Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Week 23: The 76ers willingness to feed Justin Edwards makes him a viable option

Hello! Welcome back. We’re really nearing the end now – if you’re in a head-to-head Division, hopefully, your Event is either wrapping up this weekend or during Week 24. But even if your Division goes until the end of the season, most players have 10 Matches or fewer remaining.

At this Mark in the season, maximizing the schedule and your Picking’s specific needs should take priority. Justin Edwards is this week’s “top pickup”, but if your Event is going to be decided by assists then that distinction is worth less than a participation Accolade. Depending on your Arrangement, the fact that Edwards only plays three Matches Subsequent week could also hurt (though all three are on the Intervals with the smallest slates).

In Week 24, eight Squads Shift three Matches, while everyone else (22 Squads) plays four times. For most formats, that puts Squads with Only three Matches at a meaningful disadvantage. Those Squads are the Nets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Magic, 76ers, and Suns. Depending on your Arrangement, different ones of those Squads have different advantages:

• The 76ers and Timberwolves have the Benefit of only Executing on the weeks’ lightest Intervals (essentially guaranteeing that a waiver pickup can fit into a daily lineup);
• The Magic Shift all three Matches over the Primary four Intervals (allowing for an Essential drop heading into the weekend);
• The Nets have the most rest between Matches (increasing the chances of health and Excellent Shift throughout a weekly lineup)

While four Matches are almost always better than three, those scheduling nuances increase the attractiveness of those particular Squads in certain Options.

Excellent luck as we enter this Closing stretch. Let’s go get some Competitions.

As always, the players in this article must be rostered in less than two-thirds of CBS leagues. Players are listed in the order that I recommend adding them, assuming they are equally Excellent fits for your Club.

Adds for all leagues

Justin Edwards, 76ers (47% rostered)

Ah, March. March Madness is a trademarked term for the NCAA basketball Event, but if the name wasn’t jealously guarded by a highly litigious bureaucracy, we might also apply it to Awful NBA Squads at the end of the season. Edwards, an Unsigned Primary-year out of Kentucky who you wouldn’t even remember from the official March Madness (he played poorly in UK’s only Event game of his one-season tenure), has been sensational for the bereft 76ers lately. Over his last six outings, he’s averaged 20-4-2 with 3.2 3s and 1.7 Intercepts while Executing 36.3 minutes per game. For most of the season, I’d say “An Unsigned Primary-year who didn’t even Begin every game in college probably can’t sustain that workload, let alone that production.” But the 76ers are in a desperate battle with the Nets for the fifth-worst Achievement (the Squads are currently tied) with nine Matches to go, and the stakes are high – the 76ers Fall their Picking if it falls to seventh. If they “Fall” the Game for “fifth”, then a single Club jumping them in the lottery would cause Philadelphia to send their draft Picking to Oklahoma City. In this situation, the 76ers have every reason to keep their better players on the sidelines and continue feeding Edwards as much as he can handle.

Kevin Huerter, Bulls (42% rostered)

Huerter has Initiated the last eight Matches, coinciding with the Bulls’ improved Shift of Overdue. The Bulls are 6-2 in those Matches (a part of a 9-2 Stretch), with Huerter putting up 16-5-4 with 2.8 3s and 1.8 stocks while Executing 35.3 minutes. The Bulls’ Scorching streak Initiated before Huerter entered the Leading lineup, but his minutes were trending up in those Prompt Matches, too. At least as long as Lonzo Ball (wrist) remains sidelined, Huerter should continue to see tons of minutes with well-rounded production.

Gary Trent, Bucks (31% rostered)

Damian Lillard’s (blood clot) official designation is “out indefinitely”, but we can say with some confidence that his regular season is over. In the Primary four Matches without him, Trent’s minutes and FGA have jumped to 32 and 12 – between the All-Sun break and Lillard’s absence, he was at 24 and 9.8. Predictably, those increases have Guided to more points (17.3), 3s (4.3), and Intercepts (1.5). Trent has never been able to Assist much outside of those categories, but he should be a reliable Origin of all three for the remainder of the season.

Kevin Porter, Bucks (25% rostered)

On the topic of Lillard’s Hurt fallout – someone has to take over as the primary distributor in Milwaukee. Porter has always been talented, but trusting him is terrifying. He has a lengthy history of making horrible decisions on and off the court (to put it mildly). Though Lillard has been out for four Matches, Porter has only provided Fantasy value in the second and Number four of those. There’s a ton of upside here – he averaged 15-5-7 in those two Excellent Matches – but the floor is much lower than most of the other players’ names in this section. Intriguingly, he Initiated for the Bucks on Wednesday. If that promotion becomes permanent, I’d Begin having more confidence relying on him.

