RADIO
The deeper a fantasy basketball league, the harder it is to hit a winner with your last few picks. It is also harder to find decent help from the waiver wire if your late-round picks don't do you justice. If you picked up a few stinkers, don't lose hope just yet. I will try to help you pick up a winner.
Here are my deeper league fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups for the upcoming week and your fantasy basketball teams. These NBA players should be available in most leagues and they might just help you out, whether it's a few weeks rental or a long-term fix to a problem your team is having.
If a guy on your team is frustrating you with his weak performances, give some of them a go. They might just be worth it.
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Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Targets for Week 19
Zach Collins (C, SAS) - 14% rostered
How things can change in a short period of time... Ask the San Antonio Spurs and their big man Zach Collins, who has been the best fantasy producer in TX for the last two weeks and change in a quite fantastic turn of events.
Of course, the trade deadline had a lot to do with Collins' explosion after the Spurs decided to send Jakob Poeltl back to Toronto opening the path for Zach to grab the starting gig at the C. Collins has now started six games in a row playing more minutes than ever before (30 MPG) and producing saucy numbers on a reasonable 21% usage rate.
In the last six games (Feb. 10 through Feb. 25) in which Collins has started, he's put up an average per-game line reading 15-8-4-1 while missing on hitting double-digit points just once (he still finished with nine) and logging three double-doubles in that short two-week span.
Collins has grabbed at least 5+ boards in all last six games, he's hit at least 1+ three-point shot in six of his last seven outings, and he's stolen a ball in five consecutive games through Monday.
Other than the worryingly high PF numbers (he gets called for a personal foul more than 4 times per game), there is nothing to hate on Collins's profile as a fantasy asset. The per-minute efficiency is unreasonably great, he provides the classic goodies in points and rebounds and comes with a rather high floor on the assists cat.
Even looking at his lower season-long averages, Collins is still one of only 21 players with an average line of 10-6-2 along with 0.5+ SPG, 0.5+ BPG, and 0.5+ 3PM per game.
Mark Williams (C, CHA) - 13% rostered
We've been spreading the Word of Williams for a while in this crib, but after Charlotte sent Mason Plumlee packing to the Clippers things just got to the next level for Mark Williams and his truthers. The kid has now taken sole possession of the starting C gig and he's going nowhere, folks, so you better act quickly and before it's too late!
Williams started for the first time the minute Plumlee was traded, back on Feb. 10. He's started seven consecutive games logging 27 MPG and putting up absolute numbers. His per-game lines are ridiculous at 12-10-1 with 1.7+ BPG in that span but the most ridiculous thing is that, again, he's doing that on a per-game basis while getting just 27 minutes of playing time. That's bonkers.
The efficiency can't get much better, with MW putting up 1.13 FP/min since he took on the starter role. Barring a stinker against Denver in his second start (Feb. 11, second leg of a back-to-back) in which he still got a 6-5-0-1-2 line, Williams has hit 28.8+ FP in all other five games in which he got more than 20 minutes of time.
Williams is the preternatural, classic center in terms of where he helps the most: points, rebounds, sky-high FG%, and blocks. He's not going to get fancy with steals/assists/triples but if you're in the need of a stout big man, then Williams should be your priority target ROS.
Malaki Branham (SG/SF, SAS) - 8% rostered
The Spurs got rid of veteran Josh Richardson before the trade deadline in order to skew younger by slotting rookie Malaki Branham into the PG/SG starting spots of their lineup. That is most definitively the right decision... if what you're aiming for this season is landing the larger possible amount of ping-pong balls named after Victor Wembanyama.
Branham has started the last nine Spurs games sandwiching the AS break. He's manned both the one and the two-guard positions from the tip-off of those nine games while getting around 33 MPG and putting up 17-4-2 per-game lines to go with 1.0 stocks a pop (relying more on steals than blocks).
The Spurs, truth be told, might have lucked into a true discovery while trying to find a way to the true prize in Wemby. If Branham ends up being the perfect complement to the Big French, assuming he lands in TX, is yet too early to know, but things can't look better for the Spurs prospect.
Branham had a rough shooting speel before the break, connecting on just 43% of his total FGA, but in the last four outings through Monday, he's bounced back mightily hitting nearly 57% of his last 58 FGA while hoisting 14+ shots per game. He's hit at least one three-point shot for six consecutive games while averaging 2.3 3PM per contest from Feb. 10 on.
The return of Tre Jones to the rotation might send Branham back to the pine and that would inevitably impact his counting stats as the minutes could go back down to earth (in the low 20s).
Even then, Branham is a bigger two-guard/wing who could still get reps at the SG/SF positions without much trouble and is more of a bucket-getter than a creator, so he's definitely worth the add.
Josh Richardson (PG, NOP) - 8% rostered
The Pelicans went fishing before the trade deadline and they chose San Antonio's Tanking Pond, landing veteran guard Josh Richardson. Richardson had started three games for the Spurs before getting moved and he already has three starts as a member of the pelicans, all three after the AS break.
Richardson has started the last three Pelicans games from Feb. 23 through Feb. 27, logging 29, 34, and 27 minutes while posting ground-level low usage rates not even at 18%. Not a problem, though, as he's still been good for an average 11-2-3-3 per-game stat line in that span. Yes, you read that right.
Richardson has stolen nine possessions in the past three games while dishing out the same number of dimes and grabbing seven total boards. The steals, though, shouldn't surprise you as J-Rich has had active hands all season long, averaging nearly 1.2 SPG through the full year.
J-Rich should retain his starting gig after overtaking Trey Murphy at that. The per-minute efficiency sucks a bit but that's mostly because of the large minutes he's getting more than anything, as his per-minute fantasy production was much better/more efficient in SAS on a smaller playing time dose. Make sure to land Richardson in any league if you're in the need of those scarce steals.
Delon Wright (SG, WAS) - 7% rostered
The Washington Wizards have run with Monte Morris at the point for all of the season. Nothing should change that going forward barring injuries, which is the case these days and which has thrust Delon Wright into the starting lineup of the Wiz for their last game on Sunday and a couple of others prior to that.
While it would not be very reasonable to expect Wright to snatch the starting role from Morris, the truth is that DW is a very competitive veteran giving plenty of production on an off-the-pine role. In fact, his start on Sunday against the Bulls produced fewer FP (19.5) than his prior four matches on both ends of the AS break (20, 24, 30, 32 in order).
Wright was eased into the rotation after missing two months from Oct. 25 through Dec. 23 playing only 17 MPG for the first two weeks after his return. From Jan. 11 on, though, DW has logged a much healthier 25 MPG while coming off the bench in 16 of the 19 games he's played through Sunday.
No matter the unit he finds himself at, the usage rates are hella low but that doesn't really matter that much. You might be asking yourself why that's the case. Well, if you're even remotely interested in Wright, that should only be because of his 3&D chops. Wright scores fewer than 7 PPG and only 0.9 3PM per game but he hoists a meager 5 FGA (2.4 3PA) a pop, so he's just waiting for his few chances to hit paydirt.
More important than that, though, is the production on the ancillary steals category to go with his gaudy rebounds/assists numbers considering the low playing time. Wright is stealing 1.9 SPG per game and he's adding 3.2 RPG and 3.5 APG to those thefts on a per-game basis.
Only Delon Wright and Jimmy Butler are putting up 3+ RPG, 3+ APG, 1.9+ SPG through the season. Even lowering the bar to 1.5+ SPG, the list stops at 14 names including Wright's, and he's the only player turning the ball over only 1.0 TOPG among those making the cut.
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