Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 5 Include Malik Beasley, Cameron Payne, Aleksej Pokusevski, Jevon Carter

Welcome back to RotoBaller's weekly fantasy basketball waiver wire column and schedule breakdown. How's the start of this season treating your fantasy rosters? Do you already need some help?

These recommendations are mainly for 9-cat leagues, but if you play in another format, there's a good chance that the information here can still help you. We'll be looking at centers, forwards, and guards whose low rostership and upside make them ideal players to get onto your fantasy team.

Our staff at RotoBaller has great insight and daily columns on how to improve your squad and tips to make your team successful, so be sure to check them out! Now, let's get prepared for Week 5.

NBA Week 5 Schedule Guide

Let's take a look at some notable things on the schedule this week.

Teams with five games: San Antonio

Teams with four games: Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Golden State, Houston, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami, New York, Orlando, Phoenix

Teams with three games: Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Denver, Indiana, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Portland, Sacramento, Toronto, Utah, Washington

Teams with two games: Chicago, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota, Philadelphia

Number of teams playing each day:

Monday: 14
Tuesday: 10
Wednesday: 20
Thursday: 6
Friday: 22
Saturday: 10
Sunday: 16

Back-to-Backs:

Sunday/Monday: Golden State, Oklahoma City
Monday/Tuesday: Clippers, San Antonio
Tuesday/Wednesday: Dallas, New Orleans, New York
Wednesday/Thursday: 0
Thursday/Friday: Detroit
Friday/Saturday: Indiana, Orlando, Philadelphia, Utah
Saturday/Sunday: San Antonio

9-Category Leagues - Waiver Wire Adds

This column is written based on H2H 9-category 12-team leagues. All players in this article are rostered at around 50 percent or less.

Malik Beasley, G/F - Utah Jazz - 37% rostered 

Beasley's scored in double figures in four consecutive games, plus has multiple threes in each of those games. He had been starting, but Jarred Vanderbilt's return sent Beasley to the bench, something that...hasn't really impacted him. In the past two games with Beasley not starting, he's still averaged 29.4 minutes per game, posting averages of 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 5.0 threes per game. If he's going to maintain this role, then you'll want to get him on your fantasy team.

Mason Plumlee, C - Charlotte Hornets - 47% rostered 

Nick Richards is still eating into Plumlee's minutes some—he played 21 of them Saturday, scoring 15 points—but Plumlee has still been able to maintain an important role on this team.

There are plenty of reasons to like Plumlee, from his efficiency to his rebounding, but I think my favorite thing about him is that he's a center who gets you assists. He's had three or more of them in seven consecutive games, including five dishes in three of the last four.

Jevon Carter, G - Milwaukee Bucks - 21% rostered 

Last week, Jevon Carter scored two points against the Atlanta Hawks. He then followed that up the next game against the Thunder with 36 points, plus 12 assists. He's now had 18 or more points in three of the last four games.

Carter won't be posting big numbers forever, as absences from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton have heavily contributed to that. But for now, he's someone you can plug into your lineup and see what happens.

Aleksej Pokusevski, F/C - Oklahoma City Thunder - 55% rostered 

Poku is going to have such a weird NBA career.

He's now scored in double figures in three consecutive games, shooting over 50% in all of them. He has at least one block in all of those games. But his rebound numbers have been all over the place in that span, from 10 of them against the Bucks to just two against the Knicks, something that limits his overall upside. But he at least looks like a source of points, out-of-position threes if you use his center eligibility, and overall efficiency, which is helpful.

Cameron Payne, G - Phoenix Suns - 35% rostered 

With Chris Paul injured, Payne has really stepped up, positing consecutive games with over 20 points. Against the Timberwolves, he had 23 points, six rebounds and eight assists, and then he followed that up with 22 points, three rebounds and four assists against the Magic.

Obviously, his ability to keep doing this depends on Paul's situation. Right now, Paul (heel) looks like he cold be back for the next Suns game, which would put a dent in Payne's upside. But until we hear a definitive answer on that, Payne remains a high priority add, since we've seen what he can do when he gets the starting nod.

Seth Curry, G - Brooklyn Nets - 37% rostered 

We still don't know where we're at with the Kyrie Irving situation, but I'd expect that even when he returns, the Nets will keep giving minutes to Seth Curry, since he brings a lot of shooting. He's had back-to-back games with 20-plus points and at least four three-pointers and is one of the best options out there on the waiver wire if you need some threes on your fantasy team.

Bruce Brown, F - Denver Nuggets - 31% rostered 

Bruce Brown took advantage of Bones Hyland's absence last game, scoring 16 points while adding 10 rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Hyland's out at least for Sunday's game as he's in health and safety protocols, so if you're reading this in a league with daily waivers and it's still Sunday, go grab Brown and see what he gives you.

Charles Bassey, F/C - San Antonio Spurs - 14% rostered 

So, the Spurs play five games this week, so if you're streaming and want to maximize how much you get out of a player, take a look at Charles Bassey.

Bassey hasn't been lighting the world on fire, but having that extra game can make up for that a little bit. Last time out, Bassey grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out four assists while blocking four shots., though he only scored five points. The game before that, he had 10 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. If you think you'll need a nudge over the top in blocks this week, grab Bassey.

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