The end of the NBA regular season is now within viewing distance – it’s either 7 or 8 games remaining for all the teams. In the East, the Pacers and the Wizards are out play-in contention, which means star players might be taking an early leave of absence so keep an eye open for changes in rotations. In the West, Portland are the only new team out of contention, while it’s not looking great for Dallas either. Maybe you can read who the best pickups for Doncic and Irving are in the next week’s edition. For this week’s suggested waiver wire pickups, however, scroll down.
Week 23 Fantasy Basketball Deep Waiver Wire Adds
Drew Eubanks, C – Portland Trail Blazers (14% rostered)
Stat highlight: Averages 2.1 blocks per 36 minutes
With Jusuf Nurkic, Jerami Grant, and Trendon Watford injured, Drew Eubanks remains the only healthy frontcourt playing on the Blazers rotation. And therefore should receive a decent amount of playing time in the last 8 games of the regular season. Since Portland are out of the playoff (and play-in) race, there is no hurry to bring anyone back from the injured reserve early. In the 6 games Eubanks has played without Jusuf Nurkic and Jerami Grant in the lineup, he averages 8.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 26 minutes.
Naz Reid, C – Minnesota Timberwolves (20% rostered)
Stat highlight: Ranks as the 21st best 9-cat fantasy player in the last two games
Naz Reid may have been perhaps dropped prematurely in many leagues with Karl-Anthony Towns’ return from a long-term injury. In the two games with Towns back in the Timberwolves lineup, Reid has still been able to score 26 and 23 points in 23.5 minutes. So there may just be enough big-man minutes to go around for Reid to be a useful fantasy player. Plus, should Towns need to take a back-to-back game off, for example, the one on Monday, Reid will certainly provide a solid stat line.
Luke Kennard, SG – Memphis Grizzlies (17% rostered)
Stat highlight: Averages 4.4 made threes in his last 7 games
Luke Kennard, having been traded from the Clippers at the trade deadline, finds himself now as one of the most prolific three-point shooters off the Grizzlies bench. The current run of 4.4 threes per game in the last 7 games ranks him second in the league behind Trey Murphy. What’s even more impressive is that Kennard does it while playing only 25 minutes per game when everyone else in the top 10 is playing well north of 30 minutes. Not sure how that stat helps anyone in fantasy basketball but, regardless, if you need threes and points for your last fantasy weeks, you might want to consider Luke Kennard.
Corey Kispert, SG/SF – Washington Wizards (12% rostered)
Stat highlight: Attempted 10 three-pointers per game in last two games
Corey Kispert scored 19 and 26 points in the last two games with Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma out of the lineup and potentially out for the remaining 7 games of the season. Kispert and Deni Avdija seem to be fill-ins as the wing scorers for the Wizards. Either can be expected to get over 30 minutes of playing time for the remainder of the season. While both are competent scorers, Kispert will contribute more threes and Avdija rebounds and assists.
Grayson Allen, SG/SF – Milwaukee Bucks (17% rostered)
Stat highlight: 44.6% three-point shooter for the season
I can’t stop recommending Grayson Allen and will continue doing so until the season is over. Allen is a perfect end-of-roster stocking stuffer averaging 2 threes, 1 steal, 91% from the line, and 1 turnover per game for the season. Also, the Bucks are one of the teams with four games in each of the remaining two gameweeks.