Trevor Ariza (SG/SF, MIA): Week 19 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 13% of leagues

ANALYSIS: With nine games to go, the Miami Heat are far from reaching the Bubble-Finals level of play they showed last season, but are already a lock to make the postseason. No joke, considering how fluky their start to the year was after that super-short preseason they had to endure. In order to bulk up the lineup a bit, and in a very similar way to what they did last season by adding Andre Iguodala, the Heat acquired Trevor Ariza via trade back on Mar. 19 and have started the forward in the last 19 games, which shouldn't change any time soon.

See, Ariza is definitely not going to win you the fantasy title. He's just not that type of player anymore (now that I think of it... was he ever?). But he's an anchor for the Heat starting unit, will keep logging starts and racking up minutes (29 MPG as a starter, 32 MPG in the past two weeks), and if only because of the time he stays out there the counting stats will keep pilling in his nightly lines. In the past two weeks, playing eight games, Ariza is averaging a below-average 0.78 FP/min (nothing surprising) but he's putting up a healthy 25 FPG. See what I meant?

Ariza is good to hand you some 10-6-2 baseline every day even on his ground-level usage rate of 14%. BUT, Ariza comes with three-point upside, is grabbing 6+ boards more often than not, and he even got to dub-dub once last Friday against the Hawks. That's obviously not going to be a daily event, but he's shown he can do it. Also bonding well for Ariza should be an expected positive regression on his shooting percentages: he was shooting 40% from the floor as a starter but has three of the last four games below 29%, which should rebound back to normal numbers soon. A WW target only for those needy, but a nice one considering his role and the dual-position eligibility.

More Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups

League Winners: Players To Stash For the Stretch Run - 2024 Fantasy Basketball

The All-Star Break is upon us and while it's nice to have some time off from setting lineups, making DFS lineups, and placing bets. It's also a nice time to look ahead and what moves you can make to put your team in the best position possible to win a fantasy basketball title. Remember, the […]

Dan Palyo 9 months ago

Trendon Watford (PF, POR) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (reporting on Sunday morning), the Portland Trail Blazers are leaning toward shutting down Damian Lillard for the remainder of the season. The Blazers, mind you, have been without Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, Lillard, and Jusuf […]

Antonio Losada 2 years ago

Xavier Tillman Sr. (PF, MEM) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: With just a week and a half remaining in the regular season and Memphis sitting pretty in the no. 2 seed in the Western Conference, it's hard to envision Steven Adams returning before the playoffs and risking any sort of setback in […]

Antonio Losada 2 years ago

Deni Avdija (SF, WAS) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 8% of leagues ANALYSIS: The surge of Deni Avdija in all fantasy leaderboards has a very easy-to-grasp reason and that's Kyle Kuzma missing time with an injury. Ruled out Sunday, that made it four consecutive outings missed by the Kuz, which has clearly opened the door […]

Antonio Losada 2 years ago

Nick Richards (C, CHA) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 9% of leagues ANALYSIS: Rookie Mark Williams returned to the Charlotte Hornets' rotation on Friday and logged 21 minutes coming off the pine. Nick Richards started at center for the seventh consecutive time, but keep in mind Williams had done so for 12 straight games before […]

Antonio Losada 2 years ago