Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers for Week 17 (2024-25): February 24 - March 2

With only a few weeks remaining until the start of the fantasy playoff schedule, every win (and every extra game) matters! This column all season has been focused mainly on weekly adds and long-term pickups, but in the coming weeks, I'll be recommending some short-term streamers as well to help you get the edge in these next crucial matchups!

Most leagues have a weekly moves cap, and some have season-long caps. Always check your league settings to plan how many moves you want to make each week, and if you have a season-long cap, save some of those moves for the playoffs - which are just around the corner!

I am a big advocate of being aggressive on the waiver wire! If your league has daily lineups, you should use that to your advantage and maximize your weekly games in H2H formats. I'll give you my top adds for standard leagues (20-40% rostered) and deeper formats (less than 20% rostered) every week and the schedule breakdown for all 30 teams. Let's see who we should be eyeing to add to our teams in Week 17!

Week 17 Schedule Breakdown (2/24 - 3/2)

• All teams play 3 or 4 games
• 3 Games in 4 Days: BOS, CHA, DEN, LAL, MIN, NOP, PHO, TOR
• Mon-Tues B2B: CHA, 
• Tues-Wed B2B: BOS, SAS, TOR
• Thurs-Fri B2B: DEN, LAL, MIN, NOP, PHO
• Fri-Sat B2B: BKN, DET, MEM

Standard Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 17

Percent owned numbers for Yahoo! "Standard Leagues" refer to 10- or 12-team leagues.

Ben Simmons - PG/C (31%)

It's never a great feeling to click the button to add Ben Simmons to your roster. But it appears he has a real role on the Clippers as he played 20 minutes off the bench on Thursday night - even with Kawhi Leonard healthy.

You know the drill with Simmons - he's not for everyone, especially if you value percentages and turnovers. However, a backup role might help to mitigate those concerns as he's not going to shoot enough volume of shots or free throws to hurt you. And so far in L.A., he's 7-8 from the field with no turnovers.

It's a four-game week for the Clippers and Simmons's counting stats can add up in a hurry.

Wendell Carter Jr. - PF/C (28%)

There are only three games on the schedule for Orlando, but Carter Jr. is winning the minutes battle at center for the Magic, logging 28, 32, and 29 minutes over their last three games.

He has double-digit rebounds in each game and 37 total over that three-game stretch. He doesn't do much other than score and rebound, but the boards are significant enough that he could be an asset, even if just as a streamer.

Jose Alvarado - PG (28%)

I'll say it once again, but there's no reason that Alvarado should be so widely available given the state of the Pelicans and his potential for a silly season eruption.

We are already seeing him play 30 minutes a night over his last three games and contribute in a big way in assists and steals. Yes, the scoring and shooting percentage will be uneven, but the dimes and steals will be there.

The Pellies have a very ideal schedule for the second half of the week, with three games in the final four days of Week 17. Snag Alvarado in all formats!

Quentin Grimes - SG/SF (23%)

Nick Nurse seems to be infatuated with Grimes since he was acquired by Dallas, which is a huge thing for his fantasy value. He played 37 minutes again last night and closed out the game for Philly while Joel Embiid was on the bench.

Quentin Grimes tonight

- 16 points
- 7 rebounds
- 5 assists
- 2 steals
- 6/12 field goals
- 3/6 threes#Sixerspic.twitter.com/vvy9AumJGY

— Jacob Moreno (@jmoreno76ers) February 23, 2025

Grimes has posted 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.2 threes, and 1.0 steals in six games in Philly. After watching the Sixers lose to Brooklyn last night, I'm even more convinced that a Paul George and Joel Embiid shutdown is inevitable. Grimes could be gold for the rest of the season if that scenario comes to fruition.

Aaron Wiggins - SG/SF (21%)

The Thunder have four games this week, otherwise I am probably not in on Wiggins. When OKC is fully healthy, he's limited to around 20-22 minutes a night and the Thunder don't play any back-to-backs this week. He's still very efficient with his minutes and could be a decent pickup for points and threes without hurting your percentages.

