Hello! Happy New Year! I hope you had a nice holiday season and are settling in for the long stretch run of "real life" ahead of us.
The NBA wouldn't let Woj take a break, filling up the holiday break with a major trade just before New Year's. The trade has some meaningful fantasy implications. However, since the players most impacted are above this article's 67% roster rate cut off, I broke out the trade reactions into a separate section at the bottom of the column.
One important scheduling note: the Cavaliers and the Nets play in Paris at 2:30 Eastern time Thursday. To accommodate the travel, it is both teams' only games of the week. Thursday is a light slate – only five games – but since the week doesn't include any giant slates, the importance of the light Thursday schedule is minimized. Cavs and Nets players must be avoided in weekly lineups leagues. In daily lineups leagues, there are a few players on either team who are viable as a one-day streamer, but the bad schedule is the reason Day'Ron Sharpe (21% rostered) doesn't show up in the "other recommendations" section below.
Besides the French game, it's a pretty normal schedule. There are slightly fewer games than usual (the 76ers only play twice; only 13 teams play four times). The day-to-day schedule is balanced, with between five and 10 games each day. It's an easy week to gain an advantage through streaming, if your settings permit.
As always, the players in this article must be rostered in less than two-thirds of CBS leagues. Players are listed in the order that I recommend adding them, assuming they are equally good fits for your team.
Adds for all leagues
Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors (61% rostered)
It's a down week on the waiver wire, and Grayson Allen is too boring to headline this column, even if he's a safer long-term play than Kuminga. The Warriors' forward has been excellent since entering the starting lineup, averaging 15-5-3 while shooting 57% from the field and 73% from the line. He doesn't provide much defense or 3-point shooting, though he's not a total zero there. The bigger concern, however, is that he's playing just 26.2 minutes, and Adrian Wojarowski's updates imply that Draymond Green (suspension) is getting close to a return. Kuminga appears poised to stay ahead of Andrew Wiggins on the depth chart, but he isn't playing enough to remain rosterable if Green's return takes more than a minute or two off of Kuminga's workload. For now, Kuminga is a strong all-leagues play. TBD whether that lasts.
Also, while we're talking about Kuminga: a gratuitous reminder that I'd much rather be writing about his teammate, rookie Brandin Podziemski (74% rostered), but he's just over the cut line for this piece.
Grayson Allen, Suns (51% rostered)
Allen was a top add last week, where I went into detail about why he should be rostered in all leagues. Nothing has changed, though we did get one piece of new information last week. For the first and so far only time all season, the Suns had both Allen and their entire big three healthy on New Year's Eve. Allen played 35 minutes, which is an excellent sign for his ability to retain value going forward.
Donte DiVincenzo, Knicks (44% rostered)
Two games into the OG Anunoby era in New York, DiVincenzo has held onto a starting role. He's averaged just 25.5 minutes, but put up a solid 13-5-4 with 2.5 3s and added one steal in each game. Those numbers are only slightly above his per-minute pre-trade pace, so it's plausible that he could maintain this production going forward. The biggest concern is the low minutes, as it's hard to maintain rosterability at just 25-ish minutes per game. On the other hand, the Knicks have been completely healthy for both of these games, and Tom Thibodeau-led squads are not exactly known for their resilient knees – any injured teammate would likely boost the versatile DiVinenzo's workload.
Tari Eason, Rockets (61% rostered)
Long-term, I'm very high on Eason. For this season, however, he's stuck on one of the most crowded depth charts in the league. Nonetheless, Eason's current steals streak demands attention. He has at least one steal in 10 straight games, but that actually undersells his thievery. He's got at least two steals in nine of those games. He's averaging 2.6 per game through that stretch and has at least three in each of his last three appearances. He's also averaging 13.6 points and 8.0 rebounds, so he's more than just a one-category wonder. He's currently battling a leg injury, and I worry about his ability to hold onto a big enough workload, but he's absolutely rosterable right now.
Nick Richards, Hornets (25% rostered)
Mark Williams (back) remains out without a clear timetable for return. The Hornets aren't giving us any updates on him even though he's already been out nearly a month. So while he could technically return as soon as this weekend, we should assume he'll stay out for a bit. In his absence, Richards has been the platonic ideal of a waiver wire big man: 10-8-1 with 1.3 blocks, great FG%, bad FT%, and no 3s in just under 30 minutes per game.
