You know the old phrase “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”? It’s actually a pretty useful phrase when it comes to fantasy basketball, because if a young player with tons of upside is putting up great numbers and they happen to still be sitting there on the waiver wire, just add them. Don’t overthink it, don’t ruminate on how artificial their situation may or may not be, don’t withhold adding them because damn it you gotta wring every last drop out of the schlubs at the end of your bench. (What if the next game is the game when Kyle Kuzma finally breaks out?!?!?!) Just add the guys huge a huge runway who are playing great, NOW, and worry about what it means later.
I know that sounds like the most basic analysis possible, but consider how many people playing fantasy basketball aren’t actually being aggressive when it comes to adding young guys who are not just performing but performing at a must-own level.
VJ Edgecombe, for example, is somehow still available in 34% of Yahoo leagues (as of this writing) despite averaging 20-5-5 and playing nearly 40 minutes a night. Kyshawn George, who also looks like a total revelation this season, is still available in 40% of Yahoo leagues. Keyonte George, who’s behind only a handful of players in assists per game, is still available in 41% of Yahoo leagues. Stephon Castle? Also 42%. Jonathan Kuminga? 50%. Ryan Rollins – who’s looked so awesome to begin the season that people are talking about him as a potential franchise savior? You can add him in 54% of Yahoo leagues, incredibly.
Fantasy basketball is not like fantasy baseball. (There I go saying obvious things again.) In baseball, you might miss out on an amazing waiver wire pickup early in the year and it might not burn you because that player might either flame out or be usurped by an even greater waiver wire find later in the year. But with basketball, your chances of finding someone who’s capable of changing the fortunes of your team via the waiver wire are finite and usually only ever emerge because of trades or injuries. Revelations like Ryan Rollins don’t appear that often; if you miss out on him now, you could very well never have another chance to add someone as impactful as him until the spring. In other words, hurry the hell up and add these guys, if for some reason any of them are still just sitting there for you!
Other notes from the weekend:
Trae Young will be out for at least the next four weeks with an MCL sprain. This is an excellent time to try to buy low on Dyson Daniels, who’s been crummy to begin the year.
Walker Kessler won’t play in any of the Jazz’ games this week as he gets testing done on his shoulder. Jusuf Nurkic makes for a solid add if you’re a Kessler owner, given that it sounds like this injury might linger.
Taylor Hendricks moved into the starting lineup for Utah on Sunday and had 14-7 in 25 minutes. Keep in mind that Hendricks is still only 21 and missed almost all of last year; you shouldn’t expect big scoring from him even in a best case scenario, but he’s absolutely worth keeping an eye on for someone currently available in 97% of Yahoo leagues.
Jeremiah Fears had 16-4-4 on Sunday. The Pelicans are garbage and you better believe there’s gonna be a ton of missed games from his teammates soon – if past is prologue – which will only create more opportunities for him. Fears is available in 79% of Yahoo leagues and I wouldn’t hesitate to add him right now, given that he’s already starting.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. put up 31-8-4 on Sunday and has been awesome to begin the season. Both Norman Powell and Tyler Herro being out obviously helps him, but Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic have looked lousy and it seems likely that Jaquez Jr. will still be getting enough minutes to make an impact even when Powell and Herro return. He’s available in 65% of Yahoo leagues and is worth rostering at least until he cools off.
Russell Westbrook had 12-10-5-2 on Saturday. He profiles to be one of those players in your fantasy league who gets added and dropped by like half the league over the course of a season.
Quenton Jackson had 25-10-6-3 in Andrew Nembhard’s absence. Given how depleted the Pacers are, Jackson makes for an awesome streamer.
Desmond Bane scored just 5 points on Saturday and is now averaging only 14.6 PPG on the year. This is the mother of all buy-low opportunities, because while it’s not unrealistic to think Bane’s role will be lesser than it was in Memphis, he should still be way, way better than this.
Kon Knueppel had 24-6-5 on Sunday and should be owned in all 12-team leagues at this point. Brandon Miller is officially only day-to-day, but anyone who’s familiar with the Hornets knows that they have a weird tendency to never actually announce how long players are going to be out. Miller, for all we know, could be out for a month and Knueppel is already very productive. This year’s draft class is fantastic, by the way.
Bilal Coulibaly had 10-4-2-1-1 on Saturday. His ability to produce in every category makes him worthy of an add, even if it comes with weathering the occasional outing where he shoots terribly.
