November 28 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups: Malik Monk, Elfrid Payton, Lonzo Ball and More
NBA players who had good games on Wednesday and are widely available in fantasy leagues.
Several NBA teams were in action on Wednesday, November 28. Each provided valuable insight for fantasy basketball owners.
Let's hop straight into the top performances that caught my eye from waiver wire players.
Waiver Wire Options
Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk has been integrating his way back to his old self since returning from injury. In his first game back, he only totaled 14 points and three assists. But, in his second game back, he saw an uptick in minutes and put up 27 points and nine assists. The Kings have missed his valuable shot creation and playmaking, so he will be relied on a lot from here on out.
Monk is having a good season so far, averaging 13 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds per game on 46% shooting. He is only owned in 58% of fantasy leagues, which is kind of low to me considering he was a Sixth Man of the Year candidate recently.
Maybe the acquisition of forward DeMar DeRozan scared owners away, but not me. Monk is the Kings only other consistent ball handler and facilitator; they just don’t operate at the same level without him. If Monk is available right now, grab him; this is probably when his stock will be the lowest all season.
Chicago Bull guard Lonzo Ball has been fighting unexplainable knee injuries the past few years, which have cost him seasons. He finally returned to start the year and looked really good and in rhythm. He then was sidelined again for a couple of weeks with another injury.
He played sparingly in his first game back, but one thing that has stayed consistent this year is his jumper. He has shot the ball at a great clip and knocked it down from deep. Lonzo is shooting his highest percentage from three of his career, which is 40%.
Ball is only owned in 19% of leagues; I think that number is fairly acceptable given his very rugged injury history. I would say take a chance on him though; I think this situation is tailored towards him. Billy Donovan emphasized wanting to play fast, and that matches right up to Lonzo’s game. If he can just stay healthy and get a sizeable number of games under his belt, he will be an amazing late waiver wire pickup for you.
Newly acquired Pelicans guard Elfrid Payton has reminded every NBA team that he should’ve been in the league sooner. As stated in previous articles, the New Orleans Pelicans have been hit with one of the worst injury bugs I've ever seen. They were so hurt that the day that Payton was signed to a contract, he was instantly slotted into the starting lineup as the lead guard.
Payton, though, has played amazingly; he’s averaging 9.8 points, 5 rebounds, and 9.2 assists. He even recorded a game where he dished out 21 assists and was just three rebounds shy of a triple-double.
He is currently owned in 41% of leagues, and that seems like a very fair number for his production right now. I have no idea how his production will look once the Pelicans start reintegrating players back into their lineup, but I do know that Payton is playing at an unbelievable level. I would just say ride the high and pick him up on waivers until his production takes a noticeable dip.
Miami Heat guard Duncan Robinson could be a possible deep league waiver wire option. He has been sporadic with his production, but the upside in his shooting makes him an interesting guy. He has been in double figures for most of the season, so I think you can count on him to be a consistent scorer for your team.
He is only owned in 13% of leagues, so you should go through virtually no trouble when trying to acquire him. Robinson is averaging 10.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 21 minutes of action this season. In his past two outings, he has scored 33 total points and saw his second- and third-highest minutes this season. Both of those are great signs of what his possible role could be for the rest of the year.
Another player who has taken advantage of a bigger role in New Orleans is Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. He has put up two double-doubles out of his last three games. He can stretch the floor and honestly is very versatile because of how fluid he can move given his size. Robinson-Earl can be a player who steps in for a week or two while your guys are injured.
He only has a 16% own rate, so you shouldn't go through an abundant amount of trouble to get him on your team. His play hasn’t been too consistent this year, but given his past performances, he should get more of an opportunity going forward.
