January 17 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Stephon Castle, Cam Whitmore, Keyonte George, Tari Eason, Grayson Allen and More
NBA players who are popular waiver wire pickups near the end of the fantasy week.
With the weekend nearly here, we have one more fantasy basketball waiver wire story for you!
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 or Thursday, but instead focus on five new guys. Here we go!
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Stephon Castle Fantasy Outlook
Castle was added in 7.13% of leagues and sits at 40.31% overall now.
Castle has started three straight games for the Spurs, but has most importantly scored 20+ points in back-to-back games. That explains his rise in own percentage.
Castle has 49 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals across 69 minutes over the past two games. On the season, he’s averaging 11.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.3 blocks across 25.1 minutes in 38 games and 21 starts.
I don’t think he’ll keep his scoring average above 20 points for long, but this could just be a case of a rookie player settling in a bit. He needs to be rostered in all dynasty leagues, and probably should be owned in all deeper leagues, at least until he cools off.
If you think Castle is starting to break out a bit, then adding him in a standard league wouldn’t be the worst idea either. He might not start every night for you yet, but in time, Castle could be a daily starter and someone who really provides a boost to your fantasy team.
At the very least in standard leagues, Castle needs to be on watch lists.
Cam Whitmore Fantasy Outlook
Whitmore got a 6.02% bump, bringing his total to 22.27%.
Whitmore is starting to get more minutes and is settling in after missing a good chunk of time earlier in the season. Overall, he’s averaging 10 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists and steals and 0.2 blocks across 15.9 minutes in 22 games played (all off the bench).
He’s scored at least eight points in eight straight games. Whitmore is averaging 13 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1 steal and 0.4 blocks in 21.9 minutes over that span.
I’m a bit surprised to see Whitmore’s own percentage so low, but I guess he hasn’t played all season, and isn’t getting a ton of minutes. He is trending up though, and that’s why his own percentage is rising.
I think he’s a good waiver wire addition in some deeper leagues out there - it really all comes down to your league settings and what your team could use right now. He’s not the most well-rounded performer, but if his scoring keeps up, he can offset the lower averages in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks a bit.
Whitmore should be rostered in a lot of dynasty leagues. He’s just 20 years old and in his second NBA season. At some point, he’ll take on a larger role, and I have high hopes for the youngster.
Keyonte George Fantasy Outlook
George is up 5.96% and rostered in 70.6% of leagues overall.
George was one of the more underappreciated rookies, in my eyes, last season. He’s improved a bit in his sophomore season across the board, and it’s turned him into a very good fantasy option.
He’s averaging 16 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.2 blocks across 31.4 minutes in 29 games played (all starts) so far. George has only played four games (out of a possible 13) since December 21, so his own percentage is really lower than it should be.
Playing his first game since January 4, George had 26 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals across 30 minutes on Wednesday. That’s really good fantasy value, and someone who should not be available in nearly 30% of leagues.
Take advantage of his missed time and add a really good fantasy player for free.
Tari Eason Fantasy Outlook
Eason is owned in 54.34% of leagues after a 4.83% increase. Eason has played well of late, which explains his rise in own percentage.
On the season, Eason is averaging 11.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1.9 steals and 1 block across 22.8 minutes in 25 games (all off the bench). He too has missed a lot of time, but got back on the court on Thursday. Eason had 16 points, four rebounds and a steal across 24 minutes.
This is another case in which you can add a really solid fantasy player for free because of his missed games. Eason needs to be rostered in all deeper leagues, and most dynasties too. He’s a standard league streaming option despite coming off the bench, mainly because of his averages in points and rebounds, but the additional steals, blocks and assists also boost his value.
Get Eason before it’s too late.
Grayson Allen Fantasy Outlook
Allen us up 4.83% and sitting at 50.33% overall now. He’s coming off a big game, so it makes sense to see Allen here.
On Thursday, Allen totaled 21 points, five rebounds and three steals across 28 minutes. He’s only started once across 31 games played this season, but is averaging 11.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1 steal and 0.3 blocks across 24.1 minutes.
That’s good enough production to roster him in almost every deeper league. When he’s in a groove, like he appears to be of late, then Allen is also a streaming option in standard leagues.
He’s averaging 16 points per game over the past five contests, and until he scores in single digits a few games in a row, I’m fine using a standard league roster spot on Allen. Don’t go out of your way to make a roster spot for him, but instead add him if you have an open spot and need some production for a few days.
Other Waiver Options
Some more standard league waiver wire options are: Scoot Henderson, Cason Wallace, Nick Richards, Jaden McDaniels, Daniel Gafford, Luguentz Dort, Santi Aldama and Alexandre Sarr.
Henderson got another 10.33% increase and sits at 70.38% overall. Wallace is up 6.31% and at 58.57% overall.
Richards is up another 4.66% and sitting at 56.35% now. McDaniels is rostered in 52.78% of leagues after a 4.13% bump.
Gafford’s own percentage rose 4.11%, making it 79.96% overall. Dort jumped to 50.56% after a 3.94% boost.
Aldama is owned in 81.07% of leagues after a 3.19% bump. Sarr is up 2.51%, bringing his total to 76.61%.
Some other deep-league waiver options are: Jaylin Williams, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Collier, Tim Hardaway Jr., Isaiah Stewart, Kel'el Ware, Ben Simmons, Aaron Nesmith, Ryan Dunn, Wendell Carter Jr., Aaron Wiggins and Rui Hachimura.
Williams is up another 5.86% and at 19.6% overall. Caruso sits at 29.84% overall after a 3.94% bump.
Collier is rostered in 22.49% of leagues after a 3.53% increase. Hardaway is up 3.29% and at 27.84% overall.
Stewart got a 2.72% bump and sits at 15.14% overall now. Ware is rostered in 17.37% of leagues after a 2.44% increase.
Simmons is up to 45.66% after a 2.42% bump. Nesmith is owned in 13.14% of leagues after a 2.33% increase.
Dunn got a 2.27% bump, bringing his total mark to 15.59%. Carter saw his own percentage rise 2.12%, making it 31.4% overall.
Wiggins is rostered in 20.49% of leagues after a 1.94% increase. Hachimura got a 1.93% increase to make his total 47.88%.
