Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Add These Players Before the Trade Deadline

Hello! Welcome back. Lots to get to this week. Let's dive in.

A reminder to everyone: the trade deadline is Thursday at 3 pm ET. 

How to manage the trade deadline for Fantasy

If possible, carve out time to be available to monitor the news from roughly 1-3:30 pm ET on Tuesday.

Turn on news alerts. If you still use twitter/X, then turn on alerts for Shams Charania (https://x.com/ShamsCharania), Marc Stein (https://x.com/TheSteinLine), and Chris Haynes (https://x.com/ChrisBHaynes). Bluesky doesn't yet have an alert feature, but the Shamsbot Mirror account (https://bsky.app/profile/shamsbot.bsky.social) will automatically populate with anything from the major news-breakers. Also, your favorite Fantasy and sports news apps will all have every trade posted with just a couple minutes of delay.

If your league has weekly transaction limits, you probably want to keep at least two for Thursday and Friday. Ideally, you'd want at least one transaction to make in the immediate reaction to a trade, and then another to make over the weekend when (inevitably) someone unexpected benefits from a new opportunity.

Before the deadline, identify your most droppable players. Don't lose time – and, potentially, miss out on a good pickup – because you were figuring out whom to drop.

As always, the players in this article must be rostered in less than two-thirds of CBS leagues. Players are listed in the order that I recommend adding them, assuming they are equally good fits for your team.

Adds for all leagues

Isaiah Collier, Jazz (49% rostered)

Brice Sensabaugh, Jazz (14% rostered)

For just the second time in over three weeks (a span of 13 games), the Jazz allowed all of Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, and Walker Kessler to play in the same game Thursday. It was also just the second reunion for Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, and Keyonte George over that same stretch. With the trade deadline nearing, Utah appears to be engaging in a little bit of showcasing. Though all of those players are missing games, and their injury report remains riddled with chicanery, they are playing their "stars" more. After averaging just 2.3 of the six players available per game for an eight-game stretch, that's nearly doubled to 4.2 "stars" per game over the last five. 

That pre-deadline showcasing is why Sensabaugh remains so high in this column, despite a forgettable last 10 days. The Jazz have told us that they are aggressively tanking, and I believe them. The upside here is worth the possibility of up to three more down games before the deadline. When Utah was in its pre-showcase tanking period, he averaged 20-4-2 with 3.7 threes while shooting 49% from the field despite playing just 26.0 minutes per game. That's really good!

The pro-Collier argument is easier. He's averaging 8.1 assists and 30.5 minutes per game over his last 13 games. He's remained a starter, even during this recent showcasing period. He started shooting and scoring more about nine games ago, getting his points per game up to 12.6 over that span. He's easily an all-league must-add right now.

Ausar Thompson, Pistons (53% rostered)

While his brother, Amen, is making a bigger leap down in Houston, Ausar is also rising to the North. It's been 11 games since he was elevated into the starting lineup. Thompson remains inconsistent, as evidenced by his both his nightly point totals and minutes, but the trend continues to be positive. Compare his first six starts to his second five:

First six: 8-6-2 with 2.5 stocks in 21.7 minutes

Second five: 11-5-1 with 2.6 stocks in 23.2 minutes

It's not a straight line up by any stretch. But, as I've said week after week, I'm a huge believer in the talent, and the overall trajectory is what we want to see.

Toumani Camara, Trail Blazers (57% rostered)

Camara has been a top-100 producer for about a month now. His minutes, FG%, and FGA (and, correspondingly, his points) are all up in January. He's always been a defensive stalwart, but he's making a more well-rounded impact – and generated at least one viral dunk! Portland is in the middle of arguably its best stretch since Damian Lillard left (won six of seven), and Camara is a key piece of their success. He's not going to win anyone their Fantasy league, and he probably has little room to improve beyond what he's already showing us, but he belongs on rosters.

Vit Krejci, Hawks (40% rostered)

Jalen Johnson (shoulder) is done for the season, and I believe Krejci is the long-term pickup, despite a poor showing in Thursday's blowout loss. The biggest winner is probably De'Andre Hunter (78% rostered), but he's too widely rostered already to help most of you. Zaccharie Risacher (52% rostered) shined Thursday, scoring 30 points in 25 minutes as a starter, but I continue to doubt Risacher's ability to meaningfully impact standard Fantasy leagues this season. When I try to split the data as favorably as I can for Risacher – arbitrarily picking minutes cutoffs to include good games and eliminate bad ones – he still comes out as an inefficient low-teens scorer with low rebounds, negligible assists, and under two stocks per game. Risacher may get enough minutes to hurt Krejci's value, but I'd avoid Risacher himself in most formats. 

