NBA Fantasy Waiver Wire - Who to Add, Avoid for Week 5

Welcome back to the waiver wire. There are many things to be thankful for and reflect on this Veteran's Day, and among the least important of those is the bevy of excellent free-agent talent available. Alas, we're not here to talk about more serious concerns. We're here to improve our fake teams in our silly hobby, so let's dive in.

There's a surprising amount of value widely available, considering how far we are into the season. The top five players this week are all really good! With so many tempting prospects available, I want to emphasize a crucial point – players are listed in the order I'd recommend them, assuming all are equally good fits for your team. But they aren't all going to be equally good fits. Do you want to strengthen a strength or sure up a weakness? Do you want high upside or a high floor?

As always, the players in this article must be rostered in less than two-thirds of CBS leagues.

Adds for all leagues

Herbert Jones, Pelicans (59% rostered)

Welcome back to the column, Herb! One of my favorites last year, Jones was widely drafted this year but dropped after a slow start followed by a four-game injury absence. He's back now and crushing it. Over his last four games, he's averaging 16-5-2 with 1.8 steals in 31.4 minutes. If he's still available, this is probably your only shot at getting him. I doubt he'll qualify for this space again.

Aleksej Pokusevski, Thunder (46% rostered)

I put it off as long as possible, but it's time to acknowledge Pokusevski in this space. He doesn't provide as much game-to-game consistency as I would like, and the potential for late-season monkey business with the Thunder is obnoxiously high, but Poku is a priority pickup. Most importantly, he can provide tons of defensive help. He's averaging three "stocks" (steals plus blocks) per game over his last five outings. He's also putting up 12-7-2 in that span, though that's buoyed by a hot shooting streak that'll probably cool toward his career averages. Eye-test-wise, it looks like he's playing better lately, too. If you want long-term stability, the following two players listed provide much safer floors. But if you're shooting for upside, Pokusevski is worth serious consideration.

Marcus Morris, Clippers (59% rostered)

Sometimes we make Fantasy harder than it has to be. Morris is averaging 35.8 minutes over the last six games. Even if his output was bad, or he had no history of Fantasy success, that workload should still attract attention and speculative pickups. But Morris has a history of Fantasy relevance – he's been a top-150 player for the past seven seasons – and he's averaged 15-6-2 with 1.7 "stocks" and 2.7 threes during this stretch. There's probably a ceiling limiting how good Morris can get, but there is no reason he should be this widely available.

Seth Curry, Nets (30% rostered)

This one doesn't make much sense to me. Why is one of the best three-point shooters in the league – an important rotation piece likely to fill a large role on a team that desperately needs players with exactly his skillset – so widely available? Curry "only" averaged 15-3-3 with 3.1 threes on top of an incredible 49-40-86 shooting split in his two months as a Net last season. When (if?) Kyrie Irving concludes his suspension, the Nets' backcourt will be deeper than last season, but the Nets can't possibly continue to use Kevin Durant and Royce O'Neale for 37 minutes per game. I'm not worried about Curry's minutes. I'm not worried about his role. I'm not worried about his skillset. His ceiling is somewhat limited, but my guess is Curry is going to be rostered almost universally sooner rather than later. 

Marvin Bagley, Pistons (35% rostered)

Bagley (knee) is nearing his season debut after a quicker-than-expected return from a preseason knee injury. Bagley averaged 15-7-1 in 27.2 minutes after arriving in Detroit at the trade deadline last season. He'll face more competition for minutes this season, most notably from rookie Jalen Duren, who's had some impressive stretches already in his young career. The combination of extra competition, plus the likelihood that Bagley will be eased in, explains why he's so widely available. That said, it could take a couple of games for Bagley to reassert himself as a valuable Fantasy contributor. If you have the space to stash him for a week (especially managers with weekly lineups), he's a great speculative pickup. 

