Working the waiver wire is pivotal to succeeding in fantasy basketball. With so many games, injuries and endless shifts in rotations throughout the season, we'll need to source stats from free agency to maximize our imaginary rosters.
A willingness to entertain competition for the last spot or two on your fantasy hoops roster can prove rewarding, even though it's difficult to open space this early in the season. The final few rounds of a draft are often used for speculation on sleepers, so it can help to consider those end-of-bench players as being in direct competition with the talent floating in free agency.
In this weekly series, we identify players available in more than 40 percent of ESPN leagues at each position. Some nominations are purely specialists capable of helping in one or two categories, while others deliver more diverse and important statistical offerings. Either way, we believe the names below -- ordered by ownership rate at each position -- can contribute positively to fantasy rosters.
Point guard
George Hill, Sacramento Kings (rostered in 38.2 percent of ESPN leagues): Over the past four games, Hill has averaged 18 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.8 APG and 1.0 SPG in 31.4 MPG while shooting just 9.5 shots per game. It would be nice to see Hill's shooting usage increase, as I'm assuming he won't continue to hit 73 percent of his 3-point attempts as he has over this recent scoring surge. There were times last season for Utah when Hill flashed as a bona fide top-10 fantasy point guard. While it's highly unlikely he sustains that level of play while in a committee with a gifted rookie in Sacramento, Hill still merits more attention on the market during this hot stretch.
Austin Rivers, LA Clippers (29.4): If Hill is providing optimal efficiency combined with a dubious workload over the past few weeks, Rivers is somewhat the inverse; he's sustaining fantasy value, thanks almost solely to a heavy offensive workload. Afforded 14.9 shots per game en route to 17.9 PPG, 4.2 APG and 2.8 3PG over the past 10 games, all starts, Rivers' rewarding share of the Clippers' offense drives value in deeper leagues.
Jarrett Jack, New York Knicks (7.9): There is a sound argument that Jack is merely a replacement-level point guard, but minutes are the main selling point for him as a fantasy asset; he's averaging 26.6 per over his past eight games, all starts, while producing a respectable slash of 10.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 5.9 APG.
Shooting guard
Rodney Hood, Utah Jazz (35.4): I'm admittedly a fan of Hood's game and endorsed him throughout the offseason. It's been somewhat of a mixed bag this season, as Hood's durability issues continue to resurface, yet he's also averaging a career-high 18.1 PPG with meaningful 3-point rates. Hood's usage rate jumps 2.2 percent with Rudy Gobert off the court this season, the highest of any player on the Jazz. It might just be a momentary surge in usage for Hood, but he's averaging an awesome 17.7 shots and 8.7 3-point attempts over his past three appearances.
Caris LeVert, Brooklyn Nets (26.8): Position eligibility can add value when trying to maximize games played in weekly formats, so the fact that LeVert is eligible at three positions adds to his growing fantasy profile. The Nets, as you know, run one of the fastest offenses in the league. This scheme proves friendly for fantasy purposes since the team nets increased possessions. With 13.8 PPG, 5.4 APG, 1.5 SPG and 28.7 MPG over his past eight appearances, LeVert is 13th among small forwards on the Player Rater over the past 15 days.
Tyler Johnson, Miami Heat (16.5): An elbow injury to Goran Dragic has undeniably aided Johnson's opportunity rates of late; he's averaging 29.5 MPG, 13.8 PPG and 2.1 3PG over his past 10 games. Johnson has also proved more larcenous of late, with six steals over his past three games.
Small forward
Taurean Prince, Atlanta Hawks (35.8): Prince has been worthy of a roster spot in 12-team leagues for much of the season, while the standard 10-team market continues to overlook him even amid a hot stretch. We find Prince 12th on the Player Rater over the past 15 days. The key ingredient is improved shooting efficiency, with Prince hitting 43 percent from downtown over the past eight games.
Josh Richardson, Miami Heat (30.1): Speaking of hot hands, Richardson is hitting more than half of his shots from 3-point range over his past 10 games, and he is sixth at the position on the Player Rater over the past 15 days and 11th at the position over the past month. Given that he's enjoyed steady minutes and touches throughout the season, I consider Richardson a must-own player in standard leagues.
Denzel Valentine, Chicago Bulls (9.2): Possibly lost in Chicago's inspired winning streak is the fact that Valentine has been statistically solid over the past week, averaging 14.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 4.0 APG over his past three games. I'd only speculate on shares of Valentine for a few games to see if he can sustain an effective floor game.
Power forward
John Collins, Atlanta Hawks (39.7): Just ahead of Marc Gasol and Ben Simmons with 16.5 rebounding chances per game over his past five outings, Collins has returned to the floor as the key energy rebounder for the Hawks. This talented rookie is providing help in blocks, boards and shooting efficiency.
Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks (27.2): It's difficult to stash players in hoops leagues with short benches, so this endorsement might apply best to leagues that have IR spots or longer benches. It will take time for Parker to become a fantasy-relevant contributor after such a long absence to another ACL injury, but the payoff could be influential, given how much freedom he was afforded to create offense from the perimeter last season.
Michael Beasley, New York Knicks (20.0): One of the most added players in ESPN leagues over the past week, Beasley is nothing if a fan of his own shot. Over the past nine games, his usage rate is an amazing 35 percent, which is Westbrookian. The market might even be a little bullish on Beasley, given that much of his offensive surge has been accomplished with Kristaps Porzingis ailing, but he's a fun play in deeper and daily leagues, as long as he's lofting tons of shots (he's taken at least 13 in five straight).
Center
Greg Monroe, Phoenix Suns (35.3): The New England Patriots' backfield has been far easier to read than the Suns' frontcourt this season, particularly at the pivot. Monroe was perceived as a throw-in for salary purposes, and even recently talk of him being bought out by Phoenix has surfaced, but he's averaged nearly 24 minutes, 10.9 PPG and 9.0 RPG in his past 10 games with the Suns. Whenever he's active and in the rotation, there's good reason to deploy Monroe as a fantasy starter.
Kelly Olynyk, Miami Heat (18.9): I doubt we'll see Olynyk ever top 30 points again this season, as he did this past Wednesday in Boston, but I do buy that his uptick in minutes and touches with Hassan Whiteside out helps fuel a strong uptick in fantasy stock for the stretch center.
Mason Plumlee, Denver Nuggets (12.6): Not only do I advise you to consider adding Trey Lyles as he enjoys newfound success with Paul Millsap sidelined, but Plumlee merits a look for those in need of help at center, a considerably shallow position past the elite tier. Averaging 28.5 MPG over the past five, Plumlee is surging with a near double-double clip (10.8 PPG and 9.4 RPG) during this stellar stretch.
