Tuesday Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Best Streaming Options and a Few Injury Updates
Streaming players from three NBA teams with good matchups on Tuesday.
We are two weeks away from the beginning of the First Four, the official first games of the NCAA March Madness tournament. The NBA playoffs won't start until after the college tournament is over, but March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans and gamblers alike.
With this final stretch of the NBA season sure to drag as we work toward the final two weeks (when positioning will be finalized), March Madness is nearly here to save us from our own internal madness that comes with a long season.
Moving to fantasy basketball, let's look at streaming players from three NBA teams with good matchups on Tuesday. We'll focus on the guys who get on the court and are widely available in fantasy leagues. Most stats are from NBA.com.
Use FantasySP's waiver wire tool to find the players who are being added to fantasy teams most often.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans plays at the 11th-fastest pace and has the fifth-worst defensive rating. The Pelicans were playing at a pace closer to average (or even below) for much of the season, but they have sped up recently, something that often happens with bad defensive teams that lose a lot.
The Lakers are two games ahead of Phoenix for the sixth spot in the West, with three other teams two games or fewer ahead of LA. It will be a battle royale between those teams to avoid the play-in, which would also allow them to miss the Thunder and Spurs in the first round.
Guard
Smart has generally been a better real-life player than fantasy player throughout his career, and that's especially true now that he is a role player in LA. He gets on the court but is just a low-level fantasy guy. Kennard scores and shoots but doesn't add anything else. He has averaged just over 10 points per game since joining the Lakers at the trade deadline.
Forward
Hachimura and LaRavia are similar in that they score close to 10 points per game and don't add a lot else. Hachimura scores a little more, while LaRavia adds 4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, bumping his value a little. They are both limited as fantasy contributors.
Center
Neither guy here plays enough minutes to be on the fantasy radar, instead playing sparingly behind the heavily owned Deandre Ayton.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Chicago Bulls
Chicago plays at the fifth-fastest pace and has the sixth-worst defensive rating. The Bulls lost every game they played in February, but they finally got off the snide by trouncing Milwaukee by 23 points on Sunday. That says more about the Bucks than the Bulls, but at least Chicago picked up a victory.
OKC is three games ahead of San Antonio for the top spot in the West. They are in great position to hold the top seed, as they face plenty of bad teams the rest of the way and don't have to play the Spurs again, but any slip-up could open the door for Victor Wembanyama's boys.
Guard
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won't play in this one (and has played just twice since February 3), leaving around 33 minutes and 20 field goal attempts available for other players. Ajay Mitchell also hasn't played since late January, so these three have a chance to put up some numbers here.
Wallace had a three-game stretch last week in which he scored 20, 27, and 23 points; SGA was out for all those games. Wallace has a chance to again put up numbers like that, though he has scored just 14 combined the past two games (both with Gilgeous-Alexander).
Joe scored 22 points in each of the first two games in which Wallace excelled, and McCain had 20 in the third one, showing these guys can excel together when their star isn't on the court. Wallace is the better option, but Joe and McCain are both OK Plan B's with lower floors.
Forward
Dort and Caruso are both role players who don't generally score a lot. Jalen Williams hasn't played since before the All-Star break and remains out here, and that combined with SGA's absence gives these guys a little better outlook, but I still prefer skipping both unless you're in a deep league.
Center
Williams had a huge game last Wednesday, putting up 30 points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes. Both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein were out for that one, and while Holmgren is active here, Hartenstein will again be out. That gives Williams a little low-level intrigue, though it's tough to expect anything like that big performance.
Orlando Magic vs. Washington Wizards
Washington plays at the sixth-fastest pace and has the third-worst defensive rating. Trae Young will make his Wizards debut on Thursday, something that might at least bring in a few fans. Next year could look much different if Young and Anthony Davis can stay in the lineup most of the season. (Hilariously, Young was ejected from yesterday's game while sitting on the bench in street clothes.)
The Magic could still jump into the top six, end up in the play-in (where they currently sit as the seventh seed), or even fall out altogether, though that last option is unlikely given the state of the teams around them. There was hope that Orlando could make a move in a wide-open East, but injuries and underperformance have kept them in the muddled middle.
Guard
Carter has played seven games with the Magic since being acquired from Chicago; he scored at least 14 points in three of those games but was held to two or fewer points in the other four games. Howard doesn't get on the court enough or put up the numbers to be anywhere near our fantasy radar. Skip both these guards.
Forward
After suffering an injury on December 7, Franz Wagner played two games in January and two in February, otherwise missing everything else while recovering and suffering a high ankle sprain. His return likely won't come for at least another week, something that helps everyone else from a fantasy perspective.
da Silva has been playing plenty of minutes and putting up stats along with that. His season-long numbers aren't great, but he is coming off a game in which he had 19 points and six rebounds in 37 minutes. He's a low-to-mid-level streamer. Isaac doesn't play enough to be worthy of fantasy consideration.
Center
Carter is averaging 11.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists on the season. His numbers have mostly hovered around there all season, and while that's fine work, it limits his ceiling. Carter is also inconsistent in putting up stats. Wagner is another guy who just doesn't play enough to be worth putting in your lineup, not reaching 20 minutes in any of his 19 games this season.