Cameron Thomas, Nets (33% rostered)

Thomas is still a mystery box. He might be a boat! Or maybe he's already had his best games of the season, and we missed them. With Kyrie Irving suspended and Curry still limited after returning from an ankle injury, Thomas went off for 19-3-4 in 30.3 minutes over three games. In game four, however, Curry's minutes ticked up while Thomas' dropped off. Thomas has a higher ceiling than Curry. If Thomas can maintain 28-ish minutes or more, he would have more scoring and defensive potential than Curry. That said, the more likely scenario is that Thomas' workload drops off when (if?) Irving returns. Picking up Thomas is a bet on the combination of upside and that Irving's suspension drags on much longer.

Cameron Payne, Suns (23% rostered)

This may be irrelevant by the time games start Friday, but Payne is an all-leagues add-and-start any time Chris Paul (heel) is out. Paul missed half of Monday's game, sat out Wednesday, and is questionable for Friday. If Paul continues missing games, treat Payne as this week's No. 1 recommended pickup. Once Paul is back, Payne is instantly droppable in all but the deepest leagues.

Christian Koloko, Raptors (15% rostered)

Need blocks? Add Koloko. Don't need blocks? Don't add Koloko. It's that simple. The 22-year-old rookie has stepped in as the fifth starter whenever one of the regulars are out. Even as a starter, however, Koloko is averaging just 21.0 minutes and putting up a dreadful 5-4-1 stat line. But blocks are uniquely scarce, and Koloko gets a lot of them. He's got at least one in all seven starts (actually, he has at least one in 10 of his 12 games), and he's averaging 2.0 per game as a starter. That would have been enough for fourth-most in the league last season. 

Other recommendations: Jalen McDaniels, Hornets (33% rostered); Max Strus, Heat (55% rostered); Malik Monk, Kings (34% rostered); Lonnie Walker, Lakers (59% rostered); Mason Plumlee, Hornets (48% rostered); Isaiah Hartenstein, Knicks (52% rostered); Obi Toppin, Knicks (28% rostered); Patrick Williams, Bulls (32% rostered)

Popular pickup I'm avoiding

Chris Boucher, Raptors (49% rostered; up 24% over the last week)

We can never truly know what is in another man's heart. That said, at this point, we have more than enough evidence to conclude that Raptors head coach Nick Nurse does not like Boucher, certainly not anywhere near as much as many of those in the Fantasy community, at least. 

Toronto has faced a steady stream of injuries. Scottie Barnes missed a game, then the team got just two games at full strength before Fred VanVleet hit the pine for three. VanVleet returned the same night Pascal Siakam (groin) got sidelined for at least two weeks. Now Precious Achiuwa (ankle) is out indefinitely. Presumably, all those injuries would help Boucher, who is a per-minute Fantasy maestro. Nope. He's topped 22 minutes just twice. 

Betting on Boucher's upside is completely reasonable. He's so efficient that his "Mendoza line" for rosterability is barely more than 20-ish minutes per game. And especially with Achiuwa now joining Siakam on the injury report, logic tells us Boucher should get some extra run. If you want to add him and hope I'm wrong, you have my blessing.

But I'm not bothering. It's been years of this now. There's no way to predict when Nurse will give Boucher a chance. The good nights are great but completely unpredictable. The Raptors don't do positions in any traditional sense. But positionally, Boucher is probably closer to Siakam than any other teammate, and farthest from VanVleet. Boucher's two worst games of the year came with Siakam sidelined; his two best were without VanVleet. 

Deep League Special

Georges Niang, 76ers (3% rostered)

Niang is a versatile backup forward on a 76ers roster that is a bit underrated for the number of positionally versatile players it has. That combination leads to Niang getting extra minutes when someone is out, regardless of who the missing player is. Currently, he's benefiting from the absence of James Harden (foot), who is set to miss at least a month. Before that, he saw his minutes tick up with Joel Embiid out. Importantly, in addition to benefiting from most absences, Niang's safely ensconced in the rotation when everyone is healthy, so he provides an OK floor. He's a very good three-point shooter, and he'll occasionally pitch in everywhere else. Niang also meets the "actions speak louder than words" criteria – I have him rostered in two of my three deep leagues.

Other recommendations: Javonte Green, Bulls (4% rostered); Gabe Vincent, Heat (7% rostered); Bruce Brown, Nuggets (26% rostered); Charles Bassey, Spurs (2% rostered)