Fantasy Basketball Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups | Should You Add Sam Hauser, Jaden McDaniels and Dillon Brooks?

The sixth week of the NBA season has come and gone, so it’s time to dive into some potential waiver wire additions.

This week, we will discuss Boston Celtics’ Sam Hauser, Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels and Houston Rockets’ Dillon Brooks.

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Sam Hauser Fantasy Outlook

Hauser has been solid coming off the bench for Boston this season. He has made two starts across 19 total games played.

For the season, Hauser is averaging 22.9 minutes, 9.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.4 blocks while committing 1.5 fouls and 0.6 turnovers. He’s shooting 47% overall and 43.7% on his 3-point attempts. 

Hauser has played 20+ minutes in 10 contests, including three games over 30 minutes played. He’s scored in double figures 12 times, had a steal in eight contests and a block in seven games. His rebound and assist numbers leave a bit to be desired, with no more than four assists in a game and only tallying over five rebounds three times.

Even with all the scoring threats on Boston’s roster, Hauser is still getting 7.1 field goal attempts per game.

Verdict: I’m always looking for players that can fill the stat sheet in several ways, and Hauser doesn’t really do that. There’s a pretty good chance of another more well-rounded fantasy option being available in your league. Now if you are in a deeper league, then Hauser makes a little more sense. I’d still have to imagine there’s a more balanced player available that is a better fantasy asset than Hauser.

Jaden McDaniels Fantasy Outlook

McDaniels is currently out with a right ankle sprain, but his 2-3 week timeline from Nov. 21 makes his return in the near future.

He’s started all 11 games he’s appeared in this season, averaging 23.6 minutes, 9.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.4 blocks, while committing one turnover and 3.3 fouls per contest.

His numbers are down quite a bit from last season, but that makes sense considering he’s playing seven less minutes. His field goal percentage (58.2) is up nearly 7%, while his 3-point percentage (37.9) is down about 2%.

In his 11 games, McDaniels played over 30 minutes three times. He scored in double figures seven times and tallied five or more boards twice. McDaniels hasn’t topped four assists in a game, and only has a steal in four games and a block in three contests.

His shooting percentages are solid, he just hasn’t been able to stay on the court so far this season. If he can heal up, he should see an increase to his averages across the board - last season he averaged 12.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1 block, and 0.9 steals across 30.6 minutes.

Verdict: I am a fan of McDaniels and would be in favor of adding him to your fantasy team. If he got dropped due to roster constraints, McDaniels is probably close enough to returning now to stash on the end of your bench for a couple days. While Minnesota is led by Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, there’s still a need for a third consistent scorer, and I think McDaniels could be that guy.

Dillon Brooks Fantasy Outlook

Brooks draws headlines for a lot of negative reasons usually, but he’s actually a pretty solid fantasy asset. This season, he’s started all 17 games he’s appeared in and averaged 30.7 minutes.

Brooks is also averaging 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.1 blocks while committing 4.1 fouls and 1.8 turnovers. He’s shooting 47.9% from the field (up from 39.6% last year) and 44.1% from deep (up from 32.6% last year). His free throw percentage has jumped from 77.9% to 82.5%.

Brooks has played 30 or more minutes in eight games already. He’s scored in double figures 13 times and tallied steals in eight contests. Brooks has pulled down at least five rebounds three times, but only has one game over four assists.

If fouls are ways for fantasy players to get negative points in your league, that’s a bit an issue with the aggressive Brooks. He’s had three or more fouls in all but two contests. He’s fouled out twice and finished with five fouls on four other occasions.

Verdict: If your league doesn’t include fouls for fantasy purposes, or if they won’t alter a player’s fantasy score all that much, then I’m in favor of adding Brooks. He is a pretty solid scorer and fills up the rest of the box score well enough to be rostered in most leagues. He’s playing a ton of minutes and that’s a great thing for any fantasy player.