Keldon Johnson - SG/SF/PF (21%)

Johnson has seen a major uptick in playing time since the break as the Spurs announced the depressing news that Wemby was set to miss the rest of the regular season with a blood clot.

He scored 28 points off the bench for the Spurs against Detroit on 11-13 shooting and is a solid add for points, boards, and solid percentages.

Matas Buzelis - SF/PF (20%)

Buzelis has had a few rough games lately, but I am not ready to give up on him just yet. All signs point to the Bulls packing it in at one point or another and the rookie is a player who I want on my roster for when he finally gets a chance at 30+ minutes nightly again.

Deeper Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 17

Percent owned numbers for Yahoo! "Deeper Leagues" refer to 14-team leagues or more.

Zaccharie Risacher - SF (17%)

Another rookie who I think we need to hang onto for the stretch run is the top pick from this year's draft - Risacher. The Hawks have a major hole at the four with Jalen Johnson out for the year and De'Andre Hunter now in Cleveland. Georges Niang is a temporary fix and developing Risacher has to be a bigger priority than playing Niang or others at some point.

He struggled shooting in his first game since the break, but did pull down 12 boards while adding a block and a steal. There's some fantasy appeal here down the stretch, this kid has a lot of tools.

Naji Marshall - SG/SF (14%)

Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking! I've had Marshall on several rosters since the day that Anthony Davis went down with his injury and he's done nothing but provide consistent production in his sixth-man role, yet he's still way under-rostered.

Naji Marshall : 15 points on 5-8 shooting, 1-3 from 3, 4-5 from the FT line & 10 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench pic.twitter.com/PaeVjBYGTA

— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) February 22, 2025

Dallas has no choice but to play small with both centers and Davis out for at least another couple of weeks. Marshall excels as a small-ball four and can deliver production across the board except blocks.

Charles Bassey - C (12%)

Bassey has been a speculative add since the Wemby news as he has been hurt and out of the rotation for weeks. But he returned on Friday night and played 11 minutes, making all three of his shot attempts.

If he can carve out even 20 to 22 minutes a night for the rest of the season, he's shown the ability in the past to be a very productive fantasy player who could flirt with double-doubles nightly and block some shots. He's worth a stash for now until we see how San Antonio chooses to alter their rotation going forward and if they decide to tank at some point and sit some regulars, then Bassey could be in line for a huge silly season stretch.

Day'Ron Sharpe - C (10%)

Somewhere in Australia my good friend Adam King is smiling as I just wrote up Bassey and Sharpe consecutively (these are his silly season stashes). Sharpe, like Bassey, is such an elite per-minute rebounder and scorer that he only needs a consistent 20 minutes a night to carve out value.

The Nets are running a 10-man rotation so far since the All-Star break and have no motivation to do anything other than give their young players minutes. Sharpe already averages 1.5 stocks per game in just 17 minutes per game. He's been inside the top 100 over the last month on Yahoo thanks to elite FG%, low turnovers, and solid counting stats.

Karlo Matkovic - PF/C (10%)

One more super deep sleeper for you here on tank-worthy team and it's Matkovic. The Pelicans are getting buried in the standings and have a real shortage of healthy bodies in the frontcourt. A shutdown of Zion Williamson looms and one of the biggest beneficiaries would likely be Matkovic who's more of a PF than a center.

The Bosnian big man has some range from deep and has made every free throw he's attempted so far this season. He's also posted an impressive 1.2 blocks per game through his first 18 games in the league in just 14 minutes per game. He has a solid fantasy skill set and would be a real factor in fantasy leagues if he ended up with even 25 minutes per game consistently at some point.

The Single Digit Crowd (Super Deep Leagues)

• Cason Wallace - PG/SG (9%)
• Moses Moody - SG/SF (8%)
• Georges Niang - SF/PF (7%)
• Isaiah Stewart - PF/C (6%)
• Ziaire Williams - SG/SF (6%)
• Kevin Porter Jr. - PG (3%)
• Trendon Watford - PF/C (2%)

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