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 imaginary rosters. A willingness to entertain competition for the last 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-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 available in free agency in at least a third of ESPN leagues. Some nominations 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 ordered players at each position with the priority of acquisition in mind, rather than roster percentage in ESPN leagues.
Point guard
Coby White, Chicago Bulls (rostered in 25.4% of ESPN leagues)
Maximizing increased opportunities due to some key injuries to the Chicago backcourt, White has become a productive shooting specialist in recent weeks. With a helpful dash of playmaking in his profile, White merits more attention from managers.
Shooting guard
Jalen Green, Houston Rockets (63.5%)
Viewed mostly as a scorer, it has been encouraging to see Green's steal rate skyrocket in recent games. With seven swipes across his last three games entering Monday, Green is adding a helpful dimension to his fantasy profile.
Evan Fournier, New York Knicks (57.8%)
One of the rare efficient perimeter shooters for New York, Fournier claims a bankable role in regards to minutes and shooting freedom. With Derrick Rose and Kemba Walker currently out of the rotation, Fournier's helpful usage pattern should continue.
Small forward
Josh Hart, Portland Trail Blazers (57.0%)
Entering Sunday's slate, Hart had posted at least 22 points in three of his first four outings since joining Portland. Already one of the better rebounding guards in the league, Hart's added scoring pop in Portland has been quite the boon to his fantasy stock.
Terance Mann, LA Clippers (21.2%)
A stellar statistical binge in recent games has included Mann notching at least one steal in nine straight games while posting at least seven boards in six of his last seven games. A helpful "glue guy" for the gritty Clippers, Mann is emerging as a positive utility option.
Power forward
P.J. Washington, Charlotte Hornets (64.4%)
A quiet start to the season has given way to some stellar production from this stretch big in recent weeks. He is posting elite defensive rates to go with respectable scoring and rebounding numbers.
Jae'Sean Tate, Houston Rockets (32.7%)
Another player who nets a good bit of his value from his defensive prowess, Tate has tallied six combined steals and blocks across his last two games and also brings some helpful passing production to the floor.
Center
Andre Drummond, Brooklyn Nets (49.8%)
While he might not be on the floor a ton once spacing becomes more valuable in the playoffs, it's likely that Drummond will serve an important role cleaning the class and posing as a lob threat for a Brooklyn team that will rely on his size down the stretch of the regular season.
Steven Adams, Memphis Grizzlies (48.5%)
Averaging the seventh-most rebounds in the league during the last 10 games, Adams also has produced at least four assists in seven of his last nine outings.