January 16 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Nick Richards, Scoot Henderson, Cason Wallace, Jaylin Williams, Toumani Camara and More

It’s time for another fantasy basketball waiver wire article!

The five players we’ll talk about today were pulled from the FantasySP Waiver Wire Pickups page, which is updated daily.

We won’t cover any of the players we covered in detail on Monday, but instead focus on five new guys. Let’s go!

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Nick Richards Fantasy Outlook

Richards is the most-added player at the time this article was written - he’s up 21.02% and now sitting at 50.34%.

Richards is on this list for one big reason - he was traded to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Richards is expected to take over as the team’s starting center, and with a ton of talent around him, Richards is in a much better fantasy situation than he was with Charlotte.

Across 21 games and nine starts this season, Richards is averaging 8.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.3 steals in 21 minutes played. He’s shooting 56.1% from the floor.

Most of Richards’ fantasy value comes from his rebounding, and he’ll still get plenty of those with the Suns. Playing around a bunch of great offensive talent, Richards’ scoring average might actually increase a little bit - I really wouldn’t be surprised to see his shooting percentage increase too.

At the very least, those of you in standard leagues should scoop up Richards and stash him on your bench. If Richards’ numbers don’t improve in his first couple weeks with the team, then you can drop him again, but I’d at least want to take a chance on him in case the trade really improves his fantasy value.

He’s usable in some standard leagues already, so it’s not like he’s wasting a fantasy roster spot either. Williams needs to be rostered in all deeper leagues, and he could be a hot fantasy trade name over the next few weeks.

Scoot Henderson Fantasy Outlook

Henderson is up 13.25% and at 57.11% overall.

Henderson was part of the drop candidate story I did on Monday. I noted that while he wasn’t a great standard league option right now, there was no reason to be dropping him in deeper formats.

In the first game after I wrote that, all Henderson did was tally 39 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals across 39 minutes. Now, I’m not saying to expect that kind of fantasy production every night, but they also say he should be rostered in all deeper leagues, at the very least.

A big performance like that also means his own percentage should also improve in standard leagues. A bit of a spoiler though: Henderson was a big fantasy force on Tuesday, but it came with Jerami Grant and Deni Avdija out. 

He’s more likely to finish around his season averages: 11.8 points, 5 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks across 26.1 minutes. That’s still enough fantasy value to keep playing him in deeper leagues, and possibly stream him in standard leagues.

I’d probably only want to add Henderson in a standard league if I had a roster spot to play with. I wouldn’t move a season-long contributor after just one great showing. 

Henderson is worth keeping a close eye on in case Tuesday’s game was just the first of a breakout hot stretch for the second-year player.

Cason Wallace Fantasy Outlook

Wallace is rostered in 48.53% of leagues after a nice 9.21% bump.

Wallace has upped his scoring of late, which is probably the biggest reason behind his waiver wire emergence.

He’s scored in double figures in four of the past five games. Wallace has just 10 games with 10 or more points this season.

Overall, Wallace is averaging 7.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.6 blocks across 27.4 minutes in 38 games and 25 starts. Those are pretty well-rounded numbers for a deep-league fantasy player, and the added boost in scoring of late is upping his own percentage and making him a standard league option too.

I still think there are better standard league options out there, but Wallace definitely needs to be on everyone’s radar at the very least. You could stream him until he cools off a bit as a scorer too.

I think Wallace should be rostered in all deeper leagues until he cools off.

Jaylin Williams Fantasy Outlook

Williams is up 8.51% and sitting at 10.32% overall.

He’s getting added after news broke that Isaiah Hartenstein would miss a week with an injury. 

For the season, Williams is averaging 4.5 points, 4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.5 blocks and 0.3 steals across 13.3 minutes. He’s only played in 12 games.

The injury to Hartenstein opens a ton of minutes for Williams, and that bumps his fantasy value up significantly. Seeing his season averages, it makes sense to still see his overall own percentage so low.

If Williams excels in the team’s first game without Hartenstein, expect his own percentage to skyrocket. It’s going to likely only be a short-lived time that Williams is pretty valuable in fantasy leagues, so take advantage of things while you can.

Toumani Camara Fantasy Outlook

Camara is now owned in 6.64% of leagues and at 58.69% overall.

Camara scored six points on January 11, but got right back on track with a 23-point performance on January 14. He’s averaging 9.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.5 blocks across 31.5 minutes in 38 games played (all starts).

Outside the six-point performance, Camara has scored in double figures in each of the team’s last eight games. He’s averaging 14 points over that span, and that bump in his scoring is why his own percentage is up.

Camara is a second-year player as well, so this could be signs of him taking the next step as a player. His averages are definitely good enough to roster him in all deeper leagues and dynasties, and with more scoring of late, Camara is worth a long look in standard leagues.

I think there’s even room for more production from him too, so I like the idea of adding him in standard leagues. He might not start every game if the rest of your roster is pretty solid, but he’s worth rostering for the long haul I think.

Other Waiver Options

Stephon Castle, Vit Krejci, Chris Boucher, Isaiah Collier, Cam Whitmore, Grayson Allen, Dillon Brooks, Max Strus, Keon Ellis, Noah Clowney, T.J. McConnell and Kyshawn George are all deep-league waiver wire options.

Castle is up 5.46% and sitting at 32.05% overall. Krejci is rostered in 16.03% of leagues after a 4.21% bump.

Boucher is up 4.13%, bringing his overall mark to 27.77%. Collier is rostered in 18.51% of leagues after a 3.06% increase.

Whitmore is up 2.89% and owned in 10.16% of leagues now. Allen is rostered in 43.48% of leagues after a 2.8% boost. 

Brooks’ own percentage rose 2.53% and sits at 38.44% overall. Strus is rostered in 19.68% of leagues after a 2.22% increase.

Ellis got a 2.04% boost and sits at 33.18% overall. Clowney is up to 30.47% after a 1.83% increase.

McConnell is rostered in 35.7% of leagues after a 1.69% increase. George is up 1.57%, bringing his total mark to 4.97%.

Keyonte George, Ausar Thompson, Onyeka Okongwu, Malik Beasley, Kyle Kuzma, Mark Williams, Alexandre Sarr and Daniel Gafford are some other standard league waiver options.

George is up 5.2% and sitting at 63.84% overall now. Thompson got a 4.06% bump and is at 55.76% overall.

Okongwu saw a 3.62% increase, bringing his total mark to 69.53%. Beasley is rostered in 72.69% of leagues after a 2.69% boost.

Kuzma is up to 82.84% overall after a 2.61% increase. Williams’ 2.54% boost has him at 93.68% overall now.

Sarr is now owned in 73.46% of leagues after a 1.87% increase. Gafford is up 1.76% and sitting at 75.62% overall.