Fantasy Basketball: Waiver Wire Report (11/28/17)

Purpose:

The Waiver Wire Report aims to identify players who played minutes above and beyond their season average in yesterday’s contests. The picks in this article are aimed at deeper, more competitive leagues. Many similar articles will make recommendations for players at 20-50% owned, but those players aren’t available in a competitive league. I’ll aim around the 5% and under mark for players who are trending up. The list is filtered for players owned in less than 20% of Yahoo Leagues, and is sorted by minutes played above the season average. I’ve also included average minutes the last 5 games compared to the season average to provide context of whether a player’s minutes are trending up or down. Lastly, the Game Score for yesterday’s performance is included to give the context of a player’s ability to produce with these extra minutes. As a reminder, per basketball reference:

Game Score; the formula is PTS + 0.4 * FG - 0.7 * FGA - 0.4*(FTA - FT) + 0.7 * ORB + 0.3 * DRB + STL + 0.7 * AST + 0.7 * BLK - 0.4 * PF - TOV. Game Score was created by John Hollinger to give a rough measure of a player's productivity for a single game. The scale is similar to that of points scored, (40 is an outstanding performance, 10 is an average performance, etc.).

Results:

Picks:

Here are my recommended adds based on today’s report

Sean Kilpatrick (BKN - PG/SG) - 2% owned

The entire Nets back court is injured and Kilpatrick is set to get a lot of run. Allen Crabbe, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, D’Angelo Russell, and DeMarre Carroll are all injured and going to miss some time so there’s minutes to spare in Brooklyn. Kilpatrick can fill it up with the best of them and provided a ton of value last year when he saw a similar opportunity. He played 27 minutes last night against Houston and while Isaiah Whitehead filled up the box score, Kilpatrick will get more run and is the likely candidate to have a big night moving forward.

Noah Vonleh (POR - PF) - 5% owned

Vonleh is emerging as a rebounding machine. His stock is steadily climbing while Al-Farouq Aminu is out and he will continue to see the floor when Aminu returns thanks to the struggles of Moe Harkless. Vonleh has double digit rebounds in four of his last five games, and the Indiana product is establishing himself as a key part of the Portland rotation. Blake owners should be snapping up Vonleh immediately.

Pat Connaughton (POR - SG/SF) - 2% owned

Similar to Vonleh, Moe Harkless’ struggles has swung the door wide open for Pat Connaughton. I was skeptical that his move to starter was not going to pan out, but he has back-to-back double digit games with 2+ 3PTM, .500+ FG% and 26+ MPG. Until he struggles as a starter, ride Connaughton and his long distance scoring.

Garrett Temple (SAC - PG/SG/SF) - 2% owned

Temple makes the list thanks to his ability to contribute in all categories and his three-position eligibility (in Yahoo). He’s been getting 30+ MPG in the last few games with Buddy Hield losing minutes at SG. Temple isn’t going to give you much scoring, but he will contribute a block and steal per game with decent rebounding and assist numbers.

Devin Harris (DAL - PG/SG) - 1% owned

Yogi Ferrell is struggling and Devin Harris is starting to get more run as a result. He played 25 minutes last night with 13 points, 3 3PTM, 0 TO and 5 REB against the Spurs while Ferrell played 20 minutes and was 0-6 from the field with 3 TOs. Harris is the backup guard to own moving forward for the Mavericks.

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