X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Fantasy Basketball Deeper-League Waiver Wire Adds for Week 16: Garrison Mathews, Corey Joseph, Reggie Bullock, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Austin Rivers

Antonio Losada's deeper-league waiver wire pickups and fantasy basketball sleepers for Week 16. His top free-agent options for 12-team fantasy leagues or deeper.

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 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.

Upgrade To VIP: Win more with our NBA and DFS Premium Pass, get expert tools and advice from proven winners! Jamie Calandro and Dan Palyo lead the RotoBaller team in 2024-25 with exclusive DFS picks, Prop picks and more. Gain VIP access to our Lineup Optimizer, Research Station, DFS Cheat Sheets and VIP Chat Rooms. Go Premium, Win More!

 

Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Targets for Week 16

Garrison Mathews (SG/SF, HOU) - 9% rostered

The whole Garrison Fever was nice while it lasted, but it is no more. I mean, the fun is still part of Mathews' game and his season, but the days of starting games nightly have been over for a while barring a late-January start last Friday against Portland (with Kevin Porter Jr. out of commission), his first one since Jan. 3. That doesn't mean Mathews should be forgotten by those in deeper formats, though. Mathews keeps playing a healthy 25 MPG coming off the Rockets pine and although the opportunities are not so many, he's still finding his way toward productive numbers.

Now, let me tell you that Mathews was a little bit bad through the first half of January as he went back to the pine: from Jan. 5 to Jan. 14, he averaged a silly 6-3-1 per-game line shooting 20.5% from the field. Yikes. He's righted his wrong of late, though, and that's what helped him make this week's WW column: 15-2-1-1 shooting a much better 48% from the floor and hitting 1+ trey in five straight games with an average of 3.2 3PM a day. Mathews has also scored 26 of his last 29 freebies, is committing fewer than one turnover per game, and barring a nightmarish outing against the Spurs last Tuesday, Matthews has played above-average ball (0.95 FP/min) in the past two weeks of games.

Cory Joseph (PG, DET) - 8% rostered

We're slowly but surely approaching the trade deadline, and teams such as Detroit will undoubtedly explore potential deals of veterans in exchange for draft picks. Can Cory Joseph be considered an appealing vet for a contending team out there? I'm not sure. What I know is that Joseph has started five straight games through Friday for the Pistons, playing an average of 29 MPG and doing what he does best: hitting shots and treys. Joseph, who has averaged a low 23 MPG over 37 games this season, is definitely not shooting the biggest amount of shots per game with only 6+ FGA and 2+ 3PA. That said, though, it's not that you find 47/45/83 split-shooters out there very frequently.

In fact, you don't find them at all. Joseph is the only player with those splits in the NBA this season (min. 13 games played), and even lowering that threshold to a more reasonable 45/40/80, there are only 18 such players with 35+ games played. I'm not saying Joseph will end up winning you the league, of course, but the efficiency has been quite high while Cory has also provided some rebounds (2.5 RPG), nice dimes (4 APG), and some stealing upside (0.7 SPG). Not the craziest of fliers to take, if you ask me.

Reggie Bullock (SG/SF, DAL) - 7% rostered

Adding Bullock means risky business, yes, but when it comes to super-deep leagues in which options are scarce in the WW, well, you go with what you can. Bullock is coming off a bumpy stretch in which he never topped 14 DKFP in five consecutive games even though his minutes stayed on his season-long average of 20 MPG. Good for fantasy GMs looking for additions in the wild, Bullock has now played back-to-back 24 and 31.8 DKFP games through Saturday.

If Bullock plays to his ceiling, he will give you buckets. That's probably it, though, as it is not that he does much more for the Mavs. That doesn't mean he's a bad player if you know what you need and what you need is scoring. Two games hitting four and six treys are as tasty as it gets, and on the year, Bullock is hitting shots, keeping up 40/33/78 splits. Bullock attempts 4.5 3PA per game with a 75% 3PAr: only five players are at that rate this season while attempting 6+ FGA and hitting 33%+ of their three-point attempts.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (SF/PF/C, OKC) - 4% rostered

The rookie out of Villanova has the fifth-most total minutes played for the Thunder this season. The Thunder, of course, suck and are very fine with the likes of JRE, Josh Giddey, Darius Bazley, and Kenrich Williams (just to name a few) going through the growing pains and developing on a game-by-game basis. That won't change, much less with the possibility of another lottery/top-five pick on the horizon.

