Fantasy Basketball Adds and Drops: Poeltl, Burries, Traore, and More

After checking out some fantasy basketball waiver wire options based on weekly projections, let's go over some more traditional waiver options, plus a couple drop candidates!

Check back all week for more waiver wire and drop candidate stories.

Fantasy basketball waiver wire options can be found all season on FantasySP! Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest-of-season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant.

Adds

Jakob Poeltl and Jamal Shead - Toronto Raptors

Poeltl sits at 47.88% rostered right now, after being at 40% back on November 5. Shead is owned in 18.04% of leagues - he was at 11.26% on November 5.

Poeltl has missed a couple of games this season, but has played in two straight for Toronto. He got back on the court and logged just 19 minutes off the bench in his first game back, then started and played 30 minutes a few nights ago.

The big man had his best fantasy performance of the season in his last appearance, tallying 19 points, 11 rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block. Poeltl is averaging 7.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.4 blocks over 21.6 minutes in his seven games played overall.

He's been a bigger fantasy asset in the past, and maybe he could return to that level of player. Until we see it consistently though, Poeltl is probably a better deep-league asset. 

He's worth streaming in standard leagues, especially if you need big man help, but don't feel like you need to hold him. Only do so if he continues to deliver.

Shead started in his last appearance, tallying 10 points, 16 assists, three rebounds and two steals. He's averaging 6 points, 6.6 assists, 2.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.2 blocks over 23 minutes in his nine games played overall.

So he too is trending up mostly because of his performance in his last appearance. Shead has a little fantasy appeal, but he is a better deep-league asset if he's mostly going to be coming off the bench.

He could be worth streaming in standard leagues for games he's set to start in though, so keep tabs on that. Not having Kawhi Leonard around right now is helpful to Shead's fantasy outlook, but it's the injuries to Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley that give Shead a chance at more minutes and production.

If those two players are back though, Shead goes back to being a better deep-league option. Keep close tabs on that throughout the season and utilize Shead when it makes sense to.

Daniss Jenkins - Detroit Pistons

Jenkins is rostered in 15.81% of leagues at the moment. He was at 12.28% yesterday.

He too is coming off a big performance, scoring 31 points over 32 minutes in his last outing. Jenkins also had five rebounds, four assists and a steal in that one. He's averaging 11.7 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 0.4 steals and 0.1 blocks over 24.9 minutes in his nine games played (one start).

Even coming off the bench, Jenkins has some solid fantasy value. He is definitely a better deep-league option though, and that's likely to stick unless he starts getting starts, or playing a bunch more minutes.

Consider adding Jenkins in some deeper leagues today. Don't expect performances like his last one too often, but he can chip in here and there.

Brayden Burries - Milwaukee Bucks

Burries has jumped to 45.43% owned. He was only at 10.84% three days ago.

He's starting for the Bucks now, and it's led to better production when on the court. Burries is averaging 13 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.5 blocks and 0.3 steals over 28.8 minutes a game in his starts. Burries averaged 8.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.7 steals over 15.8 minutes in his six games off the bench.

Burries is a rising fantasy asset, and is someone I liked coming into the season. He's on a bad Bucks team, but that afforded him a lot of playing time, and he's producing in his time on the court now.

He's worth adding in deeper leagues right now. If he keeps delivering, he can be scooped up and tried in standard leagues as well. Don't wait too long to add Burries.

Drops

Nolan Traore - Brooklyn Nets

Traore is sitting at 66.82% rostered, but is starting to trend down a bit.

He has started seven straight games for Brooklyn, and has scored in double figures in five straight outings. The biggest possible reasoning behind him being dropped is that his minutes have dropped the past two games - three games ago, he played 27 minutes, but he was at 23 and 21 minutes in the past two contests.

He's still averaging 25 minutes, 15.1 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 0.4 blocks over his starts, so there's enough there for some fantasy ownership and utilization.

Traore is probably a better deep-league option at this point, so he is droppable if you are holding him in a standard league. There's likely to be better options out there, but make sure you are comparing players thoroughly before dropping Traore, as he's been pretty good of late.

Kel'el Ware - Milwaukee Bucks

Ware has continued to be let go in fantasy leagues, and now is owned in just 75.72% of leagues. He was nearly at 100% on October 21.

His playing time has dropped in four straight games - he only logged nine minutes in the team's last contest. Ware has eight points, 17 rebounds, four blocks, two assists and one steal over his past four games combined.

That's just not cutting it, so it makes sense to be dropping him. That goes for all standard leagues right now.

Extended struggles could make him droppable in some deeper leagues too. I think he will go up and down as a fantasy asset this season, so don't write Ware off for good if you drop him soon.