The NBA Trade Deadline has passed, and quite a few faces are on new teams. This could affect the fantasy value of your players. There seems to be key players missing every single night. For this reason, you must stay active on the fantasy basketball waiver wire each week to help fill any voids on your team. There are some hidden gems moving forward that are worth the consideration, with new opportunities forming on many teams due to injury.
Here are the top fantasy basketball waiver wire pickups for Week 16 of the NBA season. In order to be included in the weekly waiver article, players must be rostered in less than 60 percent of ESPN fantasy basketball leagues.
All stats are gathered on the morning of Apr. 11 and do not take into account Sunday night’s results.
Week 16 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups
Kelly Olynyk, Rockets (57.2%)
Since being traded to Houston, Kelly Olynyk has been playing arguably his best basketball ever in his career. Normally receiving around 27 minutes per game with the Heat providing rebounding and defensive help, he’s being utilized offensively with Houston. Over the past seven days, he’s averaged 17.6 points and 10.4 rebounds across 32 minutes per contest. Olynyk provided a shooting spark once he was first traded to Houston, but has been producing well in the rebounding category, posting three straight games with a double-double. He’s a solid option for 8-cat and 9-cat leagues for consistent scoring, rebounding and a little bit in assists and steals.
Keldon Johnson, Spurs (51.7%)
Keldon Johnson has certainly struggled this season with consistency and scoring, and has irritated his fantasy owners, but he’s starting to even out a bit in other categories outside of scoring. He’s a great rebounding threat, averaging nearly 6.5 rebounds this season, and he usually supplies low assist totals. Johnson has seen his minutes decrease the past week or so, but it shouldn’t be anything to worry about, considering he’s one of San Antonio’s main scoring threats. He provides in other categories as well. Johnson would be a great addition to your team, if you need a sneaky-good rebounder, but his point totals are worth it regardless.
Chuma Okeke, Magic (39.0%)
With the Orlando Magic cleaning house and starting a rebuild by shipping away their starters, Chuma Okeke has seen a huge minutes increase and has been supplying solid fantasy numbers. Over the past seven days, he’s averaged 11.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists across 33 minutes per game. He’s one of those guys that does a little bit of everything, which is huge for 8-cat and 9-cat leagues moving forward and into fantasy playoff time. Okeke certainly needs to work on his offensive game in the scoring area. Still, he supplies solid rebounding, assist and steal totals, making him a top fantasy basketball waiver wire target this week. The minutes are there and there is no one on the Magic to take his role anytime soon; grab him before it’s too late.
Cole Anthony, Magic (20.0%)
The Magic rookie guard played for the first time since Feb. 11 and came out firing, scoring seven points in less than 50 seconds. Cole Anthony experienced some shooting woes after that scoring barrage. But nonetheless, he’s back to the lineup and has to compete with just Michael Carter-Williams for minutes. He’s on a minutes restriction for now, until he is used to the conditioning again. However, he’s played pretty consistently in the two games since returning from injury. Anthony is another one of those guys that supplies a little bit of everything, making him a solid category-based fantasy basketball waiver wire add, but also worth a look in points-based.
Other considerations for all league-types: Hamidou Diallo, DET (18.0%); Darius Bazley, OKC (16.4%); Saddiq Bey, DET (14.4%); Dorian Finney-Smith, DAL (13.7%); Corey Joseph, DET (11.4%)
