Jan. 22 Fantasy Basketball Takeaways: Top Rookies and Waiver Wire Options | Harrison Barnes, Isaiah Stewart, John Konchar, Brandon Miller, Marcus Sasser and More

There were some monster performances on NBA courts on Monday, with Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid scoring 70 points and Minnesota Timberwolves Karl-Anthony Towns posting 62 points.

Fantasy basketball owners that own either of those two guys definitely were pleased with the high-scoring performances, but I’m here to help you find the next big contributor to your team. Let’s take a look at the top outings from some waiver wire options from Jan. 22.

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Waiver Wire Options

Let’s kick things off with Sacramento Kings’ Harrison Barnes, who helped his team to a win over the Atlanta Hawks. Barnes made half of his 20 field goal attempts and eight 3-pointers to finish with 32 points. He also had four rebounds and a steal across 30 minutes of action.

Barnes is owned in 36% of leagues according to our charts. It was just the third time Barnes has gone over 20 points in a game, and he hasn’t topped 10 points in 18 contests, including five of the past seven games.

Barnes also isn’t stuffing the stat sheet, so outside of deeper leagues, I’d leave Barnes on the waiver wire. Keep an eye on him in case he gets on a hot streak, but this looks more like a one-game blip than anything else.

Cleveland Cavaliers’ Sam Merrill made eight 3-pointers on his way to a 26-point showing in a win over the Orlando Magic. Merrill, owned in 33% of leagues, also had three rebounds and one assist and steal across 31 minutes played.

Merrill is capable of big scoring nights because of his 3-point shooting. He’s played in 10 straight games for Cleveland, averaging 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.5 steals across 24.5 minutes.

Merrill took advantage of some extra playing time with both Darius Garland and Caris Levert out. If those two continue to miss time, Merrill will play plenty of minutes, so if you have the room to add him, now would be the time to make the move. Just watch the injury report and adjust accordingly when the team is at full strength.

Detroit Pistons’ Isaiah Stewart enjoyed a strong night against the Milwaukee Bucks, tallying 19 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and two assists and steals across 28 minutes played. Stewart is currently owned in 59% of leagues, and that number would likely be quite a bit higher if he hadn’t missed so many games of late.

Stewart has scored in double figures in each of the past four games he’s played in. He’s also averaged 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.5 blocks and 1 steal per game over that span. Stewart is averaging nearly 30 minutes per game over those games, so he’s a solid fantasy asset - try to make room for him.

Memphis Grizzlies' Vince Williams Jr., owned in 85% of leagues, tallied 18 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and one assist and block across 35 minutes played in the team’s win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

Williams is getting some extra run as the Grizzlies play without Desmond Bane, Ja Morant, Marcus Smart and others. He’s taking advantage of his opportunities, averaging 16.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 0.8 blocks across 34.6 minutes over the past five games. Add him now before it’s too late.

Memphis’ Luke Kennard is owned in 64% of leagues, so there’s a better chance he’s available in your league. He made five 3-pointers on his way to a 19-point showing on Monday. Kennard also tallied seven assists and three rebounds across 35 minutes.

Kennard has now scored in double figures in seven straight games. He’s averaging 14.4 points, 4.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 0.4 steals across 30.5 minutes played over that span. He should be owned in all deeper formats, and he’s making a case to be owned in all standard setups too. I’d take a chance on him until he cools off a bit.

Memphis’ John Konchar finished with six points, five blocks and rebounds and four assists in the team’s win. He’s only owned in 1% of leagues.

He’s a guy to keep an eye on in all formats after starting the past three games. He’s averaging 4.3 points, 4 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 0.3 steals per game over that span. Those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but if he can start scoring around 10 points a game and keeps up those other averages, he’s going to be worth an add.

Dallas Mavericks’ Tim Hardaway Jr., owned in 73% of leagues, had another strong scoring night on Monday. He made four 3-pointers on his way to a 20-point outing. Hardaway also had two rebounds and one assist.

Hardaway has topped 20 points in four of the past five games now. He’d be a better fantasy asset if he was stuffing the stat sheet more, but it’s hard to argue against adding a guy averaging 25.8 points per game over five games. Another positive from this scoring total was that the Mavericks weren’t missing either of their top scorers (Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving). I’ve said it before and will say it again: you should add Hardaway to your fantasy team - his scoring alone should be reason enough.

Towns’ monster game overshadowed a positive performance from Minnesota’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker. He tallied 18 points, two assists and one steal across 30 minutes.

It was Alexander-Walker’s ninth time over 10 points in a game, and first time in seven games. He’s owned in just 4% of leagues and should remain around that number until he can consistently put together games like he did on Monday. He’s a guy to keep an eye on, but you can probably chalk his strong outing up to Mike Conley being out. 

Atlanta’s Bogdan Bogdanovic, owned in 85% of leagues, finished the night with 18 points, four assists and two rebounds across 34 minutes played.

For the few leagues he’s available in, it’s probably time to pick him up again. His own percentage dropped a bit after playing between 23-25 minutes a night for a four-game span, but he’s been between 28-34 minutes in the past three games, and he’s responded by averaging 16.3 points across those games.

Top Rookies

Not too many rookies stood out on Monday. 

Charlotte Hornets’ Brandon Miller, who is owned in 79% of leagues is a guy to mention. He was 11-of-13 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep on his way to a 27-point outing. He also tallied three rebounds, two assists and a steal across 29 minutes in the team’s win over Minnesota.

I wanted to bring up Miller again because he’s about to be a much bigger focal point on offense after the team traded away Terry Rozier for Kyle Lowry.

If Miller is available in your league, you need to be adding him right now. He’s scored over 20 points in three straight games and should continue to get up plenty of shots every night now on a new-look Charlotte team.

Detroit’s Marcus Sasser, who is being shown as available in just about every league, recorded 23 points, three assists and one steal and rebound across 26 minutes against the Bucks. 

Sasser was a decent fantasy option for a stretch earlier in the season, but has had inconsistent playing time since. He appears to be heating up again, so he’s worth an add in deeper leagues and dynasties, and he’s one to monitor in all other formats in case he continues to excel.

Cleveland’s Craig Porter Jr. finished with 12 points, five assists and three rebounds across 22 minutes in the team’s win over the Magic. Porter is owned in just 4% of leagues.

He’s starting to get some more minutes - finishing with 19-21 minutes over his past three contests - so he’s worth keeping an eye on. He does a solid job of filling the stat sheet, so if he can average around 10 points a game, he’s a decent fantasy option.