Every week, Adam Ronis drops by with his fantasy basketball waiver wire guide and trends to watch, walking you through how to attack the week ahead for fantasy hoops.

It’s another odd week of scheduling due to the NBA Cup. There are six games on Monday before the NBA Cup final on Tuesday between the Bucks and Thunder and the stats from that game don’t count for the regular season. All teams are off Wednesday before play resumes on Thursday with 13 games. Friday and Sunday have three games with 13 games on Saturday. The Kings are the only team with four games.

Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Adds This Week

Guards To Add in Fantasy Basketball This Week

Caris LeVert (Cleveland Cavaliers)

LeVert is the sixth man on one of the best teams and has played at least 27 minutes in three of the last four games. Over the last six games, LeVert is averaging 13 points, 3.5 rebounds, four assists, 1.5 three-pointers, and 0.8 steals while shooting 52% from the field, including 45% from three-point range.

Justin Champagnie (Washington Wizards)

Champagnie is a short-term add due to the injuries for Washington. Kyle Kuzma, Corey Kispert, and Kyshawn George have been out, opening up minutes for Champagnie, who has played at least 34 minutes in four straight games and is averaging 16.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.8 three-pointers, 2.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks.  

Cason Wallace (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Wallace is starting to emerge and play the most minutes outside of the Thunders’ four starters. He has played at least 31 minutes in six of the last eight games. Wallace can help in deeper formats. Over the last six games, he’s averaging 9.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, two steals, and 1.8 three-pointers.

Forwards To Add in Fantasy Basketball This Week

Bilal Coulibaly (Washington Wizards)

Coulibaly might have been dropped after a recent awful stretch in which he failed to reach double-digits in six straight games where he shot 9-for-51 from the field. Over the last three games, Coulibaly is averaging 21 points, 5.3 rebounds, five assists, three three-pointers and one block.

Kelly Oubre (Philadelphia 76ers)

Oubre gets a boost with Joel Embiid out indefinitely and Jared McCain out indefinitely with a meniscus injury. Oubre has played at least 31 minutes in seven of the last eight games and has three consecutive double-doubles. He has 17 steals over the last 10 games and can hit three-pointers. Over the last five games, Oubre is averaging 13.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.2 three-pointers and 1.6 steals.

Obi Toppin (Indiana Pacers)

Toppin tends to play around 20 minutes per game, but he’s aggressive when on the court and the Pacers offense has started to look better. Over the last seven games, Toppin is averaging 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.3 three-pointers.

Centers To Add in Fantasy Basketball This Week

Yves Missi (New Orleans Pelicans)

He keeps popping up here due to the low ownership. On Yahoo, he is available in 63% of leagues. The Pelicans have been hit hard by injuries and Missi continues to play significant minutes. In the last 10 games, Missi has played at least 28 minutes in eight and averaged 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks. 

Donovan Clingan (Portland Trail Blazers)

Clingan returned on Friday and came off the bench before starting on Sunday. His minutes were limited, but he got the start and played 19 minutes. He had 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Deandre Ayton was out with an illness and Clingan will come off the bench when Ayton returns. Clingan can be useful even when he plays 20 minutes due to his rebounding and shot-blocking prowess. He is averaging 2.1 blocks in 17.1 minutes per game.

Players To Drop In Fantasy Basketball This Week

  • Jared McCain (Philadelphia 76ers)
  • Dalton Knecht (Los Angeles Lakers)

Fantasy Basketball Trends To Watch Entering Week 9

Schroder traded to Warriors

The Warriors traded De’Anthony Melton, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, to the Nets for Dennis Schroder. The Warriors constantly change their starting lineup, but Schroder should start most of the time. He is averaging 18.4 points and 6.6 assists and will help Steph Curry with ball-handling. Brandin Podziemski’s value will take a hit. Shake Milton and Keon Johnson could see bigger roles for the Nets.

Kessler rising

Walker Kessler was one of my favorite late-round targets in drafts. It didn’t start well with the Jazz center, having averaged 26.6 minutes in October and 28.6 minutes in November. Kessler is finally being unleashed. Over the last seven games, Kessler has at least 31 minutes in eight of the last nine games. In December, he is averaging 33.2 minutes per game. Over the last 10 games, Kessler is averaging 12.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. He has five double-doubles in the last seven games.

Embiid out again

Joel Embiid can’t catch a break. He has missed most of this season with knee swelling. Embiid made his season debut on Nov. 12 and played four games before missing more time. He returned on Dec. 8 and had 31 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists. On Friday, he took an elbow to the face and left the game. He has a sinus fracture and is out indefinitely and will be re-evaluated in one week.

Looking for even more NBA action this week? Check out our NBA Player Props Tool to find the best edges in your daily player prop betting, our Bet Tracker for our daily free NBA bets, as well as our NBA DFS projections for each main slate.