Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Silly Season has Officially Arrived

Hello! Welcome back! The Silly Season has arrived in force, as Fantasy managers around the country found themselves googling "Brandon Williams" this week. Injuries are everywhere, and post-trade rotations have allowed some new players to emerge.

Week 21 brings a rare five-game week for the Nets, a massive advantage in the middle of many leagues' Fantasy playoffs. Cam Thomas' return has hurt the value of most waiver-wire Nets, but the extra game makes up for the lost production in most formats (for more, the Nets get their own section at the bottom of this week's column). Not only does Week 21 have a five-game week, but it's a busy week overall, with another 20 teams playing four times. Most of the year, a three-game week is standard, but in Week 21, it is a notable disadvantage.

There are a ton of names this week, and many of them are under 20% rostered. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to break out a separate deep leagues only section. Those players are interspersed throughout the column.

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

Tari Eason, Rockets (57% rostered)

Thursday marked the first time Eason played consecutive games since the week of the trade deadline. However, as I explained last week, that's due to a weird scheduling coincidence, giving the Rockets five back-to-backs in a row. Those missed games were precautionary and kept his roster rate deflated below his actual value. Houston only has two back-to-backs remaining this season. Eason should be good to go for 17 of the remaining 19 games, and he's awesome when active. Over his last six games, he's averaging 17-6-3 with 2.7 stocks and 2.3 threes. He's also shooting 54% from the field and 83% from the charity stripe. He helps in all eight standard categories of an 8-cat league. His roster rate should be 100%. This is the easiest decision you'll make all season.

Spencer Dinwiddie, Mavericks (50% rostered)

Naji Marshall, Mavericks (39% rostered)

Max Christie, Mavericks (57% rostered)

Brandon Williams, Mavericks (2% rostered)

Kyrie Irving (knee) is done for the season. The Mavericks gave an injury-prone 32-year-old more minutes than he'd ever played for a month, and he got hurt. It really makes you wonder about the quality of the decision-making going on in that front office. Have they made any other questionable decisions lately? Criticisms aside, there is massive fallout from this injury. It means that Dallas, barely clinging to the last spot in the Play-In tournament, and also dealing with myriad other injuries, may just throw in the towel on 2024-25. They've already hinted at keeping Anthony Davis (thigh) out for the rest of the season, whereas his original timeline could have had him returning soon. If Davis gets shut down, a similar update will probably follow for Dereck Lively (ankle) and Daniel Gafford (knee), both of whom had later return dates in the first place.

With so many Mavericks out forever, someone has to play. Dinwiddie and Marshall are likely to be the real prizes here. Dinwiddie should take over as the main point guard, with decent scoring and assists. Marshall should put up stats that look like a stretch power forward, hopefully with some high usage. Christie needs a lot of minutes to produce Fantasy numbers, but he should get those on this depleted roster. Williams had an incredible game Wednesday, but that was a huge surprise from a guy on a two-way contract with minimal NBA experience. He's worth adding if the other options are taken on the possibility that the opportunities continue, but the more likely outcome is we forget who he is by this time next week.

Caris LeVert, Hawks (60% rostered)

LeVert is prone to the occasional bad game, as occurred Thursday. It was his second real stinker since becoming Atlanta's sixth man. Yet, despite those bad games, LeVert remains a worthwhile pickup, and the averages from his 10 games in this role (including the baddies) are solid. He's up to 17-4-3 with 1.8 threes and 1.1 steals while playing 29.3 minutes over that stretch. Also important, his role remains very stable, even through the bad nights – his minutes, FGA, and 3PA are very consistent night to night. He's played at least 27 minutes in nine of these games. He's attempted between 10-13 shots in eight (and he shot more in the only games outside that range). He has attempted at least three threes in every game, and at least four in all but one. He remains a high-priority pickup.

Ty Jerome, Cavaliers (39% rostered)

At some point, Jerome's sample size gets big enough that I have to stop hiding him in the "other recommendations" and bump him up to a blurb. As a bench shooter who rarely tops 25 minutes, I'd been worried that Jerome was just on a hot streak and that it wasn't worth diving into him. But we're now past two full months of 50-45-90 shooting – this is who he is right now! And while the efficiency numbers have been off the charts for a bit, the minutes and shot attempts have ticked up recently. Over his last seven games, he's up to 23.9 minutes and 12.6 FGA. That's corresponded to an increase in his Fantasy numbers, up to 18-4-3 with 2.4 threes and 1.9 steals. With Cleveland safely in first in the Eastern Conference, they may soon start sporadically resting starters, which will continue to help Jerome.

Zach Collins, Bulls (58% rostered)

Just flagging Collins in case Nikola Vucevic (calf) remains out. At the moment, there is some optimism that Vucevic will return Saturday, which would end Collins' Fantasy usefulness. If that doesn't happen, however, Collins has been great starting in place of the former All-Star. Collins was limited to just 12 minutes before fouling out on Thursday, but in the five outings before that he averaged 18-10-3 with 2.0 stocks and 1.0 three while playing 32.6 minutes per game.

