Jan. 9 Fantasy Basketball Takeaways: Top Rookies and Waiver Wire Options | Moritz Wagner, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jaden Ivey, Xavier Tillman Sr., Toumani Camara and More

There were just five NBA games played on Tuesday night, but there were still plenty of notable performances.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest performances, focusing on several widely-unowned players and rookies.

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Waiver Wire Options

Detroit Pistons’ Bojan Bogdanovic had a strong outing during the team’s loss to the Sacramento Kings. He tallied 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including four 3-point makes and a 2-of-3 mark at the free-throw line. Bogdanovic also had five rebounds, three steals and two assists in the contests.

Bogdanovic is owned in about 82% of leagues, according to our charts. He’s averaging 19.8 points per game across 18 games played, and does enough else on the court to be a solid fantasy asset. He’s now scored over 20 points on eight occasions. He should be added to your fantasy roster if you have an open spot or player who is underperforming and droppable.

Detroit’s Jaden Ivey had 22 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals in the team’s loss. He’s available in about 30% of leagues.

Ivey is starting now for Detroit, and consistently playing a good amount of minutes. He’s scored in 13 of the past 15 games, and adds enough boards and assists to be a decent fantasy asset. Ivey is another player I’m in favor of adding if you have the room.

Orlando’s Moritz Wagner came off the bench, but played 31 minutes in the team’s loss to the Minnesota Timerberwolves. He tallied 21 points, eight rebounds and two assists and steals. Wagner is owned in just 30% of leagues.

Wagner rarely starts, but he plays enough minutes to consistently impact games. He’s scored in double figures in three of the past four games. He’s grabbed at least five rebounds in three of those contests and has added a few assists and steals. If he can continue to score in double figures, then I’d be in favor of adding him, but I’d wait a couple more games before making that move.

New York Knicks’ Isaiah Hartenstein only took one field goal attempt on Tuesday, but was a rebounding machine in the team’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s owned in just under 80% of leagues.

Hartenstein tallied five points, 14 rebounds, three assists and steals and one block across nearly 28 minutes. He doesn’t consistently score points (with just nine contests in double figures) but if you’re in need of rebounds, Hartenstein has you covered (he’s had 10 or more boards in eight games now). He’ll remain a decent fantasy asset for the rest of the season (unless the team brings in another big man) with Mitchell Robinson out.

Memphis Grizzlies’ Xavier Tillman Sr. finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two assists and blocks in nearly 28 minutes played off the bench in the team’s win over the Dallas Mavericks. Tillman is owned in just 5% of leagues.

Tillman’s minutes have been wildly inconsistent this season, but maybe Tuesday’s big showing can get him some consistent minutes moving forward. I’d wait to see if he can continue this level of play for a few games before adding him to my team, but he’s definitely on my radar.

Minnesota’s Naz Reid went for 13 points, 10 rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes off the bench. He’s owned in about 63% of leagues right now.

Reid has played 20+ minutes in four straight games, and he’s responded by scoring in double figures three times and going over five boards in each game. He’s not going to be a huge fantasy asset unless Karl-Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert miss extended time, but he’s a decent fantasy asset if he continues to put up numbers like he has recently.

Orlando’s Chuma Okeke started and played 27 minutes on Tuesday. He made just one field goal to tally three points, but also had 10 rebounds and one assist and block. He’s being shown as owned in just 3% of leagues.

Okeke hasn’t played a ton this season, but has gotten over 25 minutes in four straight games because the Magic are dealing with several injuries. He only connected on more than one field goal in one of those games, but he’s been rebounding at a good clip. If he can start scoring consistently, he might be worth an add in deeper leagues.

Detroit’s Killian Hayes had mixed results on Tuesday night. He scored just four points and had six turnovers, but also tallied seven assists, four boards and one steal. He’s owned in 29% of leagues.

Much like Okeke, if Hayes can score at a better clip, Hayes would be a decent fantasy option because he fills up the stat sheet with assists and rebounds. 

Memphis’ Vince Williams Jr. recorded six points, rebounds and assists and added three steals in the team’s win. He’s owned in about 40% of leagues.

He nearly played 30 minutes on Tuesday, and was on the court for nearly 37 minutes in the previous game. If he continues to play that many minutes, he’s going to have a chance to fill the stat sheet and be a pretty solid fantasy asset. I’d keep a close eye on him the next game or two before making a move.

Top Rookies

Most of the rookies from Tuesday’s game came in the Portland, New York game. Portland played six rookies.

Ibou Badji had four points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals and blocks for the Trail Blazers. He’s barely owned in any fantasy leagues.

Badji has played in eight straight games, but hasn’t hit double digits in points yet. He can fill up the stat sheet, like he did on Tuesday, but until he can score a bit more, he’s not a fantasy asset outside the deepest of leagues.

Portland’s Toumani Camara finished with five points, six boards, two assists and blocks and one steal in 25 minutes played. He’s owned in roughly 10% of leagues.

Camara is starting for the team and playing a healthy amount of minutes, but as Tuesday’s game suggests, he isn’t scoring enough to be a bigger fantasy threat. He scored in double figures in three straight games recently, but only had 10 points combined in the past two games. Keep an eye on him in case he gets hot, but otherwise he should remain on the waiver wire outside of deeper leagues.

Duop Reath totaled seven points and six rebounds for Portland. He’s owned in nearly 40% of leagues now. 

After back-to-back strong outings, Reath struggled a bit on Tuesday, although he played significantly less than he has been. His inconsistent minutes have held him back from being a bigger fantasy asset. He should be owned in deeper leagues, but there’s probably better fantasy options out there in standard league setups.

Kris Murray went for nine points, three rebounds and one assist and steal in Portland’s loss. He’s barely owned in any fantasy leagues.

Murray has played in five straight games, but his minutes have varied between 7-20. Until he gets more consistent playing time, it will be hard for Murray to be a solid fantasy asset. 

The last Portland player I want to mention is No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson. He’s been a bit underwhelming this season, and had eight points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal on Tuesday. He’s owned in roughly 75% of leagues.

Henderson is averaging 12.1 points and 5 assists per game this season, but has played under 30 minutes in back-to-back games now (and just under 25 minutes on Tuesday). Hopefully, the team was just giving him a little bit of a breather and his minutes go back up, because if he stays around 25 minutes a game, it’ll be hard for him to consistently deliver, which may lead to him becoming droppable in redraft leagues.

One other rookie I want to mention is Orlando’s Anthony Black. He tallied three points, four assists, three steals and one rebound and block on Tuesday. He’s owned in under 5% of leagues.

The sixth overall pick in the most recent draft has played over 20 minutes in 18 contests this season, but he hasn’t been able to consistently score - or do much else consistently for that matter. I bring him up because he plays plenty of minutes, which gives him more chances to figure things out. Keep an eye on him in case he gets hot.