Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire - Centers Headline Week 10 Adds

Welcome back. Believe it or not, the holiday season is here (I did a double-take when I realized this week's article spans Christmas Day). Roughly one-third of the NBA season is already in the rearview, and head-to-head leagues are roughly halfway through their regular season. 

As we enter the middle portion of the season, we're less likely to find waiver prospects with dramatic long-term upside. It's time to shift to allow the schedule to play a bigger part in our decision-making, especially as the holidays make for a funky imbalanced weekly NBA schedule. With that in mind, the Schedule Notes section has returned to the bottom of this article.

As always, the players in this article must be rostered in less than two-thirds of CBS leagues. Players are listed in the order that I recommend adding them, assuming they are equally good fits for your team.

Too important to ignore

Rostered in more than 67% of leagues but would likely be the most important pickup of the season if he's available for you.

Robert Williams, Celtics (82% rostered)

Williams is set to make his season debut Friday. He's a top-20 Fantasy producer when healthy. The center needs to be rostered in 100% of leagues immediately. If you're lucky enough to be in the roughly one-in-five leagues where he's available, fix that fast. Don't overthink it; act now. Almost all of your players are worse than Williams. 

Adds for all leagues

Walker Kessler, Jazz (58% rostered)

Last week's top add, Kessler put together three games that completely justify his "add immediately" status. Yet, he's still available in nearly half of leagues! Over his last seven games, he's averaging 2.9 blocks per game. That's a season-altering quantity of blocks. The 10.0 points and 9.4 rebounds are nice, too, but the blocks are the story. The 75% field goal efficiency is pretty nice, too. 

Onyeka Okongwu, Hawks (34% rostered)

Okongwu is an exceptional per-minute producer who has been stuck behind Clint Capela (calf) and John Collins (ankle) on the depth chart. As efficient as Okongwu is, he still needs more than 20 minutes to crack the Fantasy radar. Until last week, he wasn't. With Capela now slated to miss at least one week and Collins still sidelined, Okongwu's minutes should swing to the good side of the Mendoza Line. In games where he's played at least 20 minutes, he'd averaged 11-8-1 and roughly one steal and one block in 24.5 minutes per game. Collins and Capela have both been out for just one game so far this season, during which Okongwu played 28 minutes.

Jalen Duren, Pistons (57% rostered)

Another rookie big man who I've already spilled some internet ink hyping, the NBA's youngest player is suddenly surging. He's up to 14.3 rebounds in 28.8 minutes over his last four games. The extra minutes come as Detroit is figuring out how to replace Isaiah Livers (shoulder), who had been starting before getting hurt. We have no useful information regarding when Livers may return, but Duren has probably secured a larger role even after Livers gets healthy. The non-rebounding stats are still disappointing, but his per-minute numbers imply that he could become a solid source of both steals and blocks.

Cameron Johnson, Suns (51% rostered)

Just another reminder that one of my long-time favorite waiver wire pickups is getting closer and closer to returning. 

Other recommendations: Kyle Anderson, Timberwolves (54% rostered); DeAndre Hunter, Hawks (62% rostered); Moe Wagner, Magic (31% rostered); Larry Nance, Pelicans (42% rostered); Jalen McDaniels, Hornets (39% rostered); Torrey Craig, Suns (17% rostered); Caleb Martin, Heat (48% rostered); Quentin Grimes, Knicks (25% rostered); Jordan Goodwin, Wizards (24% rostered); Dyson Daniels, Pelicans (13% rostered); Kemba Walker, Mavericks (9% rostered)

Worth attention but not necessarily an addition

Donte DiVincenzo, Warriors (20% rostered)

DiVincenzo warrants attention following the news that Steph Curry (shoulder) is likely to miss at least three months. That said, don't go overboard here. DiVincenzo's 15-8-3 in 38 minutes Wednesday night came with not just Curry out, but also Klay Thompson (rest) and Andrew Wiggins (groin). Thompson should return right away, and Wiggins seems to be nearing a return. DiVincenzo should see extra work for the next few weeks, but I'd be cautious with who you drop for him. Jonathan Kuminga (26% rostered) could also benefit from Curry's absence, but I'd rather have DiVincenzo for most rosters.

Tyus Jones, Grizzlies (33% rostered)

Depending on your league settings, it might be worth adding Jones and just holding onto him. Most of the time, he's a net negative in standard leagues, putting up 8-2-4 with minimal defense. But Ja Morant sometimes misses games, which makes Jones transform into a Fantasy dynamo, jumping up to 21-3-8 with a boost in steals and threes. So far, Morant has missed about one-fifth of the Grizzlies' games. Jones is best for leagues with daily lineups and a strict games max, but that's not the only settings combination that should consider him. 

Deep League Special

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jazz (11% rostered)

Alexander-Walker is coming off a run of strong performances, though those are aided by injuries to his supporting cast. Alexaander-Walker is usable in the short term, but the longer-term potential makes him exciting. The odds of a midseason trade increase as the Jazz continue to fall in the standings. Several of Utah's most attractive trade pieces are members of the backcourt. A future trade (the deadline is less than two months away) could lead to more opportunities similar to what he's experienced this past week. And he's been effective lately, putting up 15-4-4 with 3.0 threes and 1.0 steals in 28.0 minutes. There is no guarantee that the Jazz make a move, but every loss increases the odds that they do.

Schedule Notes

The NBA is bringing back the lopsided schedule again for Week 10. There are just two games on Thursday and no games on Saturday (Christmas Eve). Conversely, every team except the Warriors and Jazz play on Friday, while Monday and Wednesday are also relatively busy with nine and 11 games, respectively. 

Zooming out, however, things are more balanced. Four teams have two games, and six have four games. Everyone else plays three times. This makes players with only two games more palatable, and the bonus from a fourth game is more noticeable.

Every team that plays Thursday is also off for Wednesday's large (11) slate and Sunday's small (5) slate. Every team that plays on Sunday (Christmas) is off on Monday of Week 11. 

There are very few three-games-in-four-nights ("3-in-4s") this week. The Bulls, Pistons, and Knicks have Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday 3-in-4s; the Wizards have a slightly more valuable Tuesday-Thursday-Friday 3-in-4; the Jazz have the best 3-in-4 of the week, and the only one that doesn't include Friday, playing Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. 

There are a few critical Fantasy takeaways.

• The Jazz have the most attractive schedule, starting the week with a 3-in-4 that includes two light slates. Even better, they have three days off after that, so managers can comfortably drop Jazzmen Thursday night (they should target players with a Sunday game as replacements).
• The Suns have the next-best schedule. Three of their four games are on smaller slates (waiver pickups on Wednesday and Friday are unlikely to crack your starting lineup due to the packed schedule). 
• In addition to the Suns, the Nuggets, Knicks, Warriors, and Grizzlies all play on both Tuesday's and Sunday's five-game slates (because Wednesday and Friday are overloaded, Thursday has only two games and Saturday has none, the Tuesday-Sunday pairing is a kind of de facto back-to-back, as far as waiver pickups are concerned).
• Managers with limited weekly acquisitions will want to use those earlier in the week than usual; there will be no room in your lineups for a waiver pickup on Friday, and there is no one to pick up on Saturday. 
• Weekly games max managers will probably have more difficulty than usual reaching their weekly max and should plan to rely more on their bench starting at the beginning of the week.