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 widely available in free agency in 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
Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic (Rostered in 61.1% of ESPN leagues): The shooting struggles are still a concern, but some special defensive production and an uptick in distribution duties for a depleted Orlando backcourt helps Suggs' status as a helpful fantasy contributor in category formats.
De'Anthony Melton, Philadelphia 76ers (21.1%): With James Harden out for at least a month with a foot injury, it's relevant that Melton lofted 18 shots from the floor in a start against the Knicks last Friday, tying his career-high for a game. Awesome defensive rates combined with increased offensive impact is a nice recipe for fantasy success.
Seth Curry, Brooklyn Nets (19.8%): We've yet to see Curry really play a full workload just yet as he works his way back from an ankle injury, but it's likely that Brooklyn will need his savvy shooting and playmaking amid so much missing star power.
Shooting guard
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Denver Nuggets (17.9%): Not many complementary wings epitomize the 3-and-D archetype as "KCP." This is confirmed by his positive blend of steals (30th in NBA in steal percentage) and 3-point efficiency (career-best 2.6 3PG).
Cam Thomas, Brooklyn Nets (1.5%): Uncertainty reigns in Brooklyn; with Kyrie Irving suspended, Ben Simmons ailing, with T.J. Warren without a timeline for return, this shot-happy guard has earned much more playing time in recent outings.
Small forward
Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota Timberwolves (31.6%): Found just ahead of LeBron James among small forwards on the Player Rater, McDaniels has averaged and incredible 2.8 stocks (combined steals and blocks) on the season and is finding easy buckets in transition and as a cutter for this new-look Minnesota offense.
Royce O'Neale, Brooklyn Nets (23.5%): Sure, it's important to get buckets and elite scoring unsurprisingly often comes with several other special statistical traits, but it's also valuable to consider the "glue" guys. O'Neale is one such player; he's averaged just shy of a dozen points per game the past week, but also has delivered 5.2 dimes and five boards per game. With Brooklyn missing key backcourt talent, O'Neale is taking on more creation duties than he has in the past.
Malik Monk, Sacramento Kings (4.1%): Not much is working for Sacramento right now in regards to getting quality wing production, so it's not surprising that Monk is getting more work as a perimeter scorer in recent games. This microwave has tallied at least 15 points in three of his last five outings and has also dished at least five assists in three of the last five, signaling increased usage for a rotation in need of a boost.
Power forward
Kelly Olynyk, Utah Jazz (31.6%): Averaging a career-best 1.5 steals on the season entering Sunday's slate, Olynyk is also posting the second-highest assist rate of his career and his third best win-share rate. The point being, this versatile big is thriving in a busy role for one of the most surprising teams in the league at the moment.
Chris Boucher, Toronto Raptors (49.1%): Likely to enjoy and expanded role with Pascal Siakam due to miss multiple weeks with a groin injury, Boucher has been scoring and swatting shots at a higher clip in recent outings.
Jalen McDaniels, Charlotte Hornets (9.0%): Like his younger brother from the Timberwolves, McDaniels is a dynamic defender, as is 2.8 stocks per game during the past week confirms.
Center
Bol Bol, Orlando Magic (37.0%): From undrafted in nearly every traditional fantasy format to being ranked at a top-25 value on the Player Rater, Bol brings league-winning upside thanks to his league-best block percentage and newfound efficiency on the boards.
Isaiah Hartenstein, New York Knicks (12.6%): With Mitchell Robinson dealing with a knee injury likely to keep him out for several more games, it's time to roster his understudy. Hartenstein has netted eight blocks over his last three games entering Monday's slate. Given the rebounding opportunity rates his role near the basket for the Knicks fosters, Hartenstein is a sneaky nightly double-double threat this week.
Isaiah Stewart, Detroit Pistons (27.3%): There will be some lean scoring nights for a player fairly low in the pecking order when it comes to shot creation for Detroit, but Stewart is effective cleaning the glass thanks to a career-best defensive rebounding percentage of 25.6% (the percentage of a team's defensive rebounds that a player has while on the court).