Kyle Filipowski, Jazz (39% rostered)

Brice Sensabaugh, Jazz (10% rostered)

The Jazz are tanking, and these two are the beneficiaries (well, the ones still available on waivers at least). Filipowski is the preferred option. He's getting more minutes and his production seems more stable, though he still appears to be allergic to defensive stats. Regardless, if he's going to average 18-11-3 with 2.0 threes, as he has over the last four games, we'll take it. Sensabaugh's stat profile is more limited, as he's primarily helping in just points and threes. He's also still prone to occasional bad nights or nights when too many good Jazzmen play. But his 14-3-2 with 2.6 threes since the All-Star break is absolutely worth a roster spot, especially since it's likely to improve as the minutes continue to increase. 

If you're in a deep league, Cody Williams (5% rostered) is a musician to consider. He needs a lot of aggressive tanking to get meaningful minutes, but it looks like that might be coming.

Davion Mitchell, Heat (17% rostered)

Ever since the getting acquired at the trade deadline, Mitchell has been the Heat's starting point guard. That didn't immediately yield great Fantasy production, but the numbers have started looking good lately. Over the last four games, he's up to 13-2-7 with 2.3 threes while playing 34.3 minutes. "Off Night" has started living up to his nickname (arguably the best in the league right now), notching at least one steal in nine straight games. With elevated minutes and increased ball-handling responsibilities, Mitchell is a viable Fantasy play for one of the first times in his career.

Kris Dunn, Clippers (27% rostered)

Dunn is one of the best specialists in all of Fantasy right now. If you need steals, he's an incredible option. If you don't, he's nowhere near worthy of a roster spot. BUT DON'T FORGET – when considering a specialist in a head-to-head playoff matchup, you need to look at your opponent's needs, too! Could your opponent catch you with an injection of 10-plus steals next week? Manage your own needs first, but we're late enough into the season that you need to carefully consider your opponents' thinking, too.

Keon Ellis, Kings (19% rostered)

Speaking of specialists, need both steals and blocks? Ellis isn't as good at thieving as Dunn, but he's not that far behind, and he is also a very good shot-blocker – especially for a guard. Outside of those two defensive categories, however, you should not count on Ellis for anything. Occasionally, he'll randomly help in one category or another, but that is completely unpredictable and unreliable.

Duncan Robinson, Heat (20% rostered)

Speaking of specialists, need threes? Consider Robinson. He's also good at points, but there are better options at points available. If threes are your biggest need, Robinson should be one of your top considerations. Otherwise, you should probably skip him.

Other recommendations: Aaron Nesmith, Pacers (18% rostered); Yves Missi, Pelicans (58% rostered); Keldon Johnson, Spurs (54% rostered); Kyshawn George, Wizards (31% rostered); Kevin Huerter, Bulls (17% rostered); Quinten Post, Warriors (8% rostered); Guerschon Yabusele, 76ers (52% rostered); Andre Drummond, 76ers (52% rostered); Richaun Holmes, Wizards (10% rostered); Aaron Wiggins, Thunder (40% rostered); Jordan Hawkins, Pelicans (13% rostered);

I still don't like Kelly Olynyk

Kelly Olynyk, Pelicans (40% rostered)

Consider these two players. The stats in the table are the per-36 averages across a recent three-game sample for each player. 

Which would you rather for your roster? As long as the two players are averaging almost identical nightly workloads (they are, in the mid-20s), both look like solid potential options. You've got an Isaiah Hartenstein-type (except with some threes in place of defense), or you've got Jalen Johnson (with the same threes-for-D tradeoff). In a vacuum, both guys have potential to be a solid waiver pickup. But halfway through a head-to-head playoff matchup, you know whether you're targeting points and threes or rebounds, and you'd make a completely different decision depending on which one you were chasing.

This is the Olynyk dilemma. He is both players. Player B was his last three games, Player A was the three before that, and unfortunately, there is no One Obvious Reason why his production looks so different across the two samples. Sometimes Olynyk gets enough minutes to produce, as has been the case lately – between 23-27 minutes in all six games. But he's unpredictable, and his numbers are only good enough for deep leagues (again, the table above is his per-36 stats, his actual averages were roughly two-thirds of those displayed).

If you are in a roto league, or a deep head-to-head league where you're desperate for healthy bodies, sure, add Olynyk. But roto leagues plus deep leagues make up way less than 40% of the Fantasy playing public – which is his current roster rate. That means that if Olynyk is available in your league, you should probably be ignoring him.

Five Game Nets

Keon Johnson (35% rostered)

Ziaire Williams (14% rostered)

Day'Ron Sharpe (17% rostered)

Cam Thomas returned last week after missing almost all of the last three months, and every other Net immediately took a hit in their Fantasy value. Thomas only averaged 24.3 minutes across his first three games, a figure sure to continue rising, and he's already averaging 18.0 FGA. Nonetheless, even next to a hoggy Thomas, the possibility of a five-game week in the middle of the Fantasy playoffs makes all of these players options (assuming your league has no games maximums). There is also the chance that Thomas sits two games, as the Nets need two back-to-back sets to get to five games in a week. 

Johnson is by far the first choice among this group, as he's the only one who has been addable independent of schedule when Thomas was out. Williams is the clear second choice. Sharpe is a distant consolation prize. Five games of Sharpe should help out a little bit not matter what, but for him to outperform any of the players blurbed in the "adds for all league" section, he would need Nic Claxton and/or Cam Johnson to join Thomas on the sidelines for one of the back-to-backs. Both Claxton and Johnson played in the Nets' last back-to-back.