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Jim McCormick, Special to ESPN.comDec 9, 2024, 12:28 PM ET
- Jim McCormick is a fantasy football and fantasy basketball analyst for ESPN.com.
Working the waiver wire is pivotal to succeeding in fantasy basketball. With so many games, injuries and endless shifts in rotations throughout the marathon campaign, we’ll need to source stats from free agency to maximize our imaginary rosters.
A willingness to entertain competition for the final few spots on your fantasy hoops roster can prove rewarding. When curating this fluid collective of statistical contributors, it helps to consider your end-of-the-bench players in direct competition with the talent floating in free agency.
The goal of this weekly series is to identify players at each position widely available in free agency in ESPN leagues. Some are specialists capable of helping in one or two categories, while others deliver more diverse and important statistical offerings. In the breakdowns below, I’ve listed players at each position in order of priority, rather than roster percentage, in ESPN men’s basketball leagues.
Point guard
Stephon Castle, SG, San Antonio Spurs (rostered in 28.2% of ESPN leagues): The Spurs haven’t been shy about empowering Castle, their top pick in this recent draft. Serving as a complementary playmaker to Chris Paul and with a rewarding two combined steals and blocks per game over the past week, there’s growing value to Castle’s versatility. For games that Paul rests, Castle becomes a potential fantasy star.
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Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics (55.1%): The sample is now quite real of Pritchard proving capable of sustaining high-volume 3-point output and efficiency. Pritchard enters the week just one 3-pointer ahead of teammate Jayson Tatum for fifth in the league in made shots from beyond the arc. This is just bonkers stuff from a small shooting specialist. The Celtics have carved out a clear role for Pritchard, suggesting he’s a real candidate to finish in the top 10 in made 3-pointers this season. Imagine writing that sentence a month ago.
Vasilije Micic, SG, Charlotte Hornets (4.7%): After a legendary career in the EuroLeague, Micic has made his way to the NBA as a backup point guard with an admirably old school appeal as a pick-and-roll facilitator. You won’t get much more than passing volume as a bankable number in most games, but it’s clear he’s entrusted to run the show in these increasingly common stretches.
Shooting guard
Malik Monk, SF, Sacramento Kings (61.9%): Leaping at least 20% in roster rate during the past week, Monk is a popular addition thanks to another awesome offensive stretch from the dynamic Kentucky product. With wingspan numbers that defy his frame, Monk gets his hands in passing lanes and even in rim protection. The result is a top-25 fantasy profile over the past month. Monk is among the best additions you can currently make in most 10-team formats.
Ayo Dosunmu, Chicago Bulls (38.3%): I wasn’t convinced that Dosunmu would be able to sustain last season’s strong finish given the traffic in the rotation ahead of him with Zach LaVine and Coby White as high-usage scorers and Josh Giddey consuming many creation chances. This said, the do-everything Dosunmu is sticking around as a glue guy once again, revealing connective passing and stellar defensive rates. The best thing to do when you miss on something is to pivot once a player proves you wrong.
Grayson Allen, PG, Phoenix Suns (40.1%): We will see how this recent ankle injury plays out, as Allen was again flashing fun fantasy value as a volume shooter and improved passer. Like with Ball out in Charlotte, Kevin Durant‘s frequent injury stints tend to vault Allen into some unique offensive workloads in given matchups.
Gradey Dick, SF, Toronto Raptors (40.9%): The Raptors are struggling overall, but the rise of Dick as a dangerous floor-spacer has been a key positive of the first six weeks. With the ability to shoot on the move and with just the smallest window in a tribute to Kyle Korver, Dick is a fun specialist with a steady shot diet.
Small forward
De’Andre Hunter, PF, Atlanta Hawks (28.3%): A star alum of my high school, Hunter’s story has almost always been about availability rather than ability. Now looking spry in recent weeks and with the production arc to back up the eye test, Hunter is a player you should give a chance to become a fixture of your lineup(s).
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
Herbert Jones, PF, New Orleans Pelicans (22.3%): It’s easy to overlook Jones’ somewhat quiet game in that his offense is rarely very loud. But if you look to the right in the box score, past the offensive cats and into the defensive tally, we find gobs of steals and blocks from this unique perimeter stopper. Essentially a peer of OG Anunoby as a statistical profile, Jones is a sleeper worth waking up to.
Royce O’Neale, Phoenix Suns (11.2%): It feels like each season we get a multi-week run from O’Neale that suggests he’s capable of being a fantasy star. Or at least something closer to that than a traditional role player, which is his NBA identity. He’s in the middle of one of these runs, with Durant sidelined and the Suns trusting him to sustain seemingly unsustainable results. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Power forward
Santi Aldama, SF/C, Memphis Grizzlies (62.7%): Arriving on the scene as a surprisingly versatile playmaker from the high post this season, Aldama can do a bit of everything when given a full workload. I did not have Aldama becoming some version of an Al Horford clone this season, but here we are.
Rui Hachimura, SF, Los Angeles Lakers (27.7%): With multiple steals in four of his past five games and a growing reputation as a tough rebounder, Hachimura is one of the few Lakers role players living up to his, well, role this season. The scoring can fluctuate for a complementary player, with the goal being to sustain busy defensive and rebounding rates along the way.
Center
Goga Bitadze, Orlando Magic (14.0%): The Magic have been hit with a series of rough injury blows to their top young stars to open this season. The team at least has growing trust in this rim-protecting big, who has become a force on the glass in the right matchups. There are times when Orlando can get away from bigger looks, but Bitadze is proving worthy of our attention in most matchups.
Nick Richards, Charlotte Hornets (21.5%): The Hornets haven’t settled at center for years amid injury issues to recent top picks. Richards has emerged as a rim-running option for the team as Mark Williams continues to heal. With awesome rebounding volume and some potential for nice block outings, Richards is a traditional center that is serving his role capably at the moment.
Special teams
This section focuses on specialists, players who flash in a singular category and can provide specific value to those in category and roto formats. Nominations are based on which category such players are helpful in and will rotate throughout the season.
3-pointers: Malik Beasley loves to shoot the ball and is being given the freedom to find looks whenever he’s around the ball. The Celtics’ reliance on Pritchard is now officially a thing, as he’s fifth in added value from deep the past two weeks on the Player Rater.
Steals: While Dyson Daniels continues to post absurd steal numbers, we are finding value from Marcus Smart and Jalen Suggs in this defensive metric.
Blocks: Our guy Goga is fourth in added value via rim protection the past two weeks, while Richards can also help whenever given enough playing time.
Rebounds: Yves Missi is essentially a rebounding specialist for New Orleans, but he’s good at it. Aldama is 19th overall among the player pool the past two weeks in added value via the glass.
Assists: Russell Westbrook can still dish dimes in bunches, although it’s likely that Micic is the better interim bet for this pursuit.
