Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4 (2024-2025): November 11 - November 17

Happy Veterans' Day, everyone, and a special thank you to all of you who have served our great nation!

This week, we have several NBA veterans who are worthy of being added off waivers as they have been thrust into larger roles due to injuries and a lot of young players who are starting to get their feet under them and become more reliable fantasy producers, too.

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 4!

Week 4 Schedule Breakdown (11/11 - 11/17)

• Teams Playing Only Two Games: DEN, GSW
• Only ONE game on Thursday 11/14 (UTA vs. DAL)
• Tuesday-Wednesday B2B: BOS, DET, MIL, MIN, NYK, ORL, PHI, PHO, POR
• Friday-Saturday B2B: LAL, TOR, NOP, SAC, SAS
• Saturday-Sunday B2B: CHA, DAL, UTA

Standard Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 4

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

Jose Alvarado - PG (36% rostered)

Alvardo is now inside the top 100 on the Yahoo Player Rater as he continues to start at point guard for the undermanned Pelicans. He's now up to five assists, 2.3 threes, and 1.6 steals per game this season and a very low turnover rate (just 1.3 per game). His only real wart is his FG% at 40%, but at least he's only getting up around ten shots per game.

Zion Williamson is now out indefinitely, and we still don't have concrete return dates for CJ McCollum or Dejounte Murray.

Tari Eason - SF/PF (33% rostered)

We are finally getting consistent minutes for Eason on a nightly basis, and it's no surprise that he's providing some awesome value. The steals and blocks are off the charts, as he's averaging a combined 2.8 defensive stats per game in just 22 minutes.

Eason is an elite fantasy asset because he can contribute across the board. His only deficiency is a 62% mark from the free-throw line. If he continues to have this big of a role for Houston, he could be a top-75 player all season.

Goga Bitadze - C (29% rostered)

Bitadze has started four straight games for Orlando and is reminding everyone what he's capable of in terms of fantasy upside when he gets minutes. We saw Goga do this last year for a stretch when Wendell Carter Jr. was out, and it's no surprise that he's once again producing in a big way.

Goga Bitadze has started the game with 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 NASTY block in 7 minutes

📹 @OrlandoMagic pic.twitter.com/PHwQM4iuwY

— Adam Koffler (@AdamKoffler) November 10, 2024

Bitadze is averaging a double-double in those four starts to go along with three assists and nearly two blocks per game while shooting the ball at a 66% clip. We know Paolo Banchero is out for at least a few more weeks, and who knows how long the oft-injured Carter Jr. remains out of the lineup. If you need big-man stats, there isn't a better center on the wire!

Royce O'Neale - SF/PF (28% rostered)

O'Neale has been functioning as the Suns' sixth man this season and is doing his usual thing of putting up sneaky good "glue guy" stats across the board. Forget about points - O'Neale averages 6.7 boards, 2.2 threes, 2.3 assists, and 1.6 combined blocks/steals in 26 minutes a night.

Kevin Durant's out for a few weeks, which is boosting the starters' usage rates, but should also mean at least a few more minutes per game for Royce. He didn't start last night but played 28 minutes. He's an underrated fantasy player and a great guy for both roto and H2H formats.

Bub Carrington - PG (25% rostered)

The rookie finally put up a dud last night and left the game against the Magic early with a leg injury. That puts a damper on his potential for this week, but he could still end up playing tonight, and the Wizards have three more games after tonight this week.

This drive from Bub Carrington is INSANE

He takes the DHO from Sarr, has the awareness to pull back slightly while driving to cut off his defender, who is trying to recover, to draw a foul, doesn’t get the whistle, but finishes thru contact

Tuff bucket🪣pic.twitter.com/cIlEx0ZdwP

— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) November 10, 2024

Carrington looks to have some staying power for the full season, too, as he's a big part of Washington's youth movement. While his scoring has been uneven, he's been contributing five boards, five assists, and 1.1 steals per contest while playing minutes in the 30s. If you aren't worried about FG%, then he'd be a great fit for your team.

Kyshawn George - SF (15% rostered)

George is yet another rookie who is getting a chance at extended run here early in the season for Washington. The injury to Kyle Kuzma has opened up minutes on the wing and allowed George to play 30+ minutes in four of his last five games.

Kyshawn George looks like an absolute steal at 24th overall for the Wizards

Don’t let the numbers fool you, he’s averaging 23% from 3 but he’s hitting 36% over his past 2 games on 12.5 3PA/g 🤯

And he’s hit 4 of his 5 3PAs today for 14 first half points pic.twitter.com/kBQyQE6Rqp

— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) November 11, 2024

Whether he's starting or coming off the bench, he's firing away from behind the arc. He's made 13 triples over his last three games while also chipping in some steals and blocks.