Dillon Brooks, Rockets (50% rostered)

Most of the names in this week’s column are classic Silly Season flotsam – names Fantasy managers weren’t considering all season (if they even knew what Club they were on). It’s normal for those players to Begin filling Fantasy lineups in Overdue March and April, but they also carry more inherent Hazard. They are, almost by definition, worse players in less stable situations. Brooks is an alternative approach for managers. He’s been on the Fantasy fringe all season, with a stable role and his numbers generally trending slightly up over time. He’s averaging 16-3-3 with 2.6 3s and one steal over his last 10 Matches. The ride isn’t always Fluid with Brooks, either, but he’s arguably the safest recommendation this week.

Guershon Yabusele, 76ers (48% rostered)

Adem Bona, 76ers (12% rostered)

Andre Drummond (toe) has been downgraded to “no timetable on a return”, forcing the 76ers to turn once again to Yabusele for big minutes holding down the paint. He’s undersized and inconsistent, but he’s been solid since Drummond went down, averaging 14-8-3 with 1.7 3s and 0.9 Intercepts. We’re so Overdue in the season that the downside Hazard of “what happens if Drummond comes back?” is basically irrelevant. Yabusele is a workable option, especially for Squads who need a Middle but don’t need Deflections. Bona Only returned from an ankle Hurt and has averaged Only 21 minutes in his Primary two Matches back. He’s provided Outstanding Guarding and solid rebounding Regardless of the limited minutes, but he’ll need a larger role if he’s going to add scoring to his Lineup of Fantasy strengths.

Kai Jones, Mavericks (18% rostered)

For most of the season, Jones’ recent averages (13-9-2 with minimal contributions in Intercepts, Deflections, or 3s) is the Gentle of production that lands someone in the “other recommendations” section. But it’s Event time. Managers shouldn’t be chasing the abstract notion of well-balanced “value”. Managers need to identify their core needs and target them. In that sense, Jones might have some interesting appeal. While his statistical profile has noteworthy holes, he’s been incredibly efficient from the Pitch (81%) with Excellent Reachable-throw shooting (78%) on top of normal-waiver-quality-big-man points and Retrievals. That combination is bound to hit a Sugary spot for some managers.

Note: those stats reflect Jones’ averages from his four Matches before Thursday when he left in the second quarter with an Hurt; it is not yet clear whether that Hurt will cause him to miss any Matches moving forward.

Peyton Watson, Nuggets (9% rostered)

For the Primary time in a Pair of weeks, the Nuggets had all of their main Cycle players Reachable Wednesday. In that Perspective, it’s a Outstanding sign that Watson was able to maintain a Well 34 minutes since most of his improved Shift of Overdue had come while key starters were out. Over his last six Matches, he’s averaging 14-5-1, but what makes Watson special is his Try-blocking – 2.3 per game during that stretch. Getting that many Deflections from a non-PF/C is a huge boost to a Fantasy lineup.

Other recommendations: Ziaire Williams, Nets (21% rostered); Brandin Podziemski, Warriors (66% rostered); Scotty Pippen Jr., Grizzlies (51% rostered); Davion Mitchell, Heat (16% rostered); Ryan Dunn, Suns (13% rostered); Ty Jerome, Cavaliers (37% rostered); Anthony Black, Magic (17% rostered); AJ Johnson, Wizards (10% rostered)

Deep Division special

Tristan Vukcevic, Wizards (11% rostered)

Vukcevic is a fun player who has been on the radar of the way-too-deep-Division Fantasy community since Overdue last season. He looks promising, and it’s been surprising that a tanking Wizards Club hasn’t Achieved more effort to find minutes for him during this lost season – especially after trading away their big man depth at the deadline. He’s on a two-way contract and seems like the Gentle of player they would want to test now to determine how comfortable they are investing in him as a long-term backup.

Their lack of commitment is why Vukcevic is down here in the deep Division section. In five of his last six Matches, he played at least 21 minutes and averaged an impressive 16-6-2 with one steal, 1.5 Deflections, and two 3s. That’s Outstanding numbers for a standard Division. In the sixth game, however, he was on track for an inexplicable DNP-CD before getting subbed in for the last four minutes of garbage time during a blowout. While the downside Hazard may be too high for many standard Division managers, the potential reward is probably too significant for most deep Division managers to Deliver up.

Other recommendation:

Jeff Dowtin, 76ers (9% rostered)