Jan. 18 Fantasy Basketball Takeaways: Top Rookies and Waiver Wire Options | Kevin Huerter, Bennedict Mathurin, Marvin Bagley III, Luke Kennard, Cason Wallace and More

There were five NBA games played on Thursday night, with each game being pretty close and entertaining.

Let’s get into some of the better performances from waiver wire options, including some rookies, from Jan. 18.

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Waiver Wire Options

Let’s kick things off with Sacramento Kings’ Kevin Huerter. He was 11-of-17 from the floor, including 7-of-12 from 3-point land, to finish with 31 points in the team’s loss to the Indiana Pacers. Huerter, who is owned in 60% of leagues, also tallied four assists, two rebounds and one assist and steal in the contest.

Huerter has now scored in double figures in three straight games. Thursday’s game was the first one in which he topped 30 points in this season. Huerter has seen most of his averages drop this season, but he’s capable of these kinds of games with a good amount of playing time. He’s worth adding until he cools off.

Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin was 11-of-21 from the floor on his way to a 25-point showing. He also recorded four assists, three rebounds, two blocks and one steal.

He’s now scored in double figures in 13 straight games now, including four 20-point games over that span. Usually that’s more than enough evidence to add a player for me, but Indiana was playing without Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith, not to mention Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. 

Mathurin, owned in 60% of leagues, is still going to be a big part of the rotation, but these big scoring nights are likely going to dry up when the team’s at full health, and with Mathurin not doing much else consistently on the court, he’s not worth the add.

Indiana’s T.J. McConnell had a double-double in the team’s win, posting 20 points and 10 assists to go along with one steal and rebound. 

He’s owned in 64% of leagues right now and continues to put up solid numbers with Haliburton out. He might not score this much with Nembhard, Nesmith and Siakam around, but double digit outings are still doable, and he’ll tally enough assists to roster at least until Haliburton is back.

Indiana’s Jalen Smith, owned in 22% of leagues, accumulated 17 points, 13 rebounds and one assist and block across nearly 25 minutes of action.

I wanted to bring Smith up because a lot of fantasy owners are going to see this performance and want to add him. I’d try to avoid doing so, because Smith’s minutes and production aren't likely to be anywhere close to these levels when Siakam is playing. 

Marvin Bagley III played his first game with the Washington Wizards on Thursday after being traded there from the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 14. Bagley, who is owned in 43% of leagues, recorded 20 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals and assists across 39 minutes played in the team’s loss to the New York Knicks.

Bagley nearly set a season high in points in his debut game for Washington. It was just his second double-double of the season and fourth time over 30 minutes played. Bagley’s minutes could be diminished greatly when Daniel Gafford returns, but Bagley is worth an add if Gafford misses any more games.

New York’s Donte DiVincenzo totaled 19 points, three assists and rebounds and one block in the team’s win. DiVincenzo is owned in 71% of leagues.

It was a nice bounceback showing for DiVincenzo, who tallied just five points in the previous game. That five-point showing was the only time over the past 11 games that he’s failed to reach double figures in points - he’s averaging 15.6 rebounds, 4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks over that span. That’s enough production to be owned in most fantasy leagues.

Minnesota Timberwolves’ Naz Reid posted 20 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist and block across nearly 24 minutes played in the team’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Reid is currently owned in 70% of leagues.

It was Reid’s fifth 20-point showing of the season. Since his last 20-point outing in late December, Reid is averaging 13.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1 steal and 0.8 blocks across 23.9 minutes and 11 games played. His fantasy ceiling will be capped playing on the same team as Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, but Reid is still a pretty solid fantasy asset.

Memphis’ Luke Kennard finished with 18 points, two rebounds and assists and one steal across 31 minutes played in the team’s losing effort. Kennard is owned in 37% of leagues.

With all the injuries Memphis is dealing with, Kennard has played over or just below 30 minutes in four straight games. He’s scored in double figures in five straight games, but doesn’t fill up the stat sheet in many other ways. His scoring alone makes him a possible waiver wire add, but I’d personally try to find someone who provides some boards, assists, steals or blocks so you aren’t so dependent on points.

Toronto Raptors’ Chris Boucher finished with six points, nine rebounds and two assists across 17 minutes played in the team’s loss to the Chicago Bulls. Boucher is owned in just 9% of leagues.

I wanted to include Boucher after the trade of Siakam. It hasn’t resulted in more playing time or extra points, but it’s worth noting that Boucher has 16 rebounds over the past two games. If he can start averaging 10 or so points a game, Boucher might not be a bad fantasy asset - he’ll probably need some more playing time to get to that point though.

Speaking of the Siakam trade, Bruce Brown played in his first game for the Raptors. He came off the bench and played nearly 25 minutes, tallying 15 points, seven rebounds and one assist and steal. Brown is owned in 64% of leagues.

I personally don’t think Brown will be in Toronto for long, but if the team is going to trade him away, they’d be smart to showcase Brown, which could mean plenty of minutes and a good amount of fantasy production. He’s always filled the stat sheet pretty well, so I'd have no problem adding him to my fantasy team if you have the room.

Rookie Standouts

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Cason Wallace went off for 16 points, four rebounds and one assist, steal and block across 32 minutes played in the team’s win over the Utah Jazz. Wallace is owned in just 3% of leagues.

Wallace got a start and took advantage of Luguentz Dort being out. It was a new career high in points for Wallace, who was 6-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from deep. Dort missed the game with an illness, so he likely won’t be out long, however, Wallace’s nice outing should earn him some more minutes. Keep an eye on him if you are in dynasty or deeper leagues.

Indiana’s Jarace Walker finished the night with 15 points and two rebounds and assists in the team’s win over the Kings.

Walker, who is owned in 4% of leagues, now has posted back-to-back solid outings. They’ve come with multiple guards out, so unless key members of the rotation continue to miss games, Walker probably isn’t a very good fantasy option outside of dynasty and deeper leagues. His solid play should at least keep him in consideration for the rotation for the time being.