Fantasy Basketball

2015-16 Fantasy Basketball: Waiver Wire Fix — Week 14

Welcome to the weekly Waiver Wire Fix, an article where I will be discussing which four players should be picked up based on recent production. The only criteria is that they have to be owned in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues. Let’s get started.

Dennis Schroder — PG — Atlanta Hawks

This is what you call a premeditated maneuver. We’ve known for awhile that Dennis Schroder has stated that he wants to be a starting point guard, and that if the Hawks can’t fulfill that desire, he wants to be traded. Well, the trade deadline is just a couple of weeks away and Schroder still isn’t starting, although he has been closing some games out lately over starter Jeff Teague. Now there’s growing rumbles that it’s very likely that the Hawks will deal either Schroder or Teague before the February 18th deadline. So, if that does happen, Schroder would presumably either become the Hawks starting PG or go somewhere else that he would start (Nets? Knicks? Rockets? Jazz?). The best part about this advanced add is that while you’re waiting on his value to potentially skyrocket, he’s not a bad piece to own even in his current backup role. Over the last month Schroder has averaged 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.3 treys. So, while you’re hoping for a big reward within a couple of weeks, he’s not going to hurt you in the meantime. Whether you’re a top-tier team in your league and are looking to get even further ahead of the competition or you’re in dire need of a boost to your struggling fantasy roster, Schroder is worth an add. He’s currently owned in just 37% of leagues.

Zach LaVine – PG/SG – Minnesota Timberwolves

Zach LaVine has been on a really nice run of late. He scored a whopping 35 points against the Thunder on Wednesday including five treys. Tuesday against Cleveland, the former UCLA Bruin had similar success, scoring 21 points with four rebounds, six assists and a steal. We have see these kinds of flashes from LaVine before, as he looks like a superstar in the making. The T-Wolves are really stunting his growth by continuing to roll Ricky Rubio out for thirty minutes a night. It’s time they traded him and handed the keys to LaVine, who is a freak athlete with unlimited range. Go watch the show he put on at last year’s dunk contest if you don’t believe me. As it stands currently, LaVine is just 44-percent owned in Yahoo leagues. He’s played 29 and 30 minutes respectively in his past two games, signaling that maybe Sam Mitchell is soon going to unleash his prized point guard. It’s clear the kind of ability that LaVine possesses, so adding him even speculatively is worth it. He’s done nothing but shine when given the minutes, and if he continues to receive this kind of playing time, he will retain middle round value for the rest of the season.

Jeremy Lin — PG/SG — Charlotte Hornets

Before checking out of the game prematurely against the Jazz on Wednesday due to an ankle injury, Jeremy Lin had played a whopping 120 minutes over his previous three contests. He had been seeing significant run due to the injuries on the Hornets’ roster. Jeremy Lamb and Nic Batum have been in and out of the lineup all season, opening the door for Lin to take control of the shooting guard spot. He nearly triple-doubled on Tuesday against Sacramento, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds and 11 assists in a huge overtime win. There is a slight concern that he may miss a little time with this ankle injury, but he was putting weight on it after the game, so all signs point to it being a day-to-day thing. Lin is currently owned in 48-percent of Yahoo leagues and that number should fall with this recent injury news. The fact remains that Charlotte has a lot of injuries right now and Lin has been the main beneficiary. He will not blow you away with anything that he does, but he can get to the basket and is a decent finisher. He is also eligible at both point guard and shooting guard which helps. Assuming he isn’t out for a long period of time, he makes for a great pickup.

Boban Marjanovic – C – San Antonio Spurs

If you haven’t watched this guy play yet, I highly recommend it because it is a treat. He’s an absolute monster of a man at 7-foot-3, 290 pounds and he plays like every bit of it. The frustrating part is that Greg Popovich only deploys him in blowouts. On Wednesday night against the Rockets, Boban played only 17 minutes, yet still finished with a ridiculous 13-point, 10-rebound double-double. He’s now averaging 25.2 points, 15.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.9 blocks per 36 minutes this season (Yes, you read that correctly). If he keeps playing this way Pop will be forced to give him more minutes. It would just be silly not to. His six fouls will be especially helpful come playoff time. As for right now, however, he’s owned in just four-percent of Yahoo leagues, which is entirely too low despite the volatility surrounding his minutes. The Spurs blow teams more often than not, so he definitely holds value. It’s understood that he doesn’t play every night, but on the nights he does get minutes he’s incredibly valuable. Give him a look if you’re in a deeper league, or you can consider using him as a stream play whenever the Spurs are going against a team that is pretty likely to have plenty of late garbage time for Boban to dominate.

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