Surging Fantasy Basketball Players to Target on Waiver Wire or in Trades: Kyle Lowry, Cade Cunningham, Chet Holmgren, Derrick White, De'Aaron Fox and More

Using the FantasySP Trade Value Chart to identify some surging fantasy basketball players that you could target for the postseason push.

It’s been a few games since the All-Star break, and before you know it, the fantasy basketball playoffs will be here. With that in mind, I decided to highlight some surging fantasy players that you could maybe target for the stretch run. 

I used the FantasySP Trade Value Chart as my starting points and then found the biggest positive movers over the past week. Let’s get into it!

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Kyle Lowry Fantasy Outlook

Lowry missed a few weeks of action in late January/the first half of February. He started the season with the Miami Heat, but was traded to the Charlotte Hornets in the Terry Rozier trade. Lowry never played for Charlotte and was eventually waived. He recently signed with the Philadelphia 76ers and should play there the remainder of the season.

Lowry has played in three games with Philly, averaging 5.7 points, 4 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals across 23.2 minutes. Those aren’t crazy numbers, but it shows he’ll likely play a pretty sizable role until the season wraps up.

He’s ranked 149th on the Trade Value Chart and is rostered in just 15% of leagues. That makes him a waiver wire target in most formats. I like the idea of adding Lowry in deeper leagues - again, he isn’t going to really wow you with his numbers, but he can stuff the stat sheet pretty well, which is always helpful for fantasy purposes.

Another thing to keep in mind with Lowry is that he could be a decent streaming option if Tyrese Maxey were to ever miss games. Lowry would likely get more minutes, which should lead to more numbers across the stat sheet, and he'd have a decent chance to score quite a few more points.

Cade Cunningham Fantasy Outlook

Cunningham missed some games in January, but has played really well in the games he’s played in since then. Across 12 games, Cunningham is averaging 21.4 points, 7.7 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocks across 32.4 minutes.

Cunningham flies under the radar because he plays on a bad Detroit Pistons team, but he’s one of the better fantasy assets when he’s out there. Despite missing several games, Cunningham sits 29th on the Trade Value Chart. He should be owned in every league out there.

That means to get Cunningham, you’ll need to trade for him. You could identify a player ranked near him on that chart and offer the trade up, but given some of his injury concerns, I’d prefer to package a couple players together to acquire Cunningham. Use the FantasySP Trade Analyzer to see if you can come up with a fair trade for Cunningham, who should remain the leading scorer and fantasy option for Detroit the rest of the season.

Chris Paul Fantasy Outlook

Paul is another player who recently returned from an injury (are you seeing the trend here?). He currently sits 69th after a five-point increase over the past week.

Paul has played just once since returning from nearly a two-month absence. He had nine points, six assists and four rebounds and steals across 21 minutes of action. 

Even if Paul continues to come off the bench, he’ll play a good amount of minutes each game, which will give him the chance to post some well-rounded numbers. He’s owned in 88% of leagues, and it could be a lot closer to 100% by the time this week wraps up.

Add Paul if he’s available in your standard league, especially if you are looking for some guard help. If you could use a backup guard or are looking for another player to fill out your lineup, you might be able to land Paul for a pretty reasonable return in a trade. You could trade from a position of depth or possibly piece two players together to get Paul in a deeper format.

Paul isn’t the player he once was, but his assist numbers are always pretty strong, and he should add in a fair amount of points, rebounds and steals most nights. The best way to describe him is a player with a relatively low ceiling, but a pretty solid floor.

Chet Holmgren Fantasy Outlook

Holmgren has been great for the Oklahoma City Thunder in his first true NBA season. He’s averaging 17.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and blocks and 0.7 steals across 30.1 minutes and 58 games played (all starts).

Since the All-Star break, Holmgren is averaging 22.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.8 blocks and 0.5 steals. It could just be a short-term hot streak, or it could be a sign of a strong finish to the season. Either way, I like the idea of adding him, as even a dip back to his season averages still would be a great addition to any fantasy team.

Holmgren ranks 49th on the Trade Value Chart, and based on his name alone, he might cost a little bit more in a trade. Maybe you could swap a guard for him, or entice the opposing owner with a pair of depth pieces. If you are really lacking at forward/guard, a well-rounded player like Holmgren could do wonders for your team. See if you can possibly add him for the stretch run.

Derrick White Fantasy Outlook

Boston Celtics’ White has been a big piece to the team’s incredible season so far. He’s averaging 15.6 points, 4.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals across 54 games (all starts). He’s playing 32.2 minutes per game.

He sits 66th on the Trade Value Chart and might be a touch easier to acquire because he’s the fourth or fifth scoring option most times he’s on the court. He still averages a healthy amount of points, but it’s his other numbers while on the court that make him a good fantasy option.

To acquire him in a trade, I like the idea of finding a single player near his rating and offering that trade. If you don’t have anyone that’s really close, maybe expanding the deal to a two-for-two swap is the way to go. Whatever the case, White would be a must-start player the rest of the season, and someone who can silently help your team out.

De'Aaron Fox Fantasy Outlook

The last guy I want to mention is Sacramento Kings’ Fox. 

I don’t know about you, but I rarely hear about the Kings. They are having a solid season, and have some really talented players (including Domantas Sabonis), but you just don’t hear about them all that much.

Fox is having his best season in his seven-year career, averaging 26.9 points, 5.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 0.4 blocks across 35.6 minutes in his 51 games played. Fox is up to 17th on the Trade Value Chart after a 2.5-point bump from last week.

While his rating is high, I think many fantasy owners would happily deal Fox for a player quite a bit further down the rankings - I’m not saying a guy with a rating five points later, but there’s a number of playing with similar ratings, and one of those guys might be at a position of depth for you, so it might make sense to flip them for Fox.

You also could choose to package a pair of players for Fox and then fill the open roster spot with a waiver wire add.

There’s plenty of options available when it comes to trading, and FantasySP is here to help you out. Be sure to utilize the Trade Analyzer and Trade Value Charts as you get your roster set up for the fantasy playoffs.

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