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
Scoot Henderson, Portland Trail Blazers (rostered in 38.4% of ESPN leagues)
It's safe to say Henderson is enjoying a breakout second season in the NBA. We can appreciate the larger trend of second-year players who often improve substantially given the natural acclimation to a new level of play and overall lifestyle, but with Henderson, specific growth as a scorer has been really fascinating and changes his trajectory as a fantasy option.
Keyonte George, SG, Utah Jazz (28.0%)
Another second-year guard of note, George has oscillated a bit between lead creation duties and merely part of a bigger guard rotation for the Jazz. With two awesome scoring outings this past week and the emergence of teammate Isaiah Collier (5.0%) as the team's lead initiator, we could be seeing a new combo guard role emerge for George. Eligibility at shooting guard adds dimension to George's fantasy profile, especially while that position is leaner in free agency.
Shooting guard
Shaedon Sharpe, SF, Portland Trail Blazers (47.3%)
While Portland likely doesn't have a true anchor prospect to build around, it is encouraging that Henderson and Sharpe are surging in sustainable ways. Sharpe is a gifted and confident shooter who won't fill a box score the way Scoot can, but the sheer volume and efficiency of his approach remains valuable.
Christian Braun, SG, Denver Nuggets (43.9%):
It can be easy to overlook players who don't have big games very often. Braun, for instance, tops out in the low 20s as a scorer in high-end outcomes, but a deeper look reveals a guard with strong steal, block and rebounding rates. Braun remains a bit underrated.
Small forward
Tari Eason, PF, Houston Rockets (27.9%)
Eason is sort of the supercharged version of Braun. He will rarely wow you with his scoring, but he's one of the best defenders in the league. Eason is among the league leaders in deflections and steals, all while sustaining a uniquely high block rate. He is a positive contributor in both real and fantasy hoops.
Naji Marshall, PF, Dallas Mavericks (5.9%)
Marshall is another glue guy earning attention that has shown off some surprising passing prowess in the wake of Luka Doncic going down. While his run as an offensive option is likely to end whenever Doncic is back in action, Marshall is currently flying under the radar with some intriguing numbers.
Power forward
Santi Aldama, SF/C, Memphis Grizzlies (57.0%)
Aldama showed last season that he can step up and deliver nice lines when fully empowered. This season, the thought was Aldama would settle into a complementary role next to the team's top producers. While this has mostly been the case, he's also showing off some high-end scoring skills.
Nikola Jovic, Miami Heat (12.6%)
As the Jimmy Butler saga looms over the roster, Jovic is quietly becoming another Heat success story. Like with Marshall, Jovic has recently shown off passing prowess, potentially adding another dimension to his profile as a traditional stretch four.
Center
Onyeka Okongwu, Atlanta Hawks (35.1%)
We've yet to see the Hawks trust Okongwu as a starting two-way center, as Clint Capela remains just capable enough as a rim protector and volume rebounder. But even with Capela's presence, we are witnessing what appears to be growth and momentum for Okongwu, especially with a favorable tilt in minutes and closing games. He should see an increase in his blocks and boards if Capela is dealt at the trade deadline.
Jaylin Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder (2.1%)
Williams is valuable when he's the lone true big in the Thunder rotation. When that's not the case, it's fine to leave Williams in free agency. In recent spot starts for the injured Isaiah Hartenstein, Williams has been really impressive.
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: This week features mostly pure specialists, as Grayson Allen, Isaiah Joe, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley are the notable names in the top 15 in added value via 3-point production over the past two weeks on the Player Rater.
Steals: Jaime Jaquez Jr. is third in added value via steals over the past two weeks. Kelly Oubre Jr. has found a home in Philadelphia as a two-way player. While the 76ers' season has been sad, Oubre has been a rare bright spot, racking up steals.
Blocks: Jonathan Isaac can be tough to roster given the lack of minutes, but his block and steal rates remain absurd. Peyton Watson is a fun roto option because of his block rate from the forward spot.
Rebounds: Trayce Jackson-Davis doesn't do a ton for fantasy purposes beyond rebounding, but he's proving to be reliable for big numbers. Alexandre Sarr is rising to a new level, including some respectable rebounding results.
Assists: Utah's Collier is second only to Cade Cunningham in added value from assists over the past two weeks. Henderson, for his part, is 16th in passing impact during this span.