It's Week 3 in fantasy hoops and you’re probably dominating your league or already sick from all the L’s you’ve taken.
It's important to remember not to panic. It's still early in the fantasy season and there's a good chance you can still pick up someone from the waiver wire to help you in the long or short term.
Here are some names you should consider for the next time you scroll through your league's free agent list. This list was made with 12-team, nine-category, head-to-head leagues in mind, while looking at rankings from Yahoo! If you’re playing in a points league, there’s still time to create a category league.
Long-term adds
Alex Caruso
The “GOAT” is only rostered in 46 percent of leagues and that number is bound to go higher in the following weeks. Patrick Williams, the Chicago Bulls’ starting power forward, broke his left wrist and will be out for the remainder of the season.
The Bulls have started Javonte Green in Williams’ place and Green is definitely worth keeping an eye on, especially for deeper leagues with 14 to 20 teams. But it’s Caruso who’s bound to benefit as he has been featured in the Bulls’ lineups in close games.
The defensive-minded guard is averaging 8.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.1 3s, 0.5 blocks and a whopping 2.7 steals. He probably won’t soak a lot of usage, but those steals, assists, and 3s are already enough to justify must-roster status in 12-team leagues.
Matisse Thybulle
The Painter won’t blow you away with big scoring numbers, but he's been providing insane defensive stats early this season.
He's only getting 21.5 minutes per game as Philadelphia’s sixth man, but Thybulle has been producing 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per contest. He’s ranked 49th in nine-category leagues and is only rostered in 37 percent of leagues.
There is room for those numbers to come down, but defensive stats are hard to come by. There can be weeks decided by just a couple of blocks or steals. Thybulle is instrumental to Philly’s rotation, so he’ll always find minutes.
Right now, he’s like peak Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, except he doesn’t hurt you in any categories. He’s one of the best end-of-the bench options in fantasy.
Patrick Beverly
Pat Bev always finds a way into a team’s rotation, no matter how deep. On a Minnesota squad both young and looking to contend, Beverly has carved out a nice 21-minute-a-game role for himself.
And he’s done your typical Pat Bev things with that limited playing time. He’s averaging 2.0 3s, 7.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. That’s a nice all-around stat line for a guy only rostered in six percent of leagues, as of writing.
Don’t be surprised if Beverly takes some minutes for the cold-shooting D’Angelo Russell on some nights as his defense has swung the momentum on several games now. If you’re in a deep league, you probably won’t find a better immediate add than Beverly.
Short-term options
The Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz have four games in Week 3. While 14 teams play four games this week, only the Rockets and Jazz play their games on days where there aren’t a lot of games being played.
This means their players are the best streaming options this week. Streaming, for the uninitiated, is reserving one or even two roster spots on your team for players who have plenty of games during a certain week. Managers usually then drop the players they streamed for the day or the week to add another player who has a lot of games.
You usually want players who play on days with low volume of games because that means you’ll have open spots in your starting lineup. Streaming is useless if the player you streamed can’t get in the starting lineup because all your big guns have a game.
With that being said, Houston’s Eric Gordon and Utah’s Royce O’Neale should provide the best value for your streaming slot. Gordon is a points and 3s specialist, who gets the occasional steal because he’s still a solid defender. O’Neale, on the other hand, provides little value in all categories. Stretch his stats across four games and you should have a solid player for the week.
