Working the waiver wire is pivotal to succeeding in fantasy basketball. With so many games, injuries and endless shifts in rotations throughout the marathon campaign, we'll need to source stats from free agency to maximize imaginary rosters.
A willingness to entertain competition for the last few spots on your fantasy hoops roster can prove rewarding. When curating this fluid collective of statistical contributors, it helps to consider your end-of-bench players in direct competition with the talent floating in free agency.
The goal of this weekly series is to identify players available in at least half of ESPN leagues at each position. Some nominations are specialists capable of helping in one or two categories, while others deliver more diverse and essential statistical offerings.
In the breakdowns below, I've ordered players at each position with the priority of acquisition in mind, rather than roster percentage in ESPN leagues.
Point guard
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LA Clippers (Rostered in 37.7 percent of ESPN leagues): Found at 18th among point guards on the Player Rater the past 15 days, this rising rookie is hitting half of his 3-point attempts with strong defensive rates and nearly 16 PPG during the past seven games. If you missed out on Trae and Luka, it's time to give this productive rookie guard a look.
Seth Curry, Portland Trail Blazers (10.5 percent): With CJ McCollum unlikely to return this season from a knee injury and the team missing Jusuf Nurkic's offensive creation from the post, the Blazers badly need Curry's deft shooting. Curry has responded with 16.5 PPG while sinking 47 percent of his shots from beyond the arc during the past games. Likely to continue to see more than 30 minutes and 10 shots each game for the Portland, Curry is a savvy late-season shooting specialist to consider.
Deep additions (players available in at least 90 percent of ESPN leagues): Shaquille Harrison has put up 17 PPG with 10.7 combined rebounds and assists for the Bulls this past week. With Chicago's roster thinned by a wave of injuries, Harrison could be of great help in deeper leagues during the title chase.
Shooting guard
Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat (35.1 percent): This legend's retirement tour includes a current streak of a dozen games in double-figures while averaging 15.2 points, 7.2 combined assists, and rebounds, and 1.8 combined blocks and steals during this stretch. This usage is high and the minutes will be there, setting up Wade for a fun fantasy finish to his storied career.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Los Angeles Lakers (15.9 percent): It's been a bit of a scoring rolling coaster for KCP when you inspect his game log, but taking a longer lens you see that he's slashed for 18 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.3 SPG, and a whopping 3.6 3PG during the past 10 games. With LeBron James shut down for these final games of another lost season for the Lakers, it's likely we see a few more scoring outbursts from Caldwell-Pope.
Deep additions: It's fitting that Wayne Ellington is rostered in 3.3 percent of ESPN leagues given all his value is tied to 3-pointers. There will be some empty lines from this shooting specialist, but also some valuable outings when the shot is falling.
Small forward
Joe Harris, Brooklyn Nets (21 percent): Another well-regarded specialist for those in need of 3-point support, Harris is fleshing his game out with more rebounding of late, adding to his stable fantasy stock.
Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets (20.4 percent): Flashing a diverse skill set with strong rates on the glass and some upside as a playmaker on offense, Bridges is an excellent streaming option as the Hornets are still clinging to playoff hopes.
Justin Holiday, Memphis Grizzlies (15.1 percent): While the volume of shots and sheer success as a shooter he enjoyed in Chicago was likely an outlier for Holiday, he's settled into a productive role for Memphis of late with 2.7 3PG and a stellar three steals per game during this past week.
Deep additions: Lance Stephenson (8.9 percent) is going to consume heavy usage with James on the pine, making him an intriguing addition for those in need of rebounding and some scoring pop from the wing.
Power forward
Christian Wood, New Orleans Pelicans (10.7 percent): The former G League standout was signed by the depleted New Orleans Pelicans last week and has impressively compiled 48 points and 18 rebounds the past two games, including a career-high 25 points in Thursday night's close win over the Kings. With an astounding 13 combined blocks and steals during his previous two outings with the Pelicans, Wood makes for a fun finishing piece for those chasing championships this week.
Bruno Caboclo, Memphis Grizzlies (10.2 percent): Another emergent forward earning steady opportunities and delivering big results is the Grizzlies' Caboclo, who has averaged 17.7 PPG and 2.3 stocks (blocks plus steals) this past week.
Deep additions: JaMychal Green (5.0 percent) has been stellar as a glue guy for the Clips this past week with 11.8 PPG and 7.3 RPG.
Center
Larry Nance Jr., Cleveland Cavaliers (44.2 percent): Whenever the minutes have been there for Nance, so have the impressive results. Finally back in the rotation as a regular, Nance brings an atypically impressive assist rate to the floor.
Thomas Bryant, Washington Wizards (18.6 percent): Posting 12 points and 12.3 rebounds per game this past week and with some clutch heroics against the Suns earlier this past week, Bryant is a great addition for those still streaming at center into the twilight of the season.
