Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Kelly Olynyk remains undervalued
We're entering the home stretch. There are only three more weeks left of the 2024-25 regular season. Plenty of fantasy leagues have wrapped up, while others are entering their championship weeks.
Unfortunately, that lines up with plenty of teams pulling the plug on their season. Whether to intentionally improve lottery odds or to allow their stars to rest before the postseason, there are a lot of lineup shenanigans going on every single night across the league. That makes it quite difficult to find a reliable player to add off the waiver wire. Sometimes, players go from playing 20 minutes a night to randomly not being part of the rotation. Did anyone else have to stream Tristan Vukcevic last week and is bitter about him playing four minutes against New York on Saturday? Or was that just me?
These players have upside as streaming options (or in some cases are simply low-rostered players), but that sadly doesn't make them safe.
PF/C Kelly Olynyk (16% rostered in Yahoo! leagues), New Orleans Pelicans
Olynyk has been locked into a starting role since being traded to New Orleans, and he had one of his best games as a Pelican on Monday. He contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in just 30 minutes. Over the past two weeks he has averaged 11.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 26.9 minutes per game. Unfortunately, they only have two more games this week, which means that it may be best to wait to pick Olynyk up until this weekend since they play on Friday and Sunday.
SF/PF Aaron Nesmith (28%), Indiana Pacers
Nesmith spent a large portion of the season injured, but since returning in January, he has only missed one game. He finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three triples on Monday while making seven of his nine shot attempts. Nesmith ranks 75th in nine-cat leagues over the past two weeks, per Basketball Monster.
PG/SG Anthony Black (4%), Orlando Magic
Though he has been inconsistent and disappointing for most of the season, the 2023 lottery pick has displayed some flashes recently. Over Orlando's last four games, he has averaged 13.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, one steal and 1.8 triples while shooting 64.5 percent from the floor. As long as Cole Anthony remains out, Black has upside.
PG/SG Bub Carrington (10%), Washington Wizards
It has been a rough stretch for the rookie, but Carrington had a strong performance on Monday with 15 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals. His role is safe, and Kyshawn George exited early with an ankle injury on Monday, which means more touches for Carrington if George remains sidelined.
C Kai Jones (20%), Dallas Mavericks
Despite Anthony Davis returning to the lineup, Jones remained the Mavs' starting center. Over their last three games, Jones has averaged 13.7 points, nine rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting a ridiculous 90 percent from the floor. AD will likely sit out in New York on Tuesday, which means more touches for Jones.
SF Justin Edwards (34%), Philadelphia 76ers
The undrafted rookie continues to be a bright spot for Philly. He has finished with at least 18 points and three three-pointers in five consecutive games. Edwards has provided top-100 value in nine-cat leagues over the past two weeks and is one of the only reliable options on the team as of now.
C DeAndre Jordan (4%), Denver Nuggets
Jordan has started the last two games for Denver and averaged 10.5 points, 16 rebounds, 5.5 assists and one steal. If Nikola Jokic remains out against the Bucks on Wednesday, and Jordan continues to start, he's worth taking a chance on.
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