Robinson-Earl has been a staple on OKC's starting lineups all year long: 44 games played, 36 of them started; 23 MPG on the year, 25 MPG since flipping the calendar page. JRE has struggled a bit on the shooting front, shooting a mediocre 31.1% from the field in 2022, but he's at a slightly more reasonable 40% on the full season, attempting 6.5+ FGA a game. For a big man, JRE's 3.4 3PA per game and 33% accuracy from beyond the arc are quite interesting. There are tons of players putting up those last two numbers over the season, yes, but JRE is doing so while playing just 23 MPG on the full season and adding 5.8 RPG and 1.0 APG. In other words, only JRE, Kevin Love, and Otto Porter Jr. are putting up those numbers in 23 or fewer minutes of playing time this season.

Austin Rivers (PG/SG, DEN) - 2% rostered

Rivers has been in and out of the Nuggets' starting five all of this month. He opened it with three starts, then hit the pine for two games, started once, sat for two more, started two, back to the pine, and then started again on Friday night. Quite a headache of a thing to track. Anyway, and looking at the most recent week of play (from Jan. 23 to Jan. 29), Rivers couldn't have played better ball than he just did in the past four games he's been part of as I'm writing this. Rivers started three of those four, played 26+ minutes in all four matches, and averaged an ever healthier 31 MPG in those games.

The playing time we like, of course, but the production didn't fall behind in the slightest of ways: 14-1-1-2 as the per-game average in those games, hitting 1+ triples every day, and topping at seven (seven!) against the Nets last Wednesday. All four matches considered: 28 FGA total hitting a ridiculous 68% of them! Rivers is a pure heater, no more, no less. He's going to light the net, full stop. Yes, he's provided tons of steals of late, but other than that, he's just a viable streamer if you're hurting for points, percentages, and freebies/triples. The turnovers suck, the assists are low, and he's not precisely great at rebounding/swatting shots. Don't get Rivers for what he's not, but surely value him if he fits your particular scoring needs.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy basketball mobile app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, lineup notifications & DFS articles. All free!

More Fantasy Basketball Analysis


By popular demand, RotoBaller has aggregated all of our fantasy basketball NBA waiver wire pickups into a running list of NBA waiver options, so bookmark the page and check back often for updates.



POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Griffin Conine

To Have Shoulder Surgery On Tuesday
Luke Keaschall

Twins Prospect Luke Keaschall Suffers Broken Forearm
Logan Gilbert

Leaves Friday's Start With Forearm Tightness

Vikings Select Tai Felton To Finish Day 2

Seahawks Select Quarterback Jalen Milroe With The 92nd Pick Overall

Browns Select Dillon Gabriel 94th Overall

Packers Pick Savion Williams At No. 87 overall

Steelers Snag Kaleb Johnson In Round 3

Broncos Select Wide Receiver Pat Bryant With The 74th Overall Pick

Texans Select Jaylin Noel With 79th Pick

Lions Select Wide Receiver Isaac TeSlaa With The 70th Overall Pick
Jack Leiter

To Start On Sunday

Patriots Add Wide Receiver Kyle Williams In Round 3

Browns Draft Harold Fannin Jr. With 67th Pick
Garrett Mitchell

Makes Early Exit
Luke Keaschall

Removed Early On Friday
Blake Snell

Likely Avoids Major Injury
Cole Ragans

Dealing With Mild Groin Strain

Broncos Add RJ Harvey To Backfield With 60th Pick

Raiders Select Jack Bech With 58th Pick

Chargers Add Wide Receiver Tre Harris In Round 2
Detroit Lions

Lions Acquire 57th Pick From Broncos

Seahawks Draft Elijah Arroyo 50th Overall
Carolina Panthers

Panthers Acquire 51st Pick From Broncos
Arizona Cardinals

Cardinals Snag Will Johnson At No. 47

Jets Add A Pass-Catcher With Mason Taylor At No. 42

Rams Select Terrance Ferguson With 46th Pick
Houston Texans

Texans Acquire 48th Pick From Raiders, Draft Aireontae Ersery

Saints Snag Tyler Shough At No. 40
Brenton Doyle

Out For Personal Reasons On Friday
Brandin Podziemski

Not On Injury Report For Game 3
Jimmy Butler III

Warriors Optimistic About Jimmy Butler III Playing Saturday
Jae'Sean Tate

To Remain Out Saturday
Jock Landale

Unavailable For Game 3
Terry Rozier

Out On Saturday
Jrue Holiday

Ruled Out For Friday Night's Game 3 Against Orlando
Kevin Love

To Miss Saturday's Game
Jaylen Brown

Available For Friday Night's Game 3 Against Magic
Gary Payton II

Iffy For Saturday's Action
Jayson Tatum

Officially Available On Friday For Game 3 Against Magic
Will Smith

Back From Injury On Friday
Luke Kennard

Questionable For Game 4 On Saturday
Darius Garland

Listed As Questionable For Game 3
Ja Morant

To Miss Game 4 On Saturday
Rui Hachimura

Available For Game 3 In Minnesota
Aaron Ekblad

Available To Return Saturday
Erik Swanson

Ryan Burr Progressing
Daulton Varsho

To Return On Tuesday At The Latest
Max Scherzer

Takes Positive Step On Friday
Aleksander Barkov

Questionable For Saturday
Gabriel Landeskog

Set For Larger Role In Game 4
Calvin Pickard

To Start Game 3 For Oilers
Randy Arozarena

Resting For First Time This Year
Jonas Siegenthaler

To Play Limited Minutes In Game 3
MLB

Red Sox-Guardians Game Postponed On Friday
Luke Hughes

Remains Out On Friday
MLB

Tigers-Orioles Postponed On Friday
Patrik Laine

A Game-Time Decision Friday
Yainer Diaz

Out On Friday Against Royals
Iván Herrera

Ivan Herrera Hopes To Start Rehab Assignment Next Week
Salvador Perez

Sitting Out For First Time This Season
Jaylen Brown

Questionable For Game 3 On Friday
Brendan Donovan

Back In Action On Friday
Jimmy Butler III

Could Miss Game 3 On Saturday
Coby Mayo

Getting On A Roll At Triple-A
Carlos Prates

Looks To Remain Undefeated In The UFC
Ian Machado Garry

Set For UFC Kansas City Main Event
Cade Cunningham

Collects Double-Double In Loss
Jalen Brunson

Drops 30 Points In Game 3
Karl-Anthony Towns

Leads All Scorers In Game 3 Victory
Zhang Mingyang

Scheduled For Co-Main Event
Anthony Smith

Set For His Final UFC Bout
David Onama

Set For Featherweight Bout
Giga Chikadze

Looks To Bounce Back
Abus Magomedov

Looks For His Third Consecutive Win
Michel Pereira

Returns To Action At UFC Kansas City
Nicolas Dalby

An Underdog At UFC Kansas City
Randy Brown

A Favorite At UFC Kansas City
Andre Muniz

Set To Open Up UFC Kansas City Main Card
Ikram Aliskerov

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Sergei Bobrovsky

Shuts Out Lightning In Game 2
Cam Fowler

Finishes Thursday's Win With Five Points
Robert Thomas

Posts Four Assists In Game 3 Win
Pavel Buchnevich

Celebrates Hat Trick During Four-Point Performance
Dylan DeMelo

Battling An Illness
Marcus Johansson

Exits Early Thursday
Aleksander Barkov

Hurt In Game 2
Jrue Holiday

Tagged As Questionable For Friday
Jayson Tatum

Likely Out Again On Friday
Anthony Cirelli

Good To Go Thursday
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Looks To Bounce Back In Game 2
Rasmus Ristolainen

To Miss Training Camp
Jonas Siegenthaler

Returns To Practice
Aliaksei Protas

Traveling With Capitals
Gabriel Vilardi

Still Out On Thursday
Max Pacioretty

Set To Join Maple Leafs Lineup For Game 3
Cam Davis

Looking For Better Fortunes At TPC Louisiana
Adam Svensson

Making Third Apperence At Zurich Classic
Max Greyserman

Aiming For Similar Success At TPC Louisiana
Lee Hodges

A High-Upside Player In New Orleans
PGA

Nico Echavarria Looks To Ride Off Of Elite Putting In New Orleans
Gary Woodland

A Player Worth Watching In New Orleans
Max McGreevy

Returns To The Zurich Classic Of New Orleans
Rasmus Hojgaard

In Search Of Consistency Ahead Of Zurich Classic
Sam Stevens

A Boom-Or-Bust Candidate In New Orleans
Nicolai Hojgaard

Looking To Turn Season Around At Zurich Classic
Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Looks To Sway A Hot Putter In Teams Favor At Zurich Classic
Akshay Bhatia

Looking To Bounce Back At TPC Louisiana
Carson Young

Looks To Turn Things Around At TPC Louisiana
Erik Van Rooyen

Looking For Momentum In Louisiana
Andrew Novak

Making Start At TPC Louisiana After Near Miss At Harbour Town
Ben Griffin

Making Third Career Start At Zurich Classic
Taylor Moore

Competing With A New Teammate In New Orleans
Wyndham Clark

Making Return To New Orleans
Kurt Kitayama

Teeing It Up Again In New Orleans
Collin Morikawa

Back At Zurich Classic For Fifth Time
Thomas Detry

Making Third Appearance At New Orleans Team Event
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF