Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 2 (2024-2025): October 28 - November 3

The first week is in the books and I hope that things turned out well for you with a good start in your leagues. I also hope you read this column last week because we hit on several good plays for Week 1 and identified some undrafted players who will likely be on rosters for the rest of the season.

It's still very early in the season, so don't go cutting good players just to add some players who have started hot, but will fail to maintain that success all season. But if you have injuries or some fringe players underperforming, then I would encourage you to be aggressive and attack the wire while the talent is there! We have some good pick-ups again this week!

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 (25-40% rostered) and deeper formats (less than 25% rostered) every week and the schedule breakdown for all 30 teams. Now let's see who we should be eyeing to add to our teams in Week 2!

Week 2 Schedule Breakdown (10/28 - 11/3)

• Teams Playing Only Two Games: PHI
• Monday-Tuesday B2B: DAL, DEN, SAC, UTA
• Tuesday-Wednesday B2B: GSW, NO, BKN
• Wednesday-Thursday B2B: LAC, MEM, SA
• Friday-Saturday B2B: CHA, MIN, OKC, BOS, CLE, DEN, POR, SAC, TOR

Standard Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 2

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

Wendell Carter Jr. - C (38% rostered)

I was prepared to brag about the hot start of Dennis Schroder here and chastise you all for not adding him sooner, but he's up over our 40% threshold after a solid outing last night. Instead, let's talk WCJ, who has surprisingly dipped back under 40% after only one bad game.

Two numbers we can ignore are his FG% (39%) and his points per game (6.3). He hasn't taken many shots, so one bad shooting game has tanked his scoring average and shooting percentage. What we should focus on is the minutes (29 per game) and the elite rebounding (11.7). The scoring will come, and if the rebounding sticks we are looking at a 10-10-2 player with some solid percentages and a handful of defensive stats. He's healthy and Orlando looks like they are finally ready to give him starting center minutes.

Jeremy Sochan - SF/PF (37% rostered)

I'll be the first to admit that I might have been entirely wrong about Sochan this year. I was concerned that his limited offensive game would be exposed if he wasn't playing the point and that he might lose playing time with all the other young players that San Antonio has on the roster.

Jeremy Sochan is off to an outstanding start this season. The 21-year-old put up an efficient 17-12-3-2 Saturday in the win over Houston. Smart, opportunistic off-ball player who rebounds and defends. Important building block for San Antonio’s future. pic.twitter.com/dUhwqsoXom

— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) October 27, 2024

So far he's been fantastic. He's shooting a high percentage from the field and appears to possibly even have fixed his free throw stroke. He's piling up counting stats and is fresh off a double-double against the Rockets. He's a buy right now and could be breaking out in a big way for this young Spurs team, which has four games this week.

Tre Mann - PG/SG (36% rostered)

The Hornets play just three games this week, but Brandon Miller could be out for a few of them and Mann has stepped in as their main scoring option off the bench with some increased playing time.

He's averaging 18 points a game and getting up a lot of shots. The big wart here is FG% and some turnovers, but if you need threes, scoring, and some assists then Mann is a strong add. I think he'll even maintain some standard league value even once Miller returns.

Santi Aldama - PF/C (34% rostered)

I was going to pump up De'Andre Hunter but he missed last night's game and his status for tonight's game is up in the air. Let's pivot to another big man who is off to a great start instead.

I thought we would probably be done with Aldama once Jaren Jackson Jr. returned, but the sharp-shooting big man continued to produce in JJJ's first game back with a 22-7-5 line and four threes. He's clearly ahead of the other Memphis bigs right now in the pecking order and the Grizzlies love his ability to stretch the floor and provide more scoring.

Santi Aldama is one of the most underrated role players in the league, a shooting leap from him would be huge for the Grizzlies this season

Last night he showed why the coaching staff is so excited about his skillset in the new offense pic.twitter.com/2kTMekulcu

— Bryson Wright (@BrysonWright3) October 24, 2024

With four games this week, Aldama is a solid add. If we see his playing time start to dwindle, you can always cut bait, but rookie Zach Edey can get in foul trouble and JJJ could be eased back into his usual minutes as well.

Christian Braun  - SG/SF (30% rostered)

Braun is a top-40 player after two games! That's not sustainable, but those who championed him in the preseason have to love what they are seeing so far. He's stepped into a starting role this season and is flourishing with averages of 13 points and seven boards with 3.5 stocks per game!

Little things from Christian Braun. Screens for Jokic and then flows to the other side. Keeps his eyes on Jokic as OKC has been doubling. Cuts to the basket for a layup. pic.twitter.com/KNkkNCxFea

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) October 25, 2024

I don't think the stocks will stay that high for long, but if he can keep up the efficient scoring and above-average rebounding for his position, he's going to be on teams all season long.

Nick Richards - C (26 rostered%)

We still don't have a return date for Mark Williams, so Richards can continue to be streamed in the meantime. He's averaging a double-double with two blocks per game through the first three games of the season!