Krejci, on the other hand, has been creeping up the Fantasy ranks lately. He was barely in the rotation before Christmas, but his minutes ramped up quickly, and he's up to 11-3-4 with 2.5 threes and 1.7 stocks in 28.6 minutes. That's not quite enough for most standard leagues, but with Johnson done for the season, Krejci's minutes and usage should tick up moving forward. Indeed, before Thursday's blowout (which may have contributed to his low minutes), Krejci was up to 12-4-5 with 2.7 threes and 3.0 stocks since the injury. There are several ways Krejci could end up back on waivers in a couple weeks, but he's worth adding for now.

Duncan Robinson, Heat (26% rostered)

Robinson has started the last seven games, scoring at least 12 points in six of those. He's averaging 15-3-3 with 3.6 threes while playing 32.1 minutes during that span. That stretch includes two games with Jimmy Butler (suspension) active, games during which Robinson played fewer minutes but scored more. With Butler out for the foreseeable future, Robinson should continue to provide excellent threes with some solid help in a few other categories.

Vasilije Micic, Hornets (8% rostered)

In addition to Brandon Miller (wrist), the Hornets also just announced that Tre Mann (back) is done for the season. Mann had been out for a while, but knowing that he will not return helps extend Micic's potential Fantasy viability. Micic is on a roll lately, averaging 12-3-4 with 2.3 threes over the past four games. Part of his extra minutes is due to the myriad of injuries plaguing Charlotte, many of which are short term. But with LaMelo Ball (ankle) out at least another week, Micic should be able to maintain this expanded role at least through Week 16.

Nick Smith Jr., Hornets (25% rostered)

Smith's first four games as a starter following Brandon Miller's season-ending wrist injury were good. He averaged 15-4-3 with 2.8 threes while playing 30.3 minutes per night. His last three have been much worse, however, as he's forgotten how to find the basketball hoop when shooting. He's a horrific 5-for-24 (21%) from the field during those, requiring all three outings combined to cobble together 11 points. Yet, he's still starting – the team is hoping he'll snap out of this. I understand the urge to drop him or ignore him, but I'm still interested in adding Smith in a lot of situations.

Guerschon Yabusele, 76ers (39% rostered)

He's been on the Fantasy fringes – a staple of the end of the "other recommendations" list – when both Paul George (finger) and Caleb Martin (hip) are healthy. But both are currently out, which has led to a bump in usage for Yabusele (his minutes are not noticeably changed). Though the 76ers are obnoxiously treating both George and Martin as day-to-day, both could remain sidelined at least a little while longer. George suffered an "extensor tendon injury" on Saturday and seems likely to miss at least a few more games. Martin resumed full practices on Monday, so his 10-games-and-counting absence may be nearing an end, but his return would likely have less impact on Yabusele than George's. 

Other recommendations: Harrison Barnes, Spurs (33% rostered); Keon Johnson, Nets (21% rostered); Stephon Castle, Spurs (60% rostered); Andrew Nembhard, Pacers (45% rostered); Jalen Wilson, Nets (7% rostered); Brandin Podziemski, Warriors (42% rostered); Max Strus, Cavaliers (27% rostered); Eric Gordon, 76ers (4% rostered)

Pre-deadline stash candidates

Jordan Clarkson, Jazz (57% rostered)

Clarkson has been solid this year, frequently showing up as one of the first names in the "other recommendations" lists in this column. Through New Year's Day, he was averaging 17-4-4 with 2.0 threes despite playing just 26.7 minutes per game. Since then, however, he's played limited minutes in just two appearances. The Jazz are claiming he's dealing with plantar fasciitis, but we can't really trust the Jazz's injury reporting while they're tanking so aggressively. If Clarkson gets traded at next week's deadline, there's a decent chance his foot rapidly "recovers" and he can reproduce – if not improve upon – his early season productivity.

Donovan Clingan, Trail Blazers (52% rostered)

Clingan is only averaging 16.6 minutes so far this season, as the Trail Blazers try to make room for all three of him, Deandre Ayton, and Robert Williams. Portland is widely expected to try to deal one of their other centers at the deadline. Even if they don't, it's reasonable to expect that they might try to open up more minutes for their promising rookie down the stretch. If you prorate Clingan's current per-minute production up to a hopefully achievable target of 24 minutes per game, he would average 8-10-1 with 2.4 blocks per game. It requires some speculative dot-connecting – he's completely unreliable under the current status quo – but that's why he's in the "stash candidate" section.

Deeper league option: Jordan Hawkins, Pelicans (13% rostered)

Deep league special

Larry Nance, Hawks (5% rostered)

The best deep league options this week are also attractive for standard leagues – see Micic, Wilson, and Gordon, listed above. I'd also prefer Bruce Brown above Nance, but I wrote about him last week. Nance just returned from a nearly month-long hand injury. He's played 20, 20, and 15 minutes in his first three games back, and only put up good Fantasy numbers in one of those. However, with Jalen Johnson's season now over, Nance is likely in line for extra minutes moving forward. When things are working for him, he's typically a low scorer but a good source of rebounds and defense.

Other recommendations: Bruce Brown, Raptors (10% rostered); Moussa Diabate, Hornets (5% rostered); Ty Jerome, Cavaliers (19% rostered)