This article is part of our NBA Waiver Wire series.
Hello! We made it to the All-Star break. Two-thirds of the season is already in the books, and we're closing in fast on the head-to-head Fantasy playoffs.
Trade deadline fallout is still the dominant story on the waiver wire, but with a week's worth of post-deadline games data to comb through, there has been some reshuffling.
As for the post-break schedule, Week 18 is crowded. There are between 10-12 games on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, with a tiny three-game Saturday squeezed into the middle. Games are split evenly, with 14 teams playing two games and 14 teams playing three games. The Grizzlies and Heat, however, each play only once, resulting in a massive short-term downgrade for those players (that said, since both teams are overwhelmed by injuries, their rosters include several names mentioned below, and both teams kick off Week 19 with four games in six nights). For a more detailed schedule breakdown, I went in-depth on Weeks 17 and 18 in last week's column.
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.
Adds for all leagues
Tre Mann, Hornets 
(42% rostered)
Well, oops. Sorry about that. I stand by the process that led to my preferring Visilije Micic to Mann last week, but sometimes good process still leads to bad results. Once the two former Thunder point
Hello! We made it to the All-Star break. Two-thirds of the season is already in the books, and we're closing in fast on the head-to-head Fantasy playoffs.
Trade deadline fallout is still the dominant story on the waiver wire, but with a week's worth of post-deadline games data to comb through, there has been some reshuffling.
As for the post-break schedule, Week 18 is crowded. There are between 10-12 games on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, with a tiny three-game Saturday squeezed into the middle. Games are split evenly, with 14 teams playing two games and 14 teams playing three games. The Grizzlies and Heat, however, each play only once, resulting in a massive short-term downgrade for those players (that said, since both teams are overwhelmed by injuries, their rosters include several names mentioned below, and both teams kick off Week 19 with four games in six nights). For a more detailed schedule breakdown, I went in-depth on Weeks 17 and 18 in last week's column.
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.
Adds for all leagues
Tre Mann, Hornets (42% rostered)
Well, oops. Sorry about that. I stand by the process that led to my preferring Visilije Micic to Mann last week, but sometimes good process still leads to bad results. Once the two former Thunder point guards arrived in Charlotte, Mann was immediately installed as the starter. Though they played basically the same minutes in that first game (27 vs. 26), and Micic had the better Fantasy night, the coaching staff clearly felt they'd seen enough from Mann to prioritize him moving forward. In their next two games, Mann jumped to 32.0 minutes per game while Micic fell to 20.5. Mann averaged 16-9-7 with 2.5 threes and 1.0 steals in those two contests. He is an immediate, high-priority, all-leagues must add.
Precious Achiuwa, Knicks 
(61% rostered)
As far as we know, Mitchell Robinson (ankle) may not return during the regular season. Julius Randle (shoulder) is set to be re-evaluated during the All-Star break, but that doesn't necessarily mean his return is imminent (the average period of absence for a shoulder dislocation implies a much longer absence, but it's an injury with a ton of variability in timelines). OG Anunoby (elbow) will miss at least another week after the break, and likely more. Isaiah Hartenstein (Achilles) has missed the last three games, and he was absent or limited in five of nine before that – they're treating him as game-to-game, but "ongoing Achilles tendinopathy" doesn't sound ideal for a seven-footer. All that is to say, Achiuwa should continue to see massive minutes after the break. We don't know if this expanded role will last a week or a month, but he's putting up 14-10-1 with 2.6 stocks as a starter, which means the "how long will this last" question is a problem for Future Us.
GG Jackson, Grizzlies 
(53% rostered)
Despite coming off the bench, Jackson is second on the Grizzlies in scoring over the last six games. He's averaging 21-5-1 with 3.6 threes and 2.2 stocks while averaging 26.8 minutes off the bench during that period. Memphis recently submitted a formal appeal to the NBA to change their mascot to the Memphis MASH, and as long as seemingly their entire roster is out hurt, Jackson should maintain his prominent role. He's a solid pickup, but managers should be aware that his recent defensive production is probably unsustainable – he should stay productive on that end, but his recent 0.8 steals and 1.4 blocks are notably above his per-minute pace before that stretch.
