Kevin Love (PF/C, CLE): Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12-Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 46% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Kevin Love and the Cavs have played six games through Friday. Love is one of the highest fantasy-point scorers coming off the pine in the L on a per-minute basis. And that is even while stinking in a few of the games played to date. Love knows he's playing for his own "rehabilitation" and a chance at grabbing the attention of a contender willing to bet on him and take his huge salary adding him for a postseason run. We'll see, though signs haven't been bad at all so far.

Love is averaging an above-average 1.03 FP/min so far this season (league average at 0.90). He's had four top-65 finishes in DK slates. He's nearly putting up a 10-6-2 per-game line while playing a very low 21 MPG off the pine. Makes sense, though, and he knew it the minute Cleveland drafted Evan Mobley and traded for Lauri Markkanen prior to the season's tipoff. As part of the second unit, though, Love has been able to retain his value as he's getting a palatable  22.3% usage rate and attempting 8+ FGA on a daily basis.

Love's upside is definitely capped in Cleveland (I mean, the Cavs have gone all the way back to the 1980s with their three-headed monster of a big-man trio) as he's just not on par with the Cavs youngsters. But Love hasn't lost his touch, and he's great at rebounding. Love has scored 10+ points in three of his six games (including a triple each time), has yet to grab fewer than 3 boards in a single game, and he's pulled down 6+ in four games (10+ in two of those). The assists are coming steadily but in low volume, and Love is a lock to avoiding turnovers and high fouls.  The FG% has sucked (32.8%) but three freebies are a constant and scored at a high clip (93.3% on 4.2 FTA per game).

More Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups

League Winners: Players To Stash For the Stretch Run - 2024 Fantasy Basketball

The All-Star Break is upon us and while it's nice to have some time off from setting lineups, making DFS lineups, and placing bets. It's also a nice time to look ahead and what moves you can make to put your team in the best position possible to win a fantasy basketball title. Remember, the […]

Dan Palyo 9 months ago

Trendon Watford (PF, POR) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (reporting on Sunday morning), the Portland Trail Blazers are leaning toward shutting down Damian Lillard for the remainder of the season. The Blazers, mind you, have been without Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, Lillard, and Jusuf […]

Antonio Losada 2 years ago

Xavier Tillman Sr. (PF, MEM) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 7% of leagues ANALYSIS: With just a week and a half remaining in the regular season and Memphis sitting pretty in the no. 2 seed in the Western Conference, it's hard to envision Steven Adams returning before the playoffs and risking any sort of setback in […]

Antonio Losada 2 years ago

Deni Avdija (SF, WAS) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 8% of leagues ANALYSIS: The surge of Deni Avdija in all fantasy leaderboards has a very easy-to-grasp reason and that's Kyle Kuzma missing time with an injury. Ruled out Sunday, that made it four consecutive outings missed by the Kuz, which has clearly opened the door […]

Antonio Losada 2 years ago

Nick Richards (C, CHA) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues ROSTERED IN: 9% of leagues ANALYSIS: Rookie Mark Williams returned to the Charlotte Hornets' rotation on Friday and logged 21 minutes coming off the pine. Nick Richards started at center for the seventh consecutive time, but keep in mind Williams had done so for 12 straight games before […]

Antonio Losada 2 years ago