Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Adds and Weekly Planner: Week 16 (2/5-2/11)

Week 16 is our last full week before the All-Star break. Most leagues take the games leading up to and following the break and lump them together into one big week for Week 17, and I will make sure to have you covered for that wild week, too, don't worry. Injuries continue to pile up in the NBA and several big names could be looking at extended absences as well while good players on really bad teams also start to become shutdown risks as the season gets into its final act.

I think it's become conventional wisdom to some extent, but I will restate this anyway. The key to winning fantasy basketball leagues is NOT about how you draft, but what you do afterward with waiver additions and trades. And while you might make a handful of trades during a season, you're most certainly going to make dozens of waiver adds and drops as you try to cope with injuries to players or just try to maximize your games played each week in H2H formats.

Working the wire is an incredibly important skill and being one step ahead of your fellow league managers means always planning and keeping tabs on players who starting to play better or earn more minutes. Every week, I will do my best to help you plan out your week and give you my top recommendations to add from waivers in both standard (10-12 team leagues) and deeper formats (more than 12 teams).

Week 16 Schedule Breakdown

Notes:

A few teams to steer clear of that only play two games this week: Denver, Minnesota, Portland, and Utah

Games are spread pretty evenly across Monday through Friday, but then we have 11 games on Saturday and just two games on Sunday.

OKC is the only team with the coveted Sat-Sun back-to-back that is ideal for streaming players at the end of the week.

Standard League Adds For Week 16

Percentage owned numbers in parentheses are from Yahoo!

Ayo Dosunmu - SG (41%)

Ayo's rostership jumped from 24% to 41% since last Monday, but he should be rostered in far more leagues than that following the news Zach LaVine is having surgery and is done for the season. He should continue to start and play heavy minutes for Chicago (he's played 39 minutes in three straight) and could be a difference-maker down the stretch. Add him ASAP if he's still somehow available in your league!

Ayo Dosunmu with the CLUTCH triple 💦pic.twitter.com/QNcsbiGV9N

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 29, 2024

Gary Trent Jr. - PG/SG (41%)

I view GTJ as a consolation prize if Ayo is not available in your league as he might not have the same ROS staying power and he tends to be incredibly streaky. Right now, we are getting the good version of GTJ as he's knocking down three-pointers consistently and contributing 1-2 steals most nights, too. So far, he's still starting for Toronto with RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, but Bruce Brown is lurking off the bench and could eventually eat into the minutes. For now, feel free to ride the hot shooting.

Brandin Podziemski - SG (39%)

The Warriors season might be lost at this point and this rookie is simply too good to keep off the court. He has two double-doubles in his last two games coming off the bench, one in points + assists and the other was points + rebounds!

Brandin Podziemski’s 14 assists tonight are the most in a game by a rookie this season. pic.twitter.com/aoM62QFajJ

— StatMamba (@StatMamba) February 3, 2024

Podz has been one of the most impressive young players in the league this year. We saw his minutes tick up in a big way this week and there's no reason to think that trend might not continue. He's a great pickup in any format as he continues to stuff the stat sheet nightly.

Precious Achiuwa - PF/C (31%) 

The big man has logged 40+ minutes in three straight games for New York as they have been missing both Julius Randle and OG Anunoby. And while OG should return this week at some point, Randle is going to miss an extended amount of time.

That means that Precious should still remain a big part of this rotation, even if he moves back to the bench and the Knicks go small with Anunoby and Josh Hart. He can play the four alongside Isaiah Hartenstein and also back him up at the five. And we know Thibs is going to keep this rotation as tight as he can, meaning 25-30 minutes a night for Achiuwa is still in play here.

Deep League Adds For Week 16

T.J. McConnell - PG (13%)

McConnell is a bit of a speculative add here based on the fact that the Pacers have been very careful with their star Tyrese Haliburton since he returned from his injury. They've been limiting his minutes to around 20-22 per night, opening the door for playing time for McConnell and Andrew Nembhard.

I have more interest in McConnell than Nembhard as T.J. can rack up assists and steals in a hurry. He has seven dimes in each of his last two games since coming back from an injury of his own.

Mason Plumlee - C (12%)

With Ivica Zubac sitting out for the Clippers, it's been Plumlee and Daniel Theis as the newest platoon mates at the center position in L.A. The Plumdog Millionaire isn't going to knock you over with huge stats in the box score, but he can rebound and is a nice boost to FG% as he rarely takes a shot that he can't make. He has played 26 minutes now in two straight games and had nine boards in each of those contests.

Patrick Beverley - PG (9%)

The Sixers are in quite a bit of turmoil lately as Joel Embiid is set to miss an indefinite amount of time. Tobias Harris has been banged up, too, and the team badly needs their role players to step up and help out Tyrese Maxey to keep the ship afloat. Pat Bev has been getting some solid run of late and is turning in some decent numbers, including six threes, five blocks, and 37 assists over his last six games.

David Roddy - SF/PF (5%) and Jacob Gilyard - PG (5%)

Memphis continues to deal with injuries, even to their backups, which has thrust guys like Roddy and Gilyard into the starting lineup despite them both starting off the season way down the depth chart.

Roddy is mainly a points + rebounds guy, while Gilyard can chip in with points, threes, assists, and steals. Both guys are starting and playing heavy minutes -- if you need some healthy bodies who can accumulate counting stats, then consider this Memphis duo.

That's it for this week, good luck in your leagues, and thanks for reading!

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