Christmas is behind us, which means the next stop in the basketball season is New Year’s. It’s a short week of action before the calendar flips to 2017 but it’s not the time to take your eye off the ball. While you may have been off with a focus on family and presents, we’ve kept a close eye on the NBA fantasy action to give you some options from the waiver wire this week. Here is a handful of players you should be looking at if you’re roster needs some rejigging.
PG: Emmanuel Mudiay, Denver Nuggets
Mudiay hasn’t quite developed as the Nuggets had hoped but he’s still young and is on the path to becoming a quality NBA starter. For NBA fantasy purposes, he’s become a player that’s worth owning – even including his zero-for-nine, zero-point dud of a game last Tuesday. Over his last five games, Mudiay is giving you 13.4 points per game along with 3.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 three-pointers. If you take that 0-fer out of the equation, that scoring average moves up to 19.0 points per game. You’d love to see a higher average of assists but if he keeps doing what he’s done over the last week, he’s going to be someone worth adding.
PG: Ty Lawson, Sacramento Kings
Another point guard worth taking a look at – a guy who is owned in far less NBA fantasy leagues – is Lawson of the Sacramento Kings. Many people thought that when the Kings signed him in the offseason that he might have a Rajon Rondo-like season and rehab his image. So far, he hasn’t really had much of an opportunity (because of Darren Collison) until recently. But Collison has been struggling, which has allowed Lawson to average 16.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals over his last three games. He can also hit some threes for you from time to time (five in his last three games). Collison is better off the bench but it’s just a matter of whether the Kings realize this or not. If they do, then Lawson could become quite valuable as a starter because his minutes and usage rate will shoot up.
SG: Josh Richardson, Miami Heat
For the most part, you’ve been pretty disappointed with Josh Richardson if you’ve drafted him or owned him in NBA fantasy. He’s in a big funk right now, shooting just 26% from the field over his last five games. But this is a guy that may be a good buy-low candidate. While that’s the downside, the upside is that this is a player that averages 36 minutes a night in playing time. And the Heat are employing a youth movement, so it’s not as if his minutes will change at any point soon. He should get out of his funk and when he does, he’ll be a hot commodity on the waiver wire. This is just your way of getting in sooner than later.
SF: Justise Winslow, Miami Heat
Speaking of NBA fantasy options that are reasonable buy-low from the Miami Heat, check out winslow. He’s healthy again and has played particularly well since returning. He scored 23 points with 13 rebounds on Thursday and is averaging 14.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals over his last five contests. Like Richardson, you have to love the minutes. He’s playing 37 per game and it’s hard not to be productive when you’re getting fed that type of playing time. Winslow should be added if he’s available in your league.
SF: Thabo Sefolosha, Atlanta Hawks
In case some NBA fantasy GM’s haven’t been paying attention, there has been a bit of a changing of the guards (or should we say, forwards) in Atlanta as Sefolosha is now starting over Kyle Korver. He’s not a player that is going to provide a lot of points for you but he’s a specialist that can chip in for some of those hard-to-get categories like threes and steals. He’s played 31 minutes per game over his last five while scoring 8.2 points along with 5.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 2.2 steals, 0.6 blocks and 1.0 threes in that span. 2.2 steals is fantastic and a three per game is quite useful too. If you’re in a deeper NBA fantasy league, he’s a name you’ll want to consider adding to your roster.
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