Gary Payton II (PG/SG, GSW): Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 17% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The upside is limited, and the availability/playing time will definitely go down as the season grows older. But hey, we have reached a point where GP2 is probably at the peak of his talents and fantasy value so it makes sense to roster, play, and exploit The Mini Glove while it lasts, am I right?

Payton fought for his life in October, then reaped the rewards once we got into November. In six games last month all GP2 did was playing a combined 37 minutes while reaching double-digit minutes only once (17 on Oct. 24). Now he's a bonafide second-unit player eating minutes by the day and staying on the court for an average of 19 MPG while never dropping behind the 16-minute mark. That's nice. Very nice. But that's not the best, far from it. Payton was never going to stay on his 14/17 points scored to kick November off, sure, but he's still putting up a monthly 10-4-1-2 line that doesn't even start to describe how special this guy is for fantasy GMs.

Check this out. Payton steals in November's six games: 3, 1, 4, 3, 1, 3. Payton rebounds (he's a guard, remember) in that span: 5, 6, 4, 5, 2, 5. Payton shooting percentages from the field: 66.7, 70, 83.3, 50, 66, 50 percent. I mean, if you're hurting for steals and looking for some spicy shooting stroke (with no turnovers almost at all (three in six games this month), GP2 is your guy. He's the antithesis of what a guard is in the L these days with his high rebounds, fantastic shooting (on low volume, though), and barely non-existent TOs.

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