Welcome to another week in the lost-and-found department of fantasy basketball. Will any of the names below help turn around your fortunes? No. But they might help a little bit here and there. Think of it as marginal gains of fantasy basketball. Emphasis on the marginal.
Week 16 Fantasy Basketball Deep Waiver Wire Adds
Eric Gordon, SG/SF – Houston Rockets (11% rostered)
Stat highlight: Attempted 6+ threes a game for the last week
The oft-injured Gordon seems to be heating up somewhat recently. Perhaps the Rockets are showcasing him for a potential trade to a contender. The trade deadline is still 11 days away so we’ll likely be able to take advantage of more games featuring Gordon in an extended role. Presumably, the team trading for him would like to use him as part of their rotation too. Gordon’s three-point percentage has been on a down year but he’s still getting the attempts in. He’s also contributing solid numbers in assists, steals, and free-throw percentage.
Alec Burks, SG/SF – Detroit Pistons (26% rostered)
Stat highlight: Averages 20.5 points per game since joining the starting line-up
Burks replaced Killian Hayes in the Pistons starting line-up two days ago and the results have been very promising for Burks’ fantasy prospects. Burks is a scorer through and through so points and threes are the fantasy scoring categories you should expect from him.
Kira Lewis Jr., PG – New Orleans Pelicans(0% rostered)
Stat highlight: Drafted at 13 in the 2020 NBA draft
Lewis Jr. was just recalled from the G League to fill in for the shorthanded Pels and had a pretty good game for a guy whose name you’d find a deep waiver add list: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 three-pointer made. If the Pelicans’ injury worries, particularly with C.J. McCollum, continue into the new week, Lewis could be a decent end-of-roster player in deeper leagues.
Patrick Beverley, PG – Los Angeles Lakers (8% rostered)
Stat highlight: 20 3-point attempts in the last 3 games
Old friend Patrick Beverley has been on somewhat of a heater over the past two games – averaging 10+ field goal attempts, 7 three-point attempts, 2 steals, and 16.5 points. And he took a camera on the court too, to help the referees out. Whether the offensive numbers can be relied upon going forward is up in the air but Beverley can always be relied upon to be his annoying self on defense. Regardless, the Lakers are on a 4-game gameweek so Beverley could be of help in deeper leagues.
Jericho Sims, C – New York Knicks (10% rostered)
Stat highlight: Made his last 17 field goal attempts
Mitchell Robinson is scheduled to miss at least four more weeks with a thumb injury. Sucks for Mitch but great news for Jericho Sims. On the face of it, Sims looks like a one-category-man (rebounds) but his underlying shot-contesting numbers show a significant shot-blocking potential and despite low field goal attempt numbers, he never misses. So he’s a three-category-man.