TJ McConnell (PG, IND) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 6

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 4% of leagues

ANALYSIS: After going undrafted in 2015, 6'1, 190-lb. point guard TJ McConnell has carved out a phenomenal backup role for eight years in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers and, since 2019, the Indiana Pacers. He has never averaged more than 26.3 MP for a season (17.8 MP this year and 22.1 MP on average for his career), but his efficiency in passing and perimeter defense is unquestionable, and his surprising affinity for rebounding has netted him a career 3.0 average and a triple-double. This year, the Pacers are stacked with young back court talent like Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, and Chris Duarte, but when given the opportunity in the many cracks and crevasses, McConnell continues to do his thing.

In 2022-23, McConnell is averaging 5.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting an acceptable (for him) 33.3% on threes and a career-best 90.9% from the FT line. He started off the year a little slow, but his activity has been heating up since Indiana's 11/12 contest with the Raptors, and since then he has seen at least 14 minutes in each of eight games. In that eight-game stretch, he has put up 7.9 points, 2.5 boards, 5.6 assists, and 1.3 steals a night. He is second on the team in assist percentage (33%) to Haliburton and second on the team in steal percentage (3.2%) behind Kendall Brown (who has seen just eight total minutes across two games), and so for a widely-available asset in deep formats with an ability to maximize steal and assist production in limited floor time, look no further once again than TJ McConnell.

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