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The fantasy basketball season ends in most leagues this week, and if you're still alive in your playoffs, your waiver wire decisions over the next 48 hours matter more than any move you've made since October. Four teams stand out on the schedule: the New Orleans Pelicans, Charlotte Hornets and Minnesota Timberwolves, each playing three games over the weekend.
Here's how to attack each one — and who to cut loose after Thursday.
New Orleans Pelicans (best schedule of the weekend)
The Pelicans draw Portland, Sacramento and Orlando to close out Week 23. Depending on your lineup, you should be able to stream any Pelicans player on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
If Trey Murphy III remains out, I’d look for Saddiq Bey in shallow leagues and Herb Jones in deeper leagues to pick up additional slack. If you need stocks, go for Herb; if you need scoring and rebounds, go for Bey. Jeremiah Fears should benefit when Dejounte Murray sits on one leg of their Thursday/Friday back-to-back, too. Lastly, target Derik Queen in deeper points and 9-cat leagues; he’s been playing better of late and should play at least 20-25 minutes and chip in across categories.
Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte faces the Suns, Pacers, and Timberwolves. Not too many options available, but I lean toward the big man route of Moussa Diabate in shallow leagues with Ryan Kalkbrenner for deeper leagues. Both players shoot a high percentage from the field, with Diabate being a low-end double-double threat and Kalkbrenner being a block specialist.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Wolves play Detroit, Philadelphia and Charlotte. Tough matchups, but you can trust Ayo Dosunmu as the priority add across formats. He just put up 18-15-12 with 3 steals on Monday. Consider Donte DiVincenzo for shallow leagues like High Score and Bones Hyland is an option for deeper formats with Jaden McDaniels out of the lineup.
Other guys worth picking up
Not every waiver-wire add this week needs to be tied to a three-game team. These names are worth targeting based on role, opportunity or format fit.
Ousmane Dieng- SF/PF/C, Milwaukee Bucks (15%): The Bucks are out of playoff contention and are already resting vets, which is great news for Dieng. As evidenced by Wednesday’s 30-point, 10-assist, 7-rebound explosion versus the Rockets, it’s clear Dieng can be trusted across all formats heading into the weekend.
Sandro Mamukelashvili- PF/C, Toronto Raptors (19%): Mamu’s been rollin over the past six games, averaging an efficient 17-6-2 with 2.5 stocks per game. Matchups with Memphis and Boston remain, two spots where Mamu will continue to thrive on a per-minute basis.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper - SF/PF, Memphis Grizzlies (11%): Prosper is averaging 19 points, 5 boards, 2 3s and a steal per game over his last four games. His skill set fits better with 9-cat, where fantasy managers can take advantage of his efficiency; he’s posting at 64/47/83 shooting split in that span. The Raptors aren’t an ideal matchup, but ending with the Bucks on Sunday is money.
Dylan Harper - PG/SG, San Antonio Spurs (22%): The Spurs play the Clippers and Nuggets on two lighter slates, making Harper streamable for efficiency categories, along with points, assists and steals.
Julian Champagnie - SG/SF, San Antonio Spurs (19%): Champagnie is a 3s specialist who can also chip in for boards and points, but he’s more of a contingency option if you can’t get Harper for 9-cat leagues.
Jamal Shead- PG, Toronto Raptors (6%): Shead started in place of Brandon Ingram on Wednesday and dropped an efficient 16 points with 7 dimes, 2 steals and 1 block in 37 minutes. If Ingram remains out, Shead would be a good option for fantasy managers needing assists and steals.
Kennedy Chandler - PG, Utah Jazz (8%): He’s pretty inefficient (high turnovers, low FG and FT percentage for a guard), so I’d target Chandler for points leagues. He signed his second 10-day contract, ensuring that he’ll be facing off against the Rockets and Thunder in two potential blowouts. Inefficiency aside, he’s been a good source of points, assists and steals.
Tari Eason - SG/SF/PF, Houston Rockets (35%): He strung together three strong games in a row before Wednesday’s dud, but I’d still pick him up for matchups against Utah and Golden State for 3s, boards and steals.
Drop After Thursday: Portland Trail Blazers
Portland plays Thursday and that's it. Start any Blazer you have for that game, then cut ‘em. No reason to hold a dead roster spot into the weekend when you could be streaming a Pelican, Hornet, Wolf or other player instead. Miami, the Knicks and Atlanta are also one-game teams — manage those accordingly based on your roster needs.
You got the playbook, now bring home that championship!
