will be suggested for both categories and points players. Players suggested will be trending around or less than 40-percent owned in both Yahoo and ESPN leagues. This series will drop every Sunday night on our website (www.weknowfantasy.) Additionally, in future editions, you’ll find the previous week’s results below. Without further ado, let's get into Week 2 suggestions!
Week 2 Suggestions
Alec Burks, SG, New York Knicks - Owned in 39% of Yahoo and 18.4% of ESPN leagues
Next Week’s Matchups: @CLE, @TOR and @IND
Minutes equal opportunities. Opportunities equal fantasy points. Alec Burks has gone over 30 minutes-per-game in each of the Knicks’ first two outings. He’s pretty much the top option for the New York Knicks, which I know sounds really odd as I type this out. To get more statistical, Burks is on pace for the highest usage rate of his career (26.4%) and is getting six possessions-per-game as the primary ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. To put this into comparison, LeBron James is getting just one more. Burks is a must add this week.
Kyle Anderson, SF, Memphis Grizzlies - Owned in 24% of Yahoo and 4.3% of ESPN leagues
Next Week’s Matchups: @BKN, @BOS, @CHA and vs. LAL
Kyle Anderson has both SF and PF eligibility on Yahoo and just SF on ESPN. He gets a four game week coming up, which is a trend you want to gravitate towards in fantasy basketball, especially in points leagues. Anderson continues to hold value as long as Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee) and Justise Winslow (hip) both remain out of the starting lineup. Both Jackson and Winslow should continue to miss time. Anderson has put together two great outings in the Grizzlies’ starting five, with his most recent outing against the Atlanta Hawks being the best.
Ivica Zubac, C, Los Angeles Clippers - Owned in 32% of Yahoo and 50.6% of ESPN leagues
Next Week’s Matchups: vs. MIN, vs. POR, @UTA and @PHO
Big man numbers are tough to find, there’s no getting around that. Zubac offers great field goal percentage and mixes in some blocks and rebounds along the way. Obviously, Sunday afternoon’s outing against the Mavericks was pathetic to say that least, but the Clippers are still one of the best teams in the league. Zubac getting regular minutes in a team of this level is great for any fantasy team..
Josh Jackson, SF, Detroit Pistons - Owned in 13% of Yahoo and 4.9% of ESPN leagues
Next Week’s Matchups: @ATL, vs. GS, vs. BOS and vs. BOS
Like Kyle Anderson, Jackson has SF eligibility on both Yahoo and ESPN formats but gets an additional SG eligibility on Yahoo. Jackson played 29 minutes in the team’s opener against the Timberwolves and 19 against the Cavaliers. We know that the Pistons are in a rebuilding stage and it is inevitable before one (or both) of Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin are traded. As the season progresses, the former lottery pick should get more-and-more minutes. As he continues to see decent minutes with the chance of much more, grab Jackson now before it’s too late.
Bismack Biyombo, C, Charlotte Hornets - Owned in 11% of Yahoo and 2.6% of ESPN leagues
Next Week’s Matchups: @DAL, vs. MEM and @PHI
Like when I was talking about Zubac, big men in fantasy basketball are very valuable. Finding value on the waiver wire can be tough. Biyombo has posted 24, 30 and 29 minutes over the Hornets’ first three games. He has four blocks over those three games and has grabbed a total of 19 rebounds. In category leagues, Biyombo is a must add this week.
George Hill, PG/SG, Oklahoma City Thunder - Owned in 11% of Yahoo and 3.2% of ESPN leagues
Next Week’s Matchups: vs. UTA, vs. ORL, vs. NO and @ORL
We only have a one game sample to go off of as the Thunder’s first game of the season against the Houston Rockets was postponed. In his season debut, Hill posted 21 points, four rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes. He also did this on eight-of-nine from the field. Hill gets four games this week, three of which are at home.