January 10 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jaylen Wells, Wendell Carter Jr., Max Strus, Shaedon Sharpe and More
NBA players who are popular waiver wire pickups as the fantasy week winds down.
It’s time for the final fantasy basketball waiver wire story of the week.
The five players we’ll talk about today were pulled from the FantasySP Waiver Wire Pickups page, which is updated daily.
We won’t go into detail of players we discussed in depth on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday, instead focusing on five new players.
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Trayce Jackson-Davis Fantasy Outlook
Jackson-Davis was added in 5.29% of fantasy leagues, bringing his total mark to 75%.
TJD has turned in back-to-back strong performances, which explains his waiver wire love. He tallied 33 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block over those two games.
On the season, Jackson-Davis is averaging 8.8 points, 6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.8 blocks across 19.7 minutes in 36 games and 29 starts. He played 35 and 26 minutes the past two games, so that’s also another positive for him.
For as long as Jackson-Davis is playing extended minutes, he’s worth at least streaming in standard leagues. I’d take advantage of things while I could instead of waiting to see if he can sustain this level of play.
Once his minutes drop, or his production falls off, Jackson-Davis’ own percentage will probably drop to around 70% again, which is where it was before his last couple big showings.
Jaylen Wells Fantasy Outlook
Wells is up to 20.27% rostered after a nice 5.13% boost.
He had been taking advantage of some extra minutes with the Grizzlies banged up, but saw his role decrease a bit when Ja Morant returned on Thursday. Wells still played 23 minutes, but finished with just four points, three rebounds and one assist.
Wells had been averaging 34.5 minutes, 16.5 points, 7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.8 assists over the previous four games. With Morant now back in the mix though, I’d expect more showings like Wells had on Thursday, not what he was producing in the previous four contests.
For the season, Wells is averaging 11.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.1 blocks across 25.8 minutes in 38 games and 33 starts. Those are solid enough numbers to add and play him in some deeper leagues, but his own percentage is probably going to top out around its current mark. He’s a player to keep an eye on, but unless there’s another big injury or two in Memphis, I think Wells is capped as a fantasy asset.
Wendell Carter Jr. Fantasy Outlook
Carter saw a 4.92% boost and sits at 42.34% overall now.
Carter is averaging 8.3 points, 7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks across 24.3 minutes in 26 games and 19 starts this season. With all the injuries the Magic are dealing with, Carter has been tasked with more offensive responsibility and usage of late - he’s averaging 12.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1 steal and 0.3 blocks across 23.6 minutes in six games and two starts.
Orlando is expected to get a little bit healthier with the return of Paolo Banchero, but with all the team’s other injuries, Carter should remain a decent part of the rotation, and be able to keep up his season averages. I think he’ll fall somewhere in between his season numbers and his recent hot streak.
With a decent amount of points and rebounds, I like Carter in a lot of deeper fantasy leagues. He’ll probably top out around his current percentage, while seeing it decrease a bit now that Banchero is back in the mix.
Max Strus Fantasy Outlook
Strus is owned in 19.64% of leagues after a 4.27% increase.
Strus is averaging 8.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 0.3 steals and blocks across 23.3 minutes in his nine games played this season. He’s started to settle in a bit more of late, averaging 11 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.6 blocks across 25.4 minutes over the past five games.
Cleveland is loaded with talent, but Strus has already carved out a pretty sizable role despite just getting back on the court. His own percentage was really low after not playing a single game until December 20, but now it should rise steadily as he gets back into the swing of things.
Strus is another player likely to top out as a deep-league option, and only be a standard league one if a couple teammates get hurt for an extended stretch of play. He does more than just score, which is what should appeal to fantasy owners.
I like the idea of adding Strus right now, because he really should be rostered in more leagues - it’s just a lower percentage now after not playing for most of the season.
Shaedon Sharpe Fantasy Outlook
Sharpe got added in 3.85% of leagues and is rostered in 86.26% overall.
Sharpe is enjoying the best season in his three-year NBA career so far. He’s averaging 18.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks across 31.7 minutes in 29 games and 27 starts so far this season.
He has scored in double figures in all but two games - he has 10 games over 20 points and two that went over 30 points. Sharpe doesn’t fill the stat sheet super well, which is really the only thing holding him back from being rostered in even more leagues.
He has been especially good over the past three games, averaging 21 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks across 36.3 minutes, which explains his own percentage increase and inclusion in this waiver wire article.
Sharpe is probably outperforming someone on your current fantasy team, so it’s definitely worth comparing some numbers and seeing if Sharpe should be added in your standard league.
I don’t think he’ll ever get to 100% rostered with not many standout stats outside points, but at the very least, he’s worth watching in case his recent level of play keeps up permanently.
Other Waiver Options
Cole Anthony, Guerschon Yabusele, Nikola Jovic, Spencer Dinwiddie, Noah Clowney, Tim Hardaway Jr., Luke Kennard, Dean Wade, Keon Ellis, Ty Jerome, Thomas Bryant and Nick Richards are some more deep-league waiver wire options.
Anthony was added in 7.28% of leagues and is rostered in 33.56% overall. Yabusele is up to 35.14% after a 5.07% increase.
Jovic is owned in 42.66% of leagues after a 4.8% boost. Dinwiddie is up 3.35% and at 40.54% overall.
Clowney got a 3.29% boost and sits at 15.32% overall now. Hardaway is up to 18.47% after a 2.88% increase.
Kennard got added in 2.87% of leagues, bringing his total mark to 17.12%. Wade’s own percentage is up 2.78 and at 9.91 overall.
Ellis was added in 2.76% of leagues, bringing his total to 27.93%. Jerome is up to 13.74% overall after a 2.6% increase.
Bryant got a 2.49% increase and is at 4.05% overall. Richards is now rostered in 19.82% of leagues after a 2.45% boost.
Toumani Camara, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Quentin Grimes, Scotty Pippen Jr., Deni Avdija, Malik Beasley, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Clint Capela are some standard league options.
Camara was added in 7.11% of leagues and is rostered in 58.56% overall now. Caldwell-Pope is up 7.05% and at 52.48% overall.
Grimes saw a 6.71% increase to bring his total mark to 63.06%. Pippen is up another 4.76% and at 67.57% overall now.
Avdija is rostered in 91.67% of leagues after a 3.47% increase. Beasley was added in 2.56% of leagues, bringing his total up to 70.27%.
Oubre got another 2.41% boost and now sits at 76.13%. Capela is up 2.24% and sitting at 80.86% overall.
