Feb. 1 Fantasy Basketball Takeaways: Top Rookies and Waiver Wire Options | Jalen Smith, Jaxson Hayes, Paul Reed, Santi Aldama, GG Jackson II and More

The first day of February had just four NBA games. While there were only eight teams playing, there’s still plenty to discuss from a fantasy basketball perspective.

Let’s go over the top performances from waiver wire options and rookies from Feb.1.

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Waiver Wire Options

Let’s open the discussion by talking about two players that performed well in the Indiana Pacers’ loss to the New York Knicks.

Jalen Smith shot 9-of-11 overall and 2-of-3 from deep to finish with 20 points across just under 24 minutes played. Smith also had nine rebounds and two steals and blocks during his time on the court.

Smith, owned in 31% of leagues, has been a pretty solid fantasy option since late December. He’s started 13 of the 21 games he’s appeared in since then, averaging 11.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.2 steals across 20.1 minutes per game. 

The addition of Pascal Siakam hasn’t affected Smith’s minutes all that much and Smith has scored in double figures six times over the past nine games. He’s also a pretty good source of rebounds. He deserves to get some waiver wire love in deeper leagues, but I’d like to see more strong outings like Thursday for a bit longer before adding him in standard leagues.

Andrew Nembhard finished with 10 points, six assists and three rebounds across 26 minutes off the bench for the Pacers. He’s owned in 65% of leagues right now.

It wasn’t his best shooting game (4-of-12 overall) but he still reached double figures in points for a seventh consecutive game. He’s averaged 7.2 assists over that span, and as long as his points, assists and minutes remain close to what he’s done of late, he’ll remain a great option in deeper leagues and a decent option in standard leagues. I’d like to think there’s better fantasy options in standard leagues than Nembhard, but he’s a decent option for the time being.

On the other end of the court, Miles McBride and Josh Hart had solid outings. 

McBride, owned in just 4% of leagues, tallied 16 points, two steals and one rebounds across 29 minutes played. 

It was his most playing time since the middle of January, but New York played Thursday’s game without OG Anunoby, Quentin Grimes and Julius Randle, so don’t read too deeply into McBride’s outing. The solid showing could get McBride some more playing time over the next couple games, but when the team’s at full strength, McBride isn’t a good fantasy asset in almost every league.

Hart, still available in 16% of leagues, had five points, 12 rebounds, three assists and a block across 38 minutes played. He didn’t hit a field goal in the contest, which could be a result of playing heavy minutes over the past few games.

Even without a big scoring night, Hart had great rebound numbers and chipped in a few assists. I’d hold on to Hart and expect a bounceback performance in the team’s next game on Saturday. He was a hot waiver wire name coming into Thursday’s game, so don’t let one down showing force you into putting him back on the wire.

The Los Angeles Lakers played without Anthony Davis and LeBron James, but still beat the Boston Celtics 114-105. Several Lakers played well to make the win possible, including one waiver wire option.

Jaxson Hayes started and played 34 minutes for LA, recording 16 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists. He’s owned in just 5% of leagues.

Hayes is a solid fantasy asset, but only when Davis is out of the lineup. Keep an eye on Davis’ status and stream Hayes if Davis continues to miss games.

Boston’s Sam Hauser had a nice outing in the losing effort, tallying 17 points and three rebounds. He’s owned in 10% of leagues.

Hauser has nice scoring outputs every now and then, but it’s far too inconsistent to be a bigger fantasy asset. You could stream Hauser for the time being, as he’s knocked down at least three 3-pointers in three straight games. Once he cools back off, you can drop him again though, especially because he doesn’t provide much else on the court outside points.

The Philadelphia 76ers topped the Utah Jazz without Joel Embiid, who has a meniscus injury.

Kelly Oubre Jr.and Paul Reed both had solid outings to help Philly win - Tyrese Maxey was the main reason with his 51-point outing.

Oubre, owned in 73% of leagues, played 40 minutes and tallied 16 points, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals and assists. 

He’s scored in double figures in four straight games and is stuffing the stat sheet well in other areas too. Oubre should be added in all formats while the 76ers are less than 100%.

Reed tallied seven points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal across 28 minutes played in the team’s win. He’s owned in 55% of leagues now after the Embiid injury.

If Embiid is forced to miss some time, Reed should start and he’ll be a pretty solid fantasy option during that time. He might not tally 30 points and 13 boards like he did a couple games ago, but double-doubles in points and rebounds are doable every time he’s playing a healthy amount of minutes.

Mo Bamba is another Philly player I want to mention in the aftermath of the Embiid injury. He got nearly 18 minutes of playing time on Thursday, posting four points, nine rebounds and three blocks while on the court.

Over time, he could get in a better groove on the court, so he’s a guy to keep an eye on. He’s already getting some waiver wire love in deeper leagues (11% overall). If you don’t want to miss out on Bamba in deeper leagues, you might need to add him now instead of waiting until more Embiid news is revealed.

The Cleveland Cavaliers topped the Memphis Grizzlies 108-101 on Thursday, and the rest of the waiver wire options I want to talk about came from that game.

Caris LeVert, owned in 76% of leagues, had 16 points, three assists, two steals and a rebound across 29 minutes for the Cavaliers.

LeVert has scored in double figures in four straight games now. He doesn’t do much else while on the court, so I’d prefer to leave him on the waiver wire for now. LeVert is a good option in deeper leagues.

Max Strus, owned in 80% of leagues, tallied 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and one steal across 29 minutes.

Strus got back in double figures after scoring just two points in the previous game. He hasn’t hit 20 points since early January, but he’s a good source of rebounds and assists most nights, so he’s a fairly good fantasy asset. His own percentage should stick around 80% unless he starts to score nearly 20 points per game.

Santi Aldama tallied 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks across 38 minutes for the Grizzlies. He’s owned in 47% of leagues.

He’s starting to score the ball consistently every night, and he also stuffs the stat sheet pretty well. Aldama is a good option in deeper leagues and will start getting attention in standard leagues if he continues to produce at similar levels.

Top Rookies

Three rookies stood out to me on Thursday.

Utah’s Keyonte George posted 11 points and three rebounds and assists across 21 minutes. He’s owned in 24% of leagues.

It was George’s fourth straight game in double figures. He’s a solid option in deeper leagues and dynasties right now, but until he plays a few more minutes, his fantasy ceiling is going to be pretty limited.

Memphis’ GG Jackson II recorded 10 points, five rebounds and two assists and blocks on Thursday. He’s owned in 31% of leagues.

Jackson was just 3-of-14 from the field and 1-of-8 from deep. He’s struggled to shoot over the past two games, but he’s added to his fantasy value with a healthy amount of rebounds, while chipping in some assists and blocks. He’s another option in deeper leagues and dynasties, but his own percentage should remain pretty close to where he’s currently at unless he heats up from the floor.

Indiana’s Ben Sheppard finished the night with five points, six rebounds, three steals and one assist across 22 minutes. He’s owned in 4% of leagues.

The Pacers played without Bennedict Mathurin, which afforded Sheppard some more minutes. Sheppard stuffed the stat sheet, but unless a rotation guy or two are out, his fantasy value is pretty limited because he usually only plays 10-15 minutes per game.