Other recommendations: Larry Nance Jr., Pelicans (9% rostered); Alex Caruso, Bulls (33% rostered); Trayce Jackson-Davis, Warriors (51% rostered); Aaron Nesmith, Pacers (33% rostered); Jalen Smith, Pacers (18% rostered)
Deep league special
Chimezie Metu, Suns (3% rostered)
It's a down week for waiver options in general, and the two best prospects under 20% rostered are both all-leagues viable and therefore listed above (Nance and Smith; Nance is a must-add in deep settings). Metu started the last two games with Kevin Durant (hamstring) out, which, hopefully, is a sign that he's earned a more stable role moving forward. After being basically out of the rotation for the first six weeks of the season, Metu is up to 18.6 minutes over the last month. He's put up a respectable 9-5-1 with 0.9 steals and 0.8 3s over that stretch, and his value is bolstered by his typically strong shooting efficiency. Metu has a pretty low ceiling, but he's got a solid spot in the rotation on a roster filled with injury risks.
Raptors-Knicks trade implications
On Saturday, Dec. 30, the Knicks acquired OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn from the Raptors in exchange for Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and the Pistons' 2024 second-round pick.
On New Year's Day, Anunoby and Achiuwa made their debut for the Knicks, while Quickley and Barrett made their debuts for the Raptors. Both teams have played two games in 2024, and all four players played in both games for their respective new squads. Malachi Flynn (ankle), remains out.
Immanuel Quickley, Raptors (81% rostered) - ADD
Quickley is a high-priority pickup if he's still available. He's immediately stepped in as a 30-minutes-per-game starter for the Raptors, averaging 20-5-4 in his first two games for The North. He would have been this week's top add if he qualified.
Isaiah Hartenstein, Knicks (69% rostered) - ADD
Hartenstein was last week's top add for this column, and he would be again this week if he still qualified. That said, this trade doesn't have much impact on him. If anything, it probably harms Hartenstein more than it helps him. The newly acquired Precious Achiuwa plays the same position, and it's easy to imagine Thibodeau developing a soft spot for Achiuwa. On the other hand, Hartenstein is much bigger (the official height difference is four inches, but I'd wager it's actually a bit more than that) and much better than the fourth-year acquisition. So far, Achiuwa has taken away Taj Gibson's and Jericho Sims' minutes without impacting Hartenstein. Other than Flynn, who is unlikely to secure a regular rotation role, the Knicks had everyone healthy and available the last two games, during which Hartenstein played 39 and 37 minutes. Hartenstein had averaged 32.1 minutes between when Mitchell Robinson's season ended and when I named Hartenstein last week's top pickup, so there's still plenty of room for Achiuwa's role to increase before I start worrying about Hartenstein.
Donte DiVincenzo, Knicks (44% rostered) - ADD
See above.
Quentin Grimes, Knicks (7% rostered) - WATCH
The trade should increase Grimes' Fantasy value in two ways. First, the departure of Quickley should lead to more minutes. Second, replacing Barrett with Anunoby should open up a few field goal attempts per game (though most of those won't go to Grimes). For now, Grimes is only rosterable in very deep leagues, but he is someone to watch over the coming weeks in case his minutes rise.
Chris Boucher, Raptors (3% rostered) - WATCH
Boucher was averaging 13.7 minutes before the trade, and Achiuwa was averaging 17.5. If Boucher were to inherit most of those vacated minutes, he would have Fantasy relevance. We've seen Boucher put up big numbers in the rare stretches where he's seen extended minutes. That said, he's never been able to stay out of his coaches' dog houses, and he played just 11 and 13 minutes in these last two games. The most likely scenario here is that he remains irrelevant.
Josh Hart, Knicks (44% rostered) - DROP
Unfortunately, the acquisition of Anunoby combined with DiVincenzo's increased role probably hurts Hart. He played 29 and 25 minutes in the first two games with the new teammates, slightly below his season average of 28.3. This comes in the context of a season where his per-minute numbers are down across the board. Hart is droppable for most teams in standard sized leagues.
Gary Trent Jr., Raptors (31% rostered) - DROP
This one hurts, as I'm a long-time Trent booster. He's only 24 years old and averaged 18-3-2 with 2.8 3s across a two-year period! Let Gary rip! Alas, this trade probably marks the beginning of the end for Trent in Toronto. Outside of a brief hot shooting streak, Trent's minutes were already way down this year. Replacing one SG-ish player (Anunoby) with two (Quickly and Barrett) basically eliminates the chances of Trent getting back to 30 minutes per game while everyone is healthy. Hopefully he gets traded over the next month, which is a very real possibility. As long as he's in Toronto, however, his standard-league Fantasy relevance is probably gone.
