Svi Mykhailiuk (SG/SF, OKC) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Pickups

Oklahoma City forward Svi Mykhailiuk is a worthy consideration as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 13 of the NBA season.

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ROSTERED IN: 1% of leagues

ANALYSIS: It's been a slow build in the NBA for Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, as is the case for many young players who got their start in European basketball. After he was selected in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft from Kansas by the Lakers, he spent a lone, uneventful year in LA before beginning a three-year (95-game) stint with the Pistons. In 2021, it seems like Detroit might've had a bit more young, raw talent on one roster than they knew what to do with, and as a result, Svi found himself on the floor a decent amount (17.6 MPG) but had no substantial role that would manifest in statistical production. Then "The UK-RAINE Maker" was dealt along with a 2027 second round pick to the OKC Thunder in exchange for Hamidou Diallo (puzzling, especially with Hammy's breakout season). Thus far, the 6'7 combo wing has played in two games with OKC. He played 16 minutes in his debut last Thursday but only recorded two boards and a TOV, which was not an optimistic start. Then, in 21 minutes yesterday against the miserable Rockets, Svi started to make it (UK)-Raine, and finished with 15 points, four boards, three assists, and one steal on three of six shooting from long-range (important to note this was not a blowout, final score 114-112 OKC).

As it stands now, the Thunder have plenty of guards who play their parts, enforcer-type forwards, and honestly, like four or five centers that manage to work their way into the rotation. However, he's unique to this roster as a large-framed, European-style guard/forward combo. Svi's size usually lends itself to serviceable rebounding figures when he gets the chance, but his assist rate (13.7%) and steal rate (2.1%) catch you off guard at first glance; and when adjusted to 36 minutes each game, those ratios translate to 14.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.5 steals. His 33.5% three-point conversion rate on the season (1.6 out of 4.7 a contest) is considerably below what he's capable of, but he is trending strongly in the right direction, sinking three of his first eight threes with the Thunder (37.5%) and 14 of his last 35 attempts (40%) dating back to March 3rd. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is finally on a team with the room to incorporate him and the right approach for taking full advantage of what their exciting, new project brings to the table. If he only needs 18-22 minutes on a given night to put up his stat line from Sunday, Svi might soon find a permanent home with those in deeper formats.

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