Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 16
Dillon Brooks (left) will look to improve his scoring efficiency as the season goes on.
- 50-60%
- 30-49%
- 15-29%
- 0-14%
What’s more, we’ll give you a breakdown of how many games each team has for the upcoming week so that you can maximize the minutes of your streamers. Without further delay, let’s get to it, starting with the schedule of games being played for next week.
Four games:
ATL, CHA, DEN, DET, GSW, LAL, MIN, NOP, NYK, ORL, PHI, PHX, POR, SAC, TOR, WAS
Three games:
BKN, CHI, CLE, DAL, HOU, INDA, LAC, MEM, MIA, MIL, OKC, SAS
Two games:
BOS, UTA
Rostered in 50-60% of leagues:
Dillon Brooks (SG/SF – MEM)
Brooks has been frustrating this season — especially from an efficiency perspective. He’s never been the most efficient scorer given the number of shots he takes (and that qualify as bad shots), but he’s never been a 39.7% shooter from the field, either. Despite the depth that Memphis has, Brooks is heavily involved in each game and contributes across the board, despite his struggles. He’s playing to get paid this offseason, and I have to think that better days are ahead from him in the scoring department.
Brandon Clarke (SF/PF – MEM)
The first game without Steven Adams saw Clarke in the starting lineup. We can expect to see that over the next three weeks or so — especially so against teams who run out smaller lineups. As expected, Clarke balled out to the tune of 19 points and eight rebounds in 32 minutes. He’s another lob threat for the fast-paced Grizzlies to utilize, and he is a must-start guy in the absence of Adams.
Rostered in 30-49% of leagues:
Jonathan Isaac (SF/PF – ORL)
Yes, I wrote the other day that I would look to deal Isaac. That remains true, as the opportunity was there to trade him after his head-turning season debut. But he’s on a minutes restriction, which carried over to Wednesday, and will be there for quite some time moving forward. All that said, even if you’re looking to trade him away, it doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be rostered given the defensive upside that he brings.
Seth Curry (PG/SG – BKN)
It’s been the Kyrie Irving show in Brooklyn without Kevin Durant, but Curry had his own revenge game of sorts Wednesday night in Philadelphia. The former Sixer went off for a season-high 32 points, including hitting seven 3-pointers. He’s now scored in double figures in 10 of his 11 games in January despite coming off the bench.
Rostered in 15-29% of leagues:
Deni Avdija (SF/PF – WAS)
In two games since Rui Hachimura was traded to the Lakers, Avdija has averaged 12.5 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and 2.5 STOCKs (steals and blocks) in 31 minutes per game. He had a rough night from the floor, shooting 30.8% Wednesday, but the usage and the minutes are there for the third-year player to take a step forward for fantasy managers. There’s a lot to be said about the lack of development for any players in Washington, but Avdija can be an accumulator for us going forward.
Delon Wright (PG/SG – WAS)
We love players on bad teams because they tend to get extended looks and a lot of garbage time production. That’s Wright this year, who has been a top-50 player over the last two weeks and a top-100 player over the last month. He’s been offering solid scoring and assist numbers, and even when Monte Morris is fully healthy, Wright still gets enough run on a nightly basis to be a usable fantasy player.
Rostered in 0-14% of leagues:
Jericho Sims (C – NYK)
With Mitchell Robinson hurt, it’s Sims who is playing the bulk of the minutes for the Knicks. He’s been contributing usable points and rebounds over the last three games, as well as shooting a perfect 12-for-12 from the field.
Jae Crowder (SF/PF – PHX)
We’ve been waiting for the Suns to trade Crowder all season, as the two parties have come to an agreement that he’ll stay away from the team until a trade happens. Well, we are sneaking up on the trade deadline, which means that Crowder will soon find a new team. He’s never been a huge fantasy difference-maker, but at just 3% rostered, he provides some value in deeper leagues for those who can afford to wait for him to find a new landing spot.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
