Feb. 13 Fantasy Basketball Takeaways: Top Rookies and Waiver Wire Options | Nikola Jovic, Grayson Allen, James Wiseman, Jalen Suggs, Scoot Henderson and More

There were six NBA games played on Tuesday, with several notable individual performances by the end of the night.

Let’s dive into some of the better performances from waiver wire options from Feb. 13.

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Waiver Wire Options

Let’s kick things off with some Miami Heat players. Miami crushed the Milwaukee Bucks 123-97 despite not having Jimmy Butler, Josh Richardson or Terry Rozier.

Nikola Jovic, owned in just 3% of leagues, led the way for Miami, tallying 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal across 30 minutes. He was 8-of-13 from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point land.

Jovic set a new career high in points in the win - his previous high was just 18 points. He’s barely played over the past couple weeks, so the performance really came out of nowhere.

Jovic has averaged 6.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists over his 21 games for this season, and that’s including the big outing on Tuesday. Obviously, being at way less than 100%, Jovic got some extra opportunities, but the strong showing is likely to keep him in the rotation for the time being. I’d try to take advantage of it while I can, adding him in deeper leagues and possibly dynasties if you have a roster spot to play with.

Miami’s Duncan Robinson tallied 23 points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and one block across 26 minutes of action. Robinson, owned in 31% of leagues, was 8-of-12 from the floor and 6-of-8 from 3-point land.

That’s now back-to-back strong scoring games for Robinson, who is a streaky shooter. He’s another guy that I’d add now in deeper leagues, especially with the team missing a few big rotation pieces. You can play Robinson until his playing time falls off, or he fails to consistently put the ball in the basket.

Kevin Love is another Heat player I need to mention. He’s owned in 12% of leagues and finished the game with 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals across 23 minutes off the bench.

Love is strictly a role player at this point of his career, but he’s still a pretty well-rounded fantasy asset. His problem is a lack of playing time. Over his past nine games, he’s averaging 7.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.2 blocks across 15.7 minutes. You could utilize him for a short time in deeper leagues, but I’m guessing there’s better options out there, specifically ones that will play more minutes per game.

Phoenix Suns’ Eric Gordon recorded 23 points, three rebounds and assists and one block across 27 minutes off the bench in the team’s win over the Sacramento Kings. Gordon, owned in 27% of leagues, was 8-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-9 from deep.

Gordon is pretty much only a valuable fantasy asset because of his scoring ability, and by coming off the bench and usually not getting a bunch of minutes, his ceiling is pretty limited. He’s a player I’ve urged fantasy owners to play in deeper leagues, just on his scoring prowess alone, and I’m still on that train. He can also be pretty streaky, so maybe this is the start of a hot streak for him.

Orlando Magic’s Wendell Carter Jr., rostered in 70% of leagues, accumulated 22 points, six rebounds and one assists across 31 minutes in the team’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This was Carter’s best scoring game since mid-January, but he has reached double figures in five of the past seven games. Over that span, he’s averaging 13.1 points, 6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.1 blocks across 28.7 minutes. He’s close to being owned in a bunch more leagues, but his inconsistent scoring should keep him around his current own percentage.

Phoenix’s Grayson Allen made seven of his 10 shots and finished with 19 points, four rebounds and assists and a block over 39 minutes played on Tuesday. He’s rostered in 72% of leagues.

Allen struggled for a six-game stretch in late January/early February but seems to be heating up again now, with 29 points over the past two contests. He typically does a nice job filling the stat sheet, so he’s a guy that makes sense to roster and play in a lot of fantasy leagues. I’m all for adding Allen if it makes sense in your league’s setup.

Detroit Pistons’ James Wiseman, rostered in 3% of leagues, was 8-of-12 from the floor and finished the night with 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists and a block across just 23 minutes in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wiseman is starting to get a decent amount of playing time for Detroit, and should be in line for more after his Tuesday outing. It was his first time scoring in double figures since mid-December and he tallied his most rebounds since early January. He’s worth keeping an eye on in deeper leagues, and even some dynasties as he’s still only 22 years old. 

Minnesota Timberwolves’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker, rostered in 9% of leagues, contributed 18 points, three rebounds, two assists and one block across 26 minutes off the bench in the team’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers. 

He made five 3-pointers in the contest and has eight triples over the past two games, only missing once over that span. Alexander-Walker does a decent job of contributing other stats as well, so he’s not a half bad streaming option in deeper leagues until he cools off a bit.

Orlando’s Jalen Suggs, rostered in 54% of leagues, totaled 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal across 33 minutes. He was 5-of-13 from the floor, but did make four 3-pointers.

Suggs has scored between 13-17 points the past three games, with Tuesday being his most well-rounded effort. I like him as a deep league option, but would still stay away from him in standard leagues - unless he’s able to replicate Tuesday’s showing night after night.

Top Rookies

Detroit’s Ausar Thompson ended the night with 19 points, two rebounds and one steal across 29 minutes. He’s rostered in 67% of leagues.

It was another solid scoring performance for the rookie, but he failed to stuff the stat sheet otherwise, like he typically does. He’s definitely trending in the right direction and is rightfully getting some love in standard leagues. Thompson is starting every night now and averaging around 28 minutes a game, which is more than enough time to deliver solid numbers for any format.

Portland’s Scoot Henderson, owned in 65% of leagues, had 14 points, nine assists and one rebound across 34 minutes on Tuesday.

Henderson continues to log big minutes despite coming off the bench. He’s scored in double figures in five straight games, and has added at least one other solid stat each night. I like the idea of adding him in all formats right now if your roster is missing a piece.

Portland’s Toumani Camara, rostered in 4% of leagues, finished with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists across 22 minutes.

Camara’s minutes have been up and down as of late, but he’s scored in double figures in three of the past five contests. He’s an OK option in deeper leagues and dynasties, but I have to imagine there are some better options available to you.

We started with the Heat and will end with another one of their players, Jaime Jaquez Jr. The rookie delivered 12 points, four assists and three rebounds across 28 minutes off the bench. He’s owned in 49% of leagues.

Jaquez hasn’t been able to replicate his numbers since returning from an injury, but he’s at least a good fantasy option in deeper leagues and dynasties for now. Keep an eye on him in case he gets back into the good groove that had him owned in a bunch of standard leagues.