Like most young players, we will have to deal with some poor shooting and inconsistent play, but the counting stats should be there, and Washington seems to have no issue with playing their young guys heavy minutes right out of the gate.

Brandon Boston Jr. - SG/SF (24% rostered)

Perhaps the hottest add on the waiver wire right now is Boston. I already mentioned how injuries have depleted the Pelicans in a major way, but I didn't even include that shooter Jordan Hawkins has missed several games now, too, and is out for at least another week - which has opened the door for Boston to log heavy minutes and produce in a big way.

He's played 37+ minutes in three straight and is coming off a season-high 26 points against Orlando. After struggling to earn minutes on the Clippers the last few seasons, Boston may have found a home in New Orleans and his ability to score is going to keep him in the lineup going forward.

Deeper Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 4

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

Peyton Watson - SF/PF (21% rostered)

While Denver only plays twice this week, I can't ignore what Watson is doing with his opportunity in the starting lineup. He played a season-high 40 minutes last night and drilled four three-pointers on his way to his third game with 16 points since becoming a starter.

He's averaging a steal and block per game while chipping in one made three per contest, too. Until Aaron Gordon returns, Watson should continue to be a solid fantasy asset and a player who should even flirt with being rostered in standard formats.

Isaiah Stewart - PF/C (19% rostered)

The big man affectionately known as "Beef Stew" has resurfaced as a fantasy option as he's made two straight starts for Detroit with their usual starting center - Jalen Duren - out of the lineup. Duren's injury doesn't sound too serious, but Stewart was already playing around 20 minutes a night as a backup and offers enough help in points, boards, blocks, and FG% that he should be a regular on deeper league teams.

As a starter in the last two games, Stewart averaged 13 points, 9.5 rebounds, two assists, and 1.5 blocks. With Duren being somewhat injury-prone, he makes for a solid handcuff.

Chris Boucher - PF/C (15% rostered)

If you have been playing fantasy hoops for a while, you know the lure of Boucher! Throughout his career, he has flashed an ability to produce in a big way, even in limited minutes.

Coming into this game, Chris Boucher had scored 80 points in 94 minutes over his last 6 games.

Tonight, 12 points in 12 minutes (thus far).

PRODUCTION. pic.twitter.com/vLnmUtsTQ2

— Amit Mann (@Amit_Mann) November 11, 2024

That's been the case this season in Toronto as well, though due to injuries, he has been getting more consistent and reliable playing time.

The only bad news here is that the Raptors play only one game over the next four days. If you want to use Boucher as a streamer this week, then the time to add him is on Thursday, as Toronto plays a back-to-back set on Friday and Saturday.

Tim Hardaway Jr. - SG/SF (14% rostered)

THJ is a known quantity in fantasy circles. He's a three-point specialist who offers very little else in terms of stats. However, he's locked into a 30-minute role with the Pistons right now and producing 13 points per game and 2.8 triples. If you need some points and threes, then THJ is your guy.

Robert Williams III - C (13% rostered)

The minutes are going to be low for a while, and we probably won't see him play in back-to-backs either, but the Time Lord is one of the best per-minute fantasy players in the league and should be firmly on your radar even in a very limited 15-minute role.

Stephon Castle - PG (12% rostered)

The rookie out of UCONN is seeing his role increase in a big way lately. He started this weekend and played 35 minutes against Utah, posting a career-high 23 points with three treys and two steals.

San Antonio Spurs No. 4 pick Stephon Castle had the best game of his young career in their 111-110 LOSS to Utah! 🪣

📊 23 PTS, 3 AST, 2 REB, 2 STL, 8/16 FGM, 3/7 3PM, 1 TOV, LOSS

Castle looking better & better a starter! 💪 pic.twitter.com/WNcq8V17Gs

— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) November 10, 2024

He's got a solid fantasy skill set and just needs to keep earning opportunities. I would be adding him and holding onto him in deep leagues, as I think his role will only continue to grow as the season goes along.

Jay Huff - C (11% rostered)

Huff played a season-high 20 minutes last night (a lot of it in garbage time) and posted 12 points and six blocks while knocking down a pair of triples. He's capped at around 12 to 14 minutes most nights but has been so good on a per-minute basis that he's worth holding onto in deep formats.

De'Anthony Melton - PG/SG (10% rostered)

Melton is healthy again and drew the start for the Warriors last night - playing 27 minutes and putting up a classic 19-10-2 line with five three-pointers and three steals. Minutes in Golden State are annoying this season, but Melton has such fantasy upside that he's worth an add for now until we see how their rotation sets up.

The Single Digit Crowd (Super Deep Leagues)

Nikola Jovic - PF (9% rostered)

Jake LaRavia - SF/PF (8% rostered)

Ty Jerome - PG/SG (7% rostered)

Aaron Wiggins - SG/SF (7%)

Malik Beasley - SG (6% rostered)

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