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 at each position available in free agency in around a third of ESPN leagues. Some nominations are specialists capable of helping in one or two categories, while others deliver more diverse and important 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
Cameron Payne, Phoenix Suns (Rostered in 42.3% of ESPN leagues): Expected to play this week after missing the Suns' recent win over the Kings due to an illness, Payne has become a unique source of passing prowess in place of Chris Paul. As the league turns to a series of a high-usage, heliocentric playmakers, assists have become increasingly difficult to find on the waiver in recent seasons. Payne is an exception and worth targeting in all formats given what should be a rewarding starting role the rest of the way.
Donte DiVincenzo, Sacramento Kings (37.5%): While not a traditional point guard, DiVincenzo is eligible at both backcourt spots and brings respectable scoring, rebounding, and passing rates to the court now that he's finally an important part of the team's rotation. The key differentiator for DiVincenzo is his special steal rate, something that's been true since his days with the Bucks.
Shooting Guard
Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz (67.9%): A bucket's bucket, Clarkson has been tasked with even more scoring duties in the wake of Utah losing several wings to injury. A candidate to pace the team in minutes and shots in any given game -- even with Donovan Mitchell in tow -- Clarkson has become a must-roster scoring microwave for the final weeks of the campaign.
Josh Hart, Portland Trail Blazers (58.1%): If you like scoring, rebounding, shooting, and passing production from a single player, Hart is your dude. As one of the few steady vets on a patchworked Portland rotation, Hart has become a fantasy force. Editor's note: Hart has been ruled out for Monday's game.
Small Forward
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Washington Wizards (19.5%): Close to be rostered in a fifth of ESPN leagues, "KCP" has become a steadier producer in the wake of the team losing Bradley Beal to injury and Spencer Dinwiddie to Dallas. Tasked with more playmaking on a team that doesn't have a traditional lead creator, Caldwell-Pope is positioned to finish strong.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Dallas Mavericks (21.7%): If you can endure some quiet offensive outings, there's enough defensive and rebounding production to help those in deeper formats. Another option in this tier is rising rookie Herbert Jones from New Orleans, who has become an important complementary playmaker for the Pelicans.
Power Forward
Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic (63.6%): After hitting a rookie wall of sorts, Wagner has found his shot in recent games and is again a positive fantasy contributor. With 1.7 combined steals and blocks per game during the last week, Wagner can help even when he's not hitting from outside.
Lauri Markkanen, Cleveland Cavaliers (50.0%): The Cavaliers lost a great deal of guard production to injury this season, which in part has meant more scoring and creation duties for this stretch big. Earning more rebounding opportunities with Jarrett Allen ailing, Markkanen can help your roster.
Center
Mo Bamba, Orlando Magic (61.1%): Not many guys can hit multiple 3-pointers and swat multiple shots in a given game. Orlando's stretch center continues to play enough to support an elite block rate.
Brook Lopez, Milwaukee Bucks (36.4%): It's entirely possible Lopez doesn't play enough or often enough to really help fantasy managers, but he's an OG 3-and-D center who, at his best, can deliver Bamba-like binges of 3-pointers and swats.