Jordan Hawkins - SG (25 rostered %)

Hawkins has jumped 5-10% just since yesterday as he had yet another efficient scoring effort against Portland last night. The injury to Dejounte Murray has opened up playing time and a need for another scorer and Hawkins has a pure jump shot. He's even chipped in some solid boards so far, too. We aren't getting any defensive stats, but you'll take efficient scoring from him like this any day.

Deeper Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 2

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

Gradey Dick - SG/SF (21% rostered)

Toronto has been banged up early in the year with RJ Barrett yet to make his debut and Immanuel Quickley going down in their first game of the season. Dick was already slated for a larger role this year, but right now is functioning as the second main scoring option behind Scottie Barnes. He's put up 16 points per game and had a career-high of 26 this weekend, just don't expect too many peripheral stats.

Bilal Coulibaly - SG/SF (21% rostered)

Could the Coulibaly breakout be happening? The second-year wing went off for 23 points in a loss to Cleveland on Saturday and is averaging 15-6-3 through his first two games. The stocks will come, too, which is where his true upside lies.

Bilal Coulibaly vs. Cleveland:

23 PTS (career-high)
6 REB
9-16 FG
4-9 3pt

A star in the making🔥 pic.twitter.com/FPVzcHRfx6

— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) October 27, 2024

He has a ton of raw potential and is certainly worth a speculative add early in the year.

Justin Champagnie - SF/PF (20% rostered)

Champagnie surprised everyone by earning the opening day start and dropped 18-7-3 in his first game. He put up a much more modest 12-6 with no peripheral stats in his second start and he's likely a very boring fantasy player who's going to be mainly points,  threes, and boards, but he's worth a look while he's getting this much run.

Yves Missi - C (18% rostered)

The rookie big man has earned 21 minutes a game so far through the first three games for the Pelicans and while he's not scoring much, the defensive stats (1.0 steals, 2.3 blocks) show his massive potential. With only Daniel Theis to beat out for minutes, Missi is a good bet to keep increasing his role as the season goes along.

It's way too early to say that Yves Missi is this year's draft steal, but Yves Missi is this year's draft steal. pic.twitter.com/uO76GYiDIx

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) October 25, 2024

Zaccharie Risacher - SF (19% rostered)

It appears some people may have cut bait on the top pick in this year's draft already, and that's a bit premature. He drew his first start last night with De'Andre Hunter sidelined and posted a very respectable 13-6-2-1-1 in 27 minutes. He'll likely bump back to the bench soon, but he's simply too talented not to push for more minutes and is certainly a stash-and-hold type player if you can afford to do so with your last roster spot.

Scotty Pippen Jr. - PG/SG (16% rostered)

This kid has been dynamic for Memphis and is arguably one of the most efficient per-minute players in the league so far. Pippen Jr. is averaging a cool 10 points, 7.7 assists, and 1.7 steals on 54% shooting in just 23 minutes a night.

scotty pippen jr is averaging 10 ppg 8 apg and 1.7 spg this season

Jay Huff is averaging 13 ppg 1.7 bpg and is 8 of 14 on 3pts (57%)

massive contributors for the #grizzlies being 2-1 pic.twitter.com/7DMSEn747X

— Fastbreak Breakfast (@fastbreakbreak) October 27, 2024

Memphis has been playing a deep rotation and easing Ja Morant into full starters' minutes, but Pippen has shown that he doesn't need huge minutes to produce. He reminds me a lot (statistically) of TJ McConnell who was able to maintain deeper league relevance in a 15 to 20-minute role in Indiana.

Nikola Jovic - PF/C (16% rostered)

Jovic was in last week's article and has jumped from 4% to 16% after two very solid outings as the starter at PF for Miami. His game is so fantasy-friendly. I've been a big fan of his since his rookie year and his role is only going to grow as he gets more comfortable in the league. He's still just 21 years old!

Nikola Jovic has gone under the radar so far, but Miami’s new starting 4 can make a big leap in his 3rd year

He can shoot (40% from 3 last year), has connective playmaking, and plus ballhandling skills

Yesterday, he dropped 15 PTS, 2 REBS and 2 stocks pic.twitter.com/nz8238Xfkc

— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) October 24, 2024

Taurean Prince - SG/SF (16% rostered)

After talking about the potential of a bunch of young, up-and-coming players we round things out with a couple of boring old guys. Prince has taken his glue-guy role to Milwaukee this year, where in Khris Middleton's absence he's been steady with a 10-6-2 line and 2.0 threes per game. Nothing exciting here but useable stats and pretty predictable outcomes from Prince when he gets 30+ minutes in a good offense.

Harrison Barnes - SF/PF (15% rostered)

Barnes has been a mediocre fantasy player during his career, even when he was playing huge minutes and scoring more he was nothing special due to a lack of peripheral stats. But as a deep league player who is free in 85% of leagues - I am buying him.

His role looks pretty secure for now and he can give us enough points and threes to be worthwhile because he usually shoots it close to 50% from the floor and 80% or better from the line. He's a low-turnover player who won't hurt you there either.

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