This article is part of our NBA Waiver Wire series.
The season is underway! Every team has now played at least one game, so we can finally start making roster moves based on real, actual, meaningful information – no more "best shape of his life and he spent the offseason learning how to shoot 70 percent from three while riding a unicycle" preseason noise.
The first week of waiver moves is a critical time – but remember, your roster's success or failure will be determined as much by the moves you don't make as the ones you do. Do not drop Jamal Murray just because he has a bad game on opening night. There are a lot of high-value players that are probably available in your league, and you'll need to act quickly and decisively to take advantage, but don't overreact, and don't panic.
The players below are listed in the order I'd recommend adding them.
This article will focus on players available in at least 50 percent of leagues. That said, especially this early in the season, there are a lot of valuable players who are widely available but miss that cut-off. I won't go into depth on those guys, but I'll include them below in the appropriate order.
Larry Nance (76 percent owned), George Hill (18 percent owned), Cedi Osman (57 percent owned), Cavaliers
Next week's schedule: BKN, at DET, IND
Nance, Hill, Osman, and Hart (below) are all stop-reading-this-article-and-go-add-them-now level values. Hill is a quality starting point guard – he's an efficient shooter and a decent source
The season is underway! Every team has now played at least one game, so we can finally start making roster moves based on real, actual, meaningful information – no more "best shape of his life and he spent the offseason learning how to shoot 70 percent from three while riding a unicycle" preseason noise.
The first week of waiver moves is a critical time – but remember, your roster's success or failure will be determined as much by the moves you don't make as the ones you do. Do not drop Jamal Murray just because he has a bad game on opening night. There are a lot of high-value players that are probably available in your league, and you'll need to act quickly and decisively to take advantage, but don't overreact, and don't panic.
The players below are listed in the order I'd recommend adding them.
This article will focus on players available in at least 50 percent of leagues. That said, especially this early in the season, there are a lot of valuable players who are widely available but miss that cut-off. I won't go into depth on those guys, but I'll include them below in the appropriate order.
Larry Nance (76 percent owned), George Hill (18 percent owned), Cedi Osman (57 percent owned), Cavaliers
Next week's schedule: BKN, at DET, IND
Nance, Hill, Osman, and Hart (below) are all stop-reading-this-article-and-go-add-them-now level values. Hill is a quality starting point guard – he's an efficient shooter and a decent source of threes, points and steals. When he's been in situations where he's been called upon to be a primary distributor, he's been a solid source of assists. That didn't happen last season, but he averaged at least 3.5 assists in each of the five seasons before that, including seasons of 5.1 and 4.7.
Looking at this current Cavaliers' squad, Hill is more likely to return to a similar role, as there are very few players on this team capable of providing meaningful assists. The last place team in 2017-18 averaged 19.5 assists per game, but Hill and Kevin Love are the only players on the 2018-19 Cavaliers to average at least 3.5 assists at any point during their careers – and Love only did it once, in 2013-14. The Cavaliers' offseason decisions to make long-term investments in Kevin Love and Larry Nance serve as evidence that this team has no intention of tanking, which decreases the risk of Hill losing minutes to rookie Collin Sexton. Hill's workload is likely to be larger than it has been in several years, as demonstrated by his 31 minutes on opening night.
Josh Hart, Lakers (55 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: SA, at Pho, Den, at SA
E'Twaun Moore, Pelicans (33 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: LAC, BKN, UTA
Moore isn't quite as valuable as the four names above, but he's not far behind. The Pelicans roster is a mishmash of All-Star level talent at point guard and big man positions, and a G-League-caliber depth chart on the wings. E'Twaun Moore is a solid rotation piece on most playoff rosters, but even he probably shouldn't be starting on a team with playoff ambitions (which is why he's not quite on the tier with Hart and the Cavaliers, above). Compared to his backups, however, Moore might as well be All-NBA. The Pelicans don't have much choice other than to give Moore as many minutes as he can handle, and as he demonstrated last season, he can be a stable Fantasy rotation piece as long as he gets minutes. His impressive 21 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one three in 34 minutes on opening night is probably closer to his best-case than his nightly normal, but that performance underscores the notion that Moore should be added quickly in all leagues.
Domantas Sabonis, Pacers (63 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at MIN, at SAN, at CLE
This is the point in the article where the order of the players listed becomes less important. The players above are so valuable that they should be added in all leagues, even if they are not perfect roster fits. The players below should be evaluated more in the context of the Fantasy roster they'd be joining, and what that team needs – whether the manager wants short-term production or a long-term stash prospect; do they need a point guard or a big man, or a scorer or someone more balanced?
Damian Jones, Warriors (19 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: PHO, WAS, at NY, at BKN
During the opening weeks of the season, many owners are looking to hit a season-long home run – if that's what you are looking for, then Jones is not for you. Jones is a better fit for managers who drafted DeMarcus Cousins, Kristaps Porzingis, or Lauri Markkanen, and are looking for someone who can provide those quality big-man stats until their injured player can return to action. Jones works best for Cousins' managers, because it will be Cousins' eventual return that probably signifies the end of Jones' Fantasy usefulness. Many expected Jordan Bell to be the primary center when the Warriors play big, but Jones played 27 minutes to Bell's seven in the opener. Jones scored 12 points and swatted three blocks in that game, and