Week 15 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: NBA Centers

With the fourth month of the 2014-15 NBA season getting underway, the waiver wire has taken its typical place in the weekly/daily routine of fantasy basketball managers. The following centers, whether of the “sleeper” variety or just cashing in temporarily on an unforeseen opportunity, almost certainly deserve attention across the various formats during Week 15 of the campaign.

Position Eligibility & Ownership Rate Based on Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Player List

Waiver Wire Center for Right Now

Donatas Motiejunas (HOU, SF/PF/C) - 38% owned

Motiejunas just joined the list of center-eligible players on Yahoo as of January 31^st, and with that single position change he became the single-best waiver wire add at center who is still under 50% owned. The return of Terrence Jones had originally put Motiejunas’s role going forward in question but now that Dwight Howard is out indefinitely and Motiejunas is seeing a lot of time at the 5, heavy minutes for him in Houston remain set in stone.

In the month of January, Motiejunas averaged 13.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.7 threes and 0.9 steals on a .564 FG% and .676 FT%. Not impressive numbers all around, thus his low rate of ownership for a starter. However, in the four games since Howard has been out and Motiejunas has begun playing more center, he has upped his scoring (17.8 p/g) and rebounding (7.5 r/g). Speculating on this trend, combined with the value boost due to center eligibility, makes him is worth adding to your team right away as a flexible source of scoring, rebounds, and field goal percentage.

Waiver Wire Center in Deep Leagues

Cody Zeller (CHA, PF/C) - 14% Owned

Zeller put up the best game of his career on 1/31 against the Denver Nuggets, with 21 points on 10/11 shooting (.909 FG%), eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. That is one of the most well-rounded fantasy performances of anyone all season. One game is not quite enough to make me start thinking Zeller is a superstar. However, he has gotten 30+ minutes in three straight games and four of the last five, which is an excellent sign for his fantasy prospects.

In standard leagues, I would not drop anyone decent for him right away. He is still a guy who is only shooting .468 on field goals despite never taking three point shots, while only getting 6.1 rebounds for every 36 minutes played which is quite low for a center. In deep leagues, however, this recent run is enough to make him a decent add. There are only so many talented players with the kind of opportunity Zeller has right now.