Week four of the fantasy basketball and NBA season is in the books as we prepare for Week 5. Again, just like every sport and nearly every rendition of this series, the further we go into the season, the more injuries we’ll see. To name just a couple of names, we’ll see Eric Gordon of the Houston Rockets and Khris Middelton of the Milwaukee Bucks miss an extended period of time, allowing way for some waiver wire pick-ups to have fantasy value over the next few weeks. Keep playing the waiver wire. I know we’re only into Week Five, but one win could be the difference between you making or not making the playoffs.
This series will go live on our website (www.weknowfantasy.com) every Sunday night to allow our readers to put in their waiver wire claims for the upcoming week. In this series, we stay under the 40-percent owned mark when referencing players in both Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues. I will also include at least one player that is owned in less than 10% of Yahoo and/or ESPN leagues to be able to cater to as many leagues and as many fantasy players as possible. There is no set number of players we will include each week, but we will have at least five players. Be sure to check out how our suggestions from last week did below!
Week 4 Suggestions
Frank Ntilikina, PG, New York Knicks - 9.8 fantasy points over the last seven days
Chris Boucher, PF, Toronto Raptors - 11 fantasy points over the last seven days
Alec Burks, SG, Golden State Warriors - 12.3 fantasy points over the last seven days
Bobby Portis, PF, New York Knicks - 10.5 fantasy points over the last seven days
Ivan Zubac, C, Los Angeles Clippers - 12.8 fantasy points over the last seven days
Jaxson Hayes, C, New Orleans Pelicans - 8.7 fantasy points over the last seven days
Week 5 Suggestions
Mortiz Wagner, PF, Washington Wizards - Owned in 26% of Yahoo and 2.1% of ESPN leagues
Wagner had the game of his career on Friday going for 30 points and 15 rebounds against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This has skewed his fantasy point averages a bit but besides that game, he has been putting up quality numbers. He has scored at least eight points in every game thus far this season. He’s averaged 12.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.1 three-pointers in 18.5 minutes. These numbers have seen his minutes increased into the low 20’s. As long as his minutes-per-game continues to climb into the mid 20’s he’s definitely worth an add with the numbers he’s been putting up.
Langston Galloway, PG/SG, Detroit Pistons - Owned in 15% of Yahoo and 2.6% of ESPN leagues
Reggie Jackson is out for the foreseeable future and with Galloway now posting fantasy-relevant numbers for two weeks now, it’s safe to say it hasn’t been a fluke. Over the last 15 days he’s averaged 16.4 points, 2.1 assists and two rebounds, good enough for an average of 15.7 fantasy points. As long as Jackson isn’t playing, Gallodway has proven that he can post quality statlines and post fantasy value.
Maxi Kleber, PF/C, Dallas Mavericks - Owned in 34% of Yahoo and 5.3% of ESPN leagues
Even with the addition of Kristaps Porzingis and the return of Dwight Powell, Kleber remains a crucial part of the Mavericks’ rotation. On the season he’s averaging 27.7 minutes-per-game and just shy of 13 fantasy-points-per game. In the last week, his minutes-per-game have increased to just shy of thirty. He has an interesting combination of the ability to block shots and shoot the three-ball at a high percentage. I don’t expect his role to decrease anytime soon.
Sterling Brown, SG/SF, Milwaukee Bucks - Owned in 2% of Yahoo and 0.5% of ESPN leagues
Khris Middleton is set to miss “several weeks” with a quad injury. We saw Sterling Brown slide into Middleton’s role on Saturday where he played 26 minutes and went for 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Middleton could miss upwards of a month and Brown will see the biggest increase of value and minutes during that time. He’s worth the add with Middleton sidelined.
Kenrich Williams, SF/PF, New Orleans Pelicans - Owned in 20% of Yahoo and 1.6% of ESPN leagues
Until Zion Williamson makes his NBA debut, Williams should average between 25-and-30 minutes per game as the Pelicans have been one of the most injured teams in the leagues. Overall his statline doesn’t jump off the page at you, but he does a lot of things well. Over the past week he’s averaging 7.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists. That line equates to about 15 fantasy points per game over that same time span.
Malik Monk, SG, Charlotte Hornets - Owned in 14% of Yahoo and 3.2% of ESPN leagues
Monk has really come on as of late. His minutes have been steadily increasing over the course of this early season and rightfully so. Last week he averaged 16.5 points per game in 26 minutes-per-game. I expect his minutes to continue to get closer to 30-per-game as he continues to come up big for the Hornets and posting some big numbers for them.
*Be careful of Carmelo Anthony, SF/PF, Portland Trailblazers. There’s a reason it took him well over a year to land a job. He’s been away from basketball for that long and joins a team that has things going with a nice one-two bunch with a nice option off the bench in the front court already. We’ll see how they plan to use Melo in the future before adding him.
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