Simone Fontecchio, Pistons 
(28% rostered)
Pro: He's averaging 15-5-2 with 2.3 threes while starting for his new team. Con: His minutes have decreased in each of his first three appearances. I'm not entirely sure what to make of those conflicting signals. The workloads may have been impacted by lopsided losses, but, this is the Pistons -- they're going to suffer a lot of those. So I'm defaulting to my initial post-trade analysis, just with slightly less enthusiasm. Fontecchio is a good player and a perfect fit for what the Pistons need alongside their young core. He fills the gap left by Bojan Bogdanovic. I'm mentally downgrading him from a "priority pickup" to a "solid pickup who fits on most rosters", but there isn't really a meaningful difference between those two. He was the fourth name in this column last week, and he's the fourth name this week.
Keyonte George, Jazz 
(59% rostered)
As has come up a few times this season, I am very excited about George as a prospect. His production still isn't great, but I love his potential. He was promoted into the starting lineup last week while the roster was completely healthy, which, hopefully, means it will be a lasting change. If he can maintain 30-plus minutes down the stretch, then he could be one of the best adds for assists over these final two months.
I wrote that paragraph before Thursday's game, when he went out and dropped 22-2-6 with NINE threes and three steals in 41 minutes. After seeing that box score, I bumped him up a bit in this column. If the production is already starting to come in like this, we could be in for a very fun next two months.
Marvin Bagley, Wizards 
(58% rostered)
Bagley is very good at two things: crab cakes and football. Ok, that joke is a stretch, because it requires you to remember 20-year-old comedies, know that the Wizards' home arena is less than 15 minutes from the Maryland border, and that basically all of Bagley's fantasy value comes from just two categories. But, as they say, jokes are always better when you explain them. As we expected following the trade deadline, Bagley is now starting and playing close to 30 minutes per game. His Fantasy value is limited to rebounds and FG% - he's about break-even in points and blocks, only a minor negative in FT%, and harmful everywhere else. He's a classic "he's not a good fit for every roster, but there is a team in every league that should add him" guy. That said, one Bagley piece to keep an eye on: he has five blocks since entering the starting lineup. That's probably a small-sample outlier, but if he can maintain more than one block per game, that would be a massive boost to his Fantasy appeal.
Nick Richards, Hornets (50% rostered)
Every week, Richards shows up here. Every week, I cite his solid-but-boring stat line since taking over as a starter. Each week, the points or rebounds go a little up or down. Yet, somehow, every week, his blocks average remains fixed at 1.3 per game. It's incredible how consistent it's been. Anywho, we got another update on Mark Williams (back), and it was ominous – it now seems likely that Richards will remain the starter throughout the rest of the season. Good-not-great Fantasy big man stats are here to stay. And if you missed out on Richards, Paul Reed (64% rostered) is doing a fantastic Nick Richards impression as Joel Embiid's (knee) injury replacement. Reed is less consistent than Richards, but Reed's last four games are a positively Richardsonian: 14-10-1 with 1.3 blocks.
Other recommendations: Grayson Allen, Suns (58% rostered); Grant Williams, Hornets (27% rostered); Jaime Jaquez Jr., Heat (58% rostered); Herbert Jones, Pelicans (48% rostered); Paul Reed, 76ers (64% rostered); Trey Murphy, Pelicans (40% rostered); Naz Reid, Timberwolves (51% rostered); Gary Trent Jr., Raptors (30% rostered); Josh Green, Mavericks (20% rostered); Kyle Anderson, Timberwolves (23% rostered); Dillon Brooks, Rockets (46% rostered); Marcus Sasser, Pistons (16% rostered)
Deep league special
Marcus Sasser, Pistons (16% rostered)
Sorry to repeat last week's name here, but I wanted a place to talk about Sasser. I don't understand why he's averaged only 18.7 minutes over the last three games. In the two games around the trade deadline, when Detroit was shorthanded due to all the transactions, Sasser averaged 18-3-8 in 35.0 minutes. I understand that he can't play 35 minutes when they've got a full roster, but can't we get him to 25? He's a good enough passer that managers can consider adding him even at just 18.7 minutes, but the hope here is that the Pistons give more chances to their promising rookie, allowing him to also help in points and threes.
Jordan Goodwin, Grizzlies (1% rostered)
Goodwin started for the MASH's Thursday, putting up an impressive 11-7-3 with two steals and a three in 29 minutes. He's on a 10-day contract that will expire before Memphis' next game, so we may have to quickly turn around and drop him. However, if he can stick with the team, he's a decent player at their most injury-plagued position. There could be some opportunities ahead.
Other recommendations: Nikola Jovic, Heat (7% rostered); Jonathan Isaac, Magic (11% rostered)
