Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 9 (2024-2025): December 23 - December 29

The Holiday season is in full swing and the NBA returns to a pretty normal schedule except for a full day off for all teams on Tuesday (Christmas Eve). We get five televised games on Christmas Day and then a solid number of games for the remainder of the week.

We kick off the week with a massive 14-game slate tonight as all but only a few teams are in action. You've already got a full starting lineup tonight, but looking ahead to the rest of the week you can start to plan out how you want to attack the waiver wire for the games on Wednesday through Sunday.

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. Let's see who we should be eyeing to add to our teams in Week 9!

Week 9 Schedule Breakdown (12/23 - 12/29)

• Teams with ONLY 2 games: CLE, LAC, NOP, SAC
• NO GAMES TUESDAY (Christmas Eve)
• Thursday-Friday B2B: HOU, IND, MEM, NOP
• Friday-Saturday B2B: DAL, DEN, GSW, NYK, PHX
• Saturday-Sunday B2B: ATL, MIA, OKC

Standard Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 9

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

Dillon Brooks - SG/SF (31% rostered)

Brooks is almost certain to be getting coal in his stocking for his on-court antics and cheap shots over the years, but you really can't ignore how well he's playing for Houston at the moment. He's been a top 50 player over the last two weeks (last four games), averaging 19 points, three treys, and 1.5 steals on 47% from the field and 93% from the line.

Dillon Brooks tonight:

27 PTS
6 REB
3 STL
13-14 FT

Hit more free throws than the Raptors. pic.twitter.com/CfCd3I0La3

— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 23, 2024

The injury to Tari Eason has opened up more minutes on the wing and Brooks has now logged 33 or more minutes in six straight contests. With four games this week - including a few soft matchups against Charlotte and New Orleans - Brooks is easily one of the best adds at the moment. Let's just hope his hot shooting doesn't cool off too quickly.

Ben Simmons - PF/C (30% rostered)

I know that Simmons' game isn't for everyone, but there's certainly an appeal here if you're not worried about free throw percentage or turnovers. Since Dennis Schroder left town, Simmons has taken over as the point guard in this offense. Cam Thomas has been out, too, so it's been Simmons and Cameron Johnson initiating most of the offense, which has led to a big bump in assists for Simmons in the short term.

The Aussie is averaging over eight assists in his last four games while shooting 50% from the field and even shooting 81% from the charity stripe! The bad news - he's also turning it over 4.8 times per game (gulp). But there's certainly plenty of meat on the bone here for teams that fit what Simmons brings to the table statistically.

Obi Toppin - PF (27% rostered)

Toppin is the first of two Pacers I'd be adding this week for a solid four-game schedule. His role off the bench has solidified quite nicely and his minutes have stabilized in the low 20s. You're not getting too much statistical diversity here, but what Toppin does provide is uber-efficient scoring and rebounding.

He's putting up nearly 15 points per game (2.1 threes) to go along with six boards on 58% shooting over his last nine games. He's an underrated fantasy asset right now in his current role on this team.

Andrew Nembhard - PG/SG (24% rostered)

After missing most of November with an injury, Nembhard has returned to the starting lineup alongside Tyrese Haliburton. Nembhard plays well off the ball and also handles it plenty, averaging close to five assists on the season.

He was slow to get going at first but has settled into his starting gig quite well of late, providing managers with 13 points and 5.5 assists on sparkling percentages over his last four games.

Royce O'Neale - SF/PF (23% rostered)

Kevin Durant returned for Phoenix this week, but they just as quickly lost Devin Booker. It seems Phoenix still can't manage to keep all five starters healthy at the same time this season, which is one reason why sixth-man Royce O'Neale has been so valuable in real-life and fantasy hoops.

O'Neale has a very fantasy-friendly game as long as you're not worried too much about scoring, though he has done more of that lately, too. What Royce does offer, however, is consistent production in threes, boards, assists, and some modest defensive stats with low turnovers and solid percentages.

Deeper Leagues - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire for Week 9

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

Scotty Pippen Jr. - PG/SG (17% rostered)

Pippen got the spot start for Ja Morant the other night and didn't disappoint as he delivered 22-5-9 on 75% shooting with three treys and two steals. A lot of managers had probably dropped him after his minutes cratered at just nine against the Lakers only two games earlier.

Scotty Pippen Jr. as a Starter This Season for the Grizzlies :
(11 Games)

- 15.0 PPG
- 6.2 APG
- 4.5 RPG
- 1.5 SPG
- 53.3% FG (10.9 FGA)
- 40% 3PT (3.2 3PA)

The 24-Year-Old has Stepped Up HUGE for Memphis This Season. 💯 pic.twitter.com/TGOEE6ux2y

— Grizz Lead (@Grizz_Lead) December 22, 2024

But even while Morant is set to return tonight, Marcus Smart is still out, which could open up some minutes for Pippen Jr. We only need 18-20 minutes for him to put up usable stats, he's a better version of T.J. McConnell when it comes to hyper-efficient fantasy scoring in guard stats.

Kelly Olynyk - C (12% rostered)

Olynyk is known as a fantasy darling, even in a bench role due to his statistical diversity from the center position. He's missed a big chunk of time to start the season but has now played in six games for his hometown Raptors.

He's seen his minutes go up recently with starting center Jakob Poeltl out of the lineup, playing 18 and 25 minutes in Toronto's last two contests. Not many players offer the type of across-the-board production that Olynyk does, forget about volume scoring and focus on Olynyk's rebounding, passing, defense, and ability to drain the long ball.

Larry Nance Jr. - PF/C (11% rostered)

Nance should be streamed in standard leagues, not just deep leagues! I won't be surprised if he's rostered in 30% of leagues or more by the end of the week. Onyeka Okongwu is still out for at least a few more games and the Hawks play four times this week.

Nance has been kept on the shelf for most of the season, but when Atlanta does deploy him, he puts up stats and he reminded everyone just how much of a stud he can be with a 21-13-2 line in 31 minutes against the Spurs last week (he also had five threes, a steal, and a block!)

Spencer Dinwiddie - PG/SG (10% rostered)

Dinwiddie has had a nice run lately, having to fill in for either Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving in the backcourt as both players have missed some time over the last month. He's looked good back in Dallas and has earned more minutes in the rotation even when both Mavericks guards are healthy with his solid play.

The Mavs play four times this week, Dinwiddie is one of the best guard adds that is also so widely available. He won't hurt you other than maybe some poor shooting and he has the potential for a big night in there if we get any Dallas guys resting or missing with injuries.

The Single Digit Crowd (Super Deep Leagues)

Patrick Williams - PF (8% rostered)

Naji Marshall - SG/SF (8% rostered)

Kevin Porter Jr. - PG (7% rostered)

Cody Martin - SG/SF (6% rostered)

Jordan Hawkins - SG (6% rostered)

Cole Anthony - PG (5% rostered)

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