Every Monday, 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.

Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Adds This Week

Week 5 has most teams playing three games. Miami, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, and Phoenix only play two games. It’s a rare week where no day has more than eight games. Tuesday and Friday will be NBA Cup Group Play days.

The injuries are piling up in the NBA and players coming back from injuries such as Devin Vassell and Trey Murphy have sat on back-to-backs making the waiver wire important, even if it’s a short-term add.

Guards To Add in Fantasy Basketball This Week

Jared McCain (Philadelphia 76ers)

McCain was mentioned here last week and if you added him it worked out. The rookie is off to a great start and benefited from injuries. Tyrese Maxey remains out with a hamstring injury. McCain won’t continue to shoot at this level and the role will decrease when the 76ers are completely healthy, but he’s worth adding now. McCain has played at least 30 minutes in the last five games and is averaging 26.2 points, four assists, and 4.4 three-pointers while shooting 44% from three-point range.

Kris Dunn (Los Angeles Clippers)

Dunn has started three of the last four games. In those games, he's averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.7 three-pointers. If Dunn is going to play starter minutes, he can help in assists and steals. The Clippers have four games in each of the next two weeks.

Shaedon Sharpe (Portland Trail Blazers)

Sharpe has seen a big increase in usage over the last three games with Portland dealing with injuries. Sharpe has taken 69 shots from the field and averaged 27.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, three assists, three three-pointers and two steals.

Forwards To Add in Fantasy Basketball This Week

Peyton Watson (Denver Nuggets)

As long as Aaron Gordon is out and Watson is starting, he’s worth being on a roster. Watson had a bad game Sunday with Nikola Jokic out due to personal reasons, but he’s been good since being put into the starting lineup. Watson is averaging 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 three-pointers, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 blocks and shooting 54.2% from the field. 

Luguentz Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder)

With Chet Holmgren out, Dort is being asked to do more offensively. In the last five games, Dort is averaging 15.8 points, five rebounds, 3.2 three-pointers, and one steal per game.

Tari Eason (Houston Rockets)

Eason is coming off the bench, but is helping in several categories. The Rockets have depth and if Eason ever finds his way into the starting lineup, he will be even better. Eason was limited to 18 minutes on Sunday due to foul trouble to snap a streak of six straight games in double-digit points. In November, Eason is averaging 13.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.3 blocks, 1.1 three-pointers, and 0.9 steals in 25.2 minutes per game.

Centers To Add in Fantasy Basketball This Week

Donovan Clingan (Portland Trail Blazers)

Clingan has taken advantage of playing time with Deandre Ayton out with a finger injury. In two starts, the rookie from UConn is averaging 10.5 points, nine rebounds and 4.5 blocks. He had eight blocks against Minnesota on Wednesday. Clingan is 7-foot-2 and is a big presence on the boards and as a shot blocker.

Moussa Diabate (Charlotte Hornets)

Diabate is a solid streamer for those in need of rebounds and blocks. Mark Williams and Nick Richards are still out Diabate has been getting more minutes off the bench. He has played at least 23 minutes in four of the last five games and averaged almost 12 rebounds and two blocks per game in that span. 

Players To Drop In Fantasy Basketball This Week

  • Deni Avdija (Portland Trail Blazers)
  • Kyle Lowry (Philadelphia 76ers)
  • Kelly Oubre (Philadelphia 76ers)

Fantasy Basketball Trends To Watch Entering Week 5

Daniels thievery

Dyson Daniels has been a big addition to the Hawks and a good fantasy contributor. The steals have made him even better. Daniels is averaging 3.8 steals per game and has at least two steals in six straight games. Before getting two steals on Sunday, Daniels had at least six steals in four consecutive games. He also leads the NBA with 7.3 deflections per game.

Cunningham breaking out

Cade Cunningham is taking the leap many envisioned for him. The Pistons guard has four triple-doubles in the last eight games and hasn’t been far off in the others. In the last 10 games, Cunningham is averaging 21.8 points, 9.4 assists, 8.2 rebounds, 0.9 steals, 0.9 blocks and 1.8 three-pointers per game.

Cavaliers rolling

The Cleveland Cavaliers have won 15 straight games to open the season. The Cavaliers lead the NBA in scoring, averaging 123.7 points per game and allow 111.4 points per game, the third-fewest. Cleveland plays in Boston on Tuesday in an NBA Cup group play game followed by home games against the Pelicans, Raptors, and Hawks, a road game at Atlanta, and a home game against Boston. Donovan Mitchell (24.6), Darius Garland (21.4) and Evan Mobley (18.1) are all averaging at least 18 points per game.

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.