NBA

10 Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Targets for Week 13

There's still time to cash in on Thomas Bryant's strong production while Washington is thin in the frontcourt. Which other waiver wire adds should be on your radar?

We're here once again to look at 10 of the most interesting players to emerge off fantasy basketball waiver wires over the past week.

As always, make sure you're checking out last week's edition (and the week before for good measure). We try not to repeat ourselves, but there are always some high-priority options to be found in previous iterations of this column who should still be on your radar if they're out there.

All rankings come courtesy of Basketball Monster.

Now, let's hit the wire.

Thomas Bryant, C, Washington Wizards

Yahoo Ownership: 55%

Thomas Bryant is in the midst of a full-fledged fantasy breakout, yet is still unrostered in 45% of Yahoo leagues. It's time to fix that.

Over his last nine games, Bryant has been the 27th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, averaging 14.9 points, 0.3 three-pointers, 8.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.9 blocks, and 0.7 turnovers in 26.6 minutes per contest, while shooting a blistering 75.0% from the field and 88.5% from the free throw line.

Dwight Howard is only one month into his two-month timetable following gluteal surgery, and Markieff Morris is out at least six weeks with a fairly serious neck injury, so Bryant has the Washington Wizards' starting center job on lock for the foreseeable future. The eventual returns of Howard and Morris could eat into Thomas' production, but he's certainly playing well enough to justify keeping his job beyond that point.

Either way, he should continue to be a mid-round guy with early-round upside for the next month at a minimum, so he's as must-own and must-start as you're going to find on most waiver wires right now.

Noah Vonleh, PF, New York Knicks

Yahoo Ownership: 55%

Noah Vonleh is having a solid fantasy season overall -- he's currently ranked 102nd in nine-category leagues -- but he's been coming on particularly strong over his last five games.

Over that span, he's been the 26th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, averaging 10.8 points, 1.2 triples, 12.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.2 blocks, and 1.2 turnovers in 28.7 minutes per contest, while shooting 43.2% from the field and 88.9% from the free throw line.

He's liable to go through the occasional slump -- he's just coming out of a two-week period when he ranked 172nd -- but the overall body of work and recent hot streak make him a guy who should be owned in more leagues.

Al-Farouq Aminu, SF/PF, Portland Trail Blazers

Yahoo Ownership: 55%

Al-Farouq Aminu is a top-100 player in nine-category leagues on the year and 55th over his last five games, so he should be owned in more than 55% of Yahoo leagues.

Over that five-game span he's averaging 12.2 points, 1.6 threes, 9.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 0.6 turnovers in 29.8 minutes per contest while shooting 52.5% from the field and a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe.

Aminu is never going to give his owners much in terms of scoring, but he grabs his fair share of boards, tosses in some triples and steals, hits a good mark from the line, and rarely turns the ball over. He makes for a solid all-around player at the end of any standard fantasy league bench.

D.J. Augustin, PG, Orlando Magic

Yahoo Ownership: 45%

D.J. Augustin is not exactly killing it this season, but he's locked in as the Orlando Magic's starting point guard, and he's producing well enough lately to warrant a roster spot in standard leagues.

Over his last six games, he's been the 30th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, averaging 16.7 points, 2.0 triples, 1.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.0 blocks, and 1.5 turnovers in 31.0 minutes per contest, while shooting 50.0% from the field and 90.9% from the line.

It's worth noting that the first three games of this recent early-round stretch were far better than the most recent three (with a game missed in between due to a bum ankle), so he's not the hottest possible pick-up right now. That said, owners in need of a point guard could do worse.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG/SF, Los Angeles Lakers

Yahoo Ownership: 55%

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished last season as the 64th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, but has not had a repeat performance in 2018-19, ranking 158th up to this point in the year.

He's been hot as of late, however, ranking 58th over his last five contests with averages of 18.6 points, 3.6 triples, 3.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steal, 0.0 blocks, and 1.0 turnover in 29.4 minutes per contest, and a shooting split of 43.9% from the field and 89.5% from the line.

This recent surge coincides pretty directly with the absence of LeBron James (groin), so don't expect it to go on much longer once he returns. In the meantime, James won't even be re-evaluated until this coming Friday, so feel free to roll with KCP until the wheels inevitably fall off.

Tyler Johnson, PG/SG, Miami Heat

Yahoo Ownership: 35%

Tyler Johnson is not exactly stuffing the stat sheet in Goran Dragic's absence following knee surgery, but he's doing enough to warrant ownership or at least a streaming spot.

Over his last seven games, Johnson has been the 96th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, averaging 11.4 points, 1.9 three-pointers, 3.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 1.7 turnovers in 25.0 minutes per contest, while shooting 43.5% from the field and 63.6% from the free throw line.

Last week's cover boy, Justise Winslow, remains the guy to own in Dragic's continued absence, but Johnson is not a bad consolation prize if Winslow is unavailable in your league.

Danuel House Jr., SG, Houston Rockets

Yahoo Ownership: 10%

Danuel House Jr. has done a fine job of filling in for Chris Paul (hamstring) in the Houston Rockets' starting lineup, putting him on fantasy radars for the first time in his three-year career.

Over his last six games (all starts), House has been the 47th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, averaging 11.8 points, 2.2 threes, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steal, 0.7 blocks, and a mere 0.5 turnovers in 29.7 minutes per contest, while shooting 57.9% from the field and 87.5% from the charity stripe.

House's fantasy relevance is tied directly to the health of Paul and Eric Gordon (knee), but he's worth a look while he's starting and rolling.

Austin Rivers, PG/SG, Houston Rockets

Yahoo Ownership: 20%

Austin Rivers is another Houston Rocket who is benefiting from the absences of Chris Paul (hamstring) and Eric Gordon (knee) from a fantasy perspective.

In three starts in place of Gordon, Rivers has been the 93rd-ranked player in nine-category leagues based on his averages of 17.0 points, 3.7 triples, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.3 blocks, and 1.0 turnover in 42.2 minutes per contest, and 45.5% shooting mark from the field (without a single free throw attempt).

He's been the 169th-ranked player over his six games as a Rocket, and 294th on the year as a whole between his time in Houston and Washington, so don't get your hopes up for rest-of-season value here. Go ahead and continue to stream him for as long as Gordon remains sidelined, though.

DeMarre Carroll, SF/PF, Brooklyn Nets

Yahoo Ownership: 30%

DeMarre Carroll is improbably one of the hottest players in fantasy hoops right now.

Over his last five games, he's been the 45th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, averaging 18.4 points, 3.0 triples, 5.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.2 blocks, and 0.6 turnovers in 30.6 minutes per contest, while shooting 55.6% from the field and 77.3% from the line.

Carroll is the 236th-ranked player on the year, and 196th over the last month, so this little hot patch might end up being short-lived. That said, he was once regularly a mid-round fantasy asset, so he's worth a look whenever he's getting enough minutes to produce and rolling like this.

Bismack Biyombo, PF/C, Charlotte Hornets

Yahoo Ownership: 15%

The Charlotte Hornets will be without Cody Zeller for the next 4-to-6 weeks as he recovers from hand surgery, and they've turned to Bismack Biyombo in the starting lineup over their last two games to help fill the void.

Over those two games, Biyombo has averaged 11.0 points, 0.0 threes, 10.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.0 block, and 1.5 turnovers in 25.7 minutes per contest, while shooting 56.3% from the field and 66.7% from the line.

That's probably enough for Biyombo to keep the starting center job over Willy Hernangomez for now, so owners in need of boards and blocks should take a flier on him.