Jan. 25 Fantasy Basketball Takeaways: Top Rookies and Waiver Wire Options | Harrison Barnes, Cam Thomas, Kelly Olynyk, Ayo Dosunmu, Brandin Podziemski and More

Seven NBA games took place on Thursday night, and now it’s time to dive into some of the better performances.

Let’s focus in on some waiver wire options and widely-available rookies from Jan. 25.

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Waiver Wire Options

We’ll open the conversation with Sacramento Kings’ Harrison Barnes, who is owned in 59% of leagues, according to the FantasySP charts. Barnes played nearly 40 minutes in the team’s win over the Golden State Warriors, tallying 39 points, four rebounds, two steals and one block. His 39 points were the most in the NBA on the night.

Barnes made 14-of-24 shots overall, including 7-of-12 from 3-point land and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line to tally his points. It was his season high in points, and second straight game he’s topped 30 points.

The Kings haven’t had any big names inactive the past couple games, so his big scoring output is great to see. He’s not going to give you this many points on a nightly basis, but he’s worth adding until he cools off again. Oddly enough, Barnes hasn’t reached double-digit point totals in five of his past eight games, meaning once he cools off, you should return him to the waiver wire.

Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga played 30 minutes off the bench in the team’s loss. He tallied 31 points, three assists and rebounds and two steals. Kuminga is owned in 83% of leagues right now.

Kuminga has been on a scoring tear of late. He’s been coming off the bench for five straight games now, but is averaging 25.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks across 28.4 minutes. Don’t let his lack of starting fool you, Kuminga needs to be added in all leagues with those averages.

Brooklyn Nets’ Cam Thomas, owned in 84% of leagues, had another quality showing in the team’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. Thomas made 7-of-15 shots overall and added 10 free throws to score 25 points. He also had six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Thomas keeps popping up in these articles and I’m really not sure why. He’s not a super well-rounded player, but he’s a scoring machine. Despite coming off the bench and playing 26.7 minutes over the past nine games, Thomas is averaging 19.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.2 blocks per game. He should at least be added until he cools off a bit from the floor.

Utah Jazz’s Kelly Olynyk posted 19 points, four rebounds and two assists across 21 minutes played in the team’s win over the Washington Wizards. Olynyk is owned in 48% of leagues.

Olynyk’s fantasy value is capped because he typically only plays between 14-17 minutes a game, but he showed that he can deliver strong numbers with a larger role. If Utah ever plays without Lauri Markkanen, John Collins or Walker Kessler, Olynyk is a pretty good bet to deliver strong fantasy numbers.

New York Knicks’ Quentin Grimes accumulated 19 points and five rebounds across nearly 23 minutes played in the team’s blowout win over the Denver Nuggets. Grimes is owned in only 11% of leagues.

The reason Grimes’ own percentage is so low is because he doesn’t score consistently enough. He showed he’s capable of big scoring nights on Thursday, and should be watched closely over the next couple games in case he gets hot. He’s probably only a fantasy asset in deeper leagues, however.

Indiana Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard, owned in 45% of leagues, recorded 19 points, eight assists, two rebounds and one steal and block across nearly 29 minutes in the team’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers. He did turn the ball over six times.

Nembhard continues to take advantage of the extra minutes available with Tyrese Haliburton out with an injury. For as long as Haliburton is out, Nembhard is a decent fantasy option in all formats.

Aaron Nesmith is another Indiana player who is excelling without Haliburton around. He tallied 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists across nearly 29 minutes of action. Nesmith is owned in 57% of leagues right now.

While Nesmith doesn’t play the same position as Haliburton, not having the All-Star point guard on the court opens some extra scoring chances for Nesmith. He’ll be a player to monitor once Haliburton returns to the court, but for now, take advantage of Nesmith for fantasy purposes.

Chicago Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu, owned in 42% of leagues, finished the night with 18 points, two rebounds and steals and one assist and block across 29 minutes in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dosunmu has scored in double figures in six straight games, but isn’t consistently doing much else on the court, which is keeping his own percentage fairly low. The guard is averaging 15.3 points, 2.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds 1 steal and 0.7 blocks across 28 minutes played over that span. I’d look elsewhere for fantasy production in standard leagues, but Dosunmu is a good option in deeper leagues.

Chicago’s Andre Drummond posted 11 points, nine boards and one assist and steal in nearly 17 minutes off the bench. He’s owned in 50% of leagues.

Drummond provides a healthy amount of points and boards most nights, but playing under 20 minutes almost every night makes him a risky fantasy play in standard leagues. He’s a great option if Nikola Vucevic were to miss more time, but probably should stay on the waiver wire in standard leagues.

Sacramento’s Kevin Huerter provided 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals across 33 minutes against the Warriors. Huerter is owned in 82% of leagues.

He’s cooled off a bit from a couple of hot shooting nights last week, but stuffed the stat sheet on Thursday. If he could consistently do that, he’d be owned in a lot more leagues, but fantasy owners are mostly hoping for big scoring nights from him. He should be owned in deeper leagues, and watched closely in standard leagues.

Top Rookies

Not many rookies stood out on Thursday, but I still want to discuss a couple guys.

Philadelphia’s Ricky Council IV got his most minutes (12) this season and responded by putting up 11 points, one rebound and one steal.

Philly had several guys that didn’t suit up, so it afforded Council some minutes. He’s owned in 2% of leagues, and likely won’t be a big fantasy asset unless several rotation players are out.

Philadelphia’s Terquavion Smith, who is barely owned in any leagues, also played 12 minutes. He tallied just two points, but had five assists and three steals.

I like to bring guys like Council and Smith up because some fantasy owners in deeper leagues and dynasties might see their stat lines and add them, when they really should be glossing over their names. Your roster spots would be better spent with other options.

Golden State’s Brandin Podziemski recorded seven points, three rebounds and two assists across nearly 27 minutes of action. He’s owned in 47% of leagues.

Looking at Podziemski’s box scores show that he’s a rookie, with some huge outings followed up by stinkers. His averages of 9.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists are solid for his playing time, but he isn’t likely going to deliver those exact numbers every night. Podziemski needs to be owned in deeper leagues and dynasties, but unless he gets hot, should probably be avoided in standard setups.

The last guy I want to talk about is Utah’s Keyonte George, who is owned in 24% of leagues. He had five points, seven assists and four rebounds across 31 minutes played. 

George has really struggled from the floor of late, making just one field goal in each of the past four games. He does enough else on the court to be a solid fantasy piece if he could just consistently score 10-12 points. Much like Podziemski though, rookies generally struggle with consistency, and that’s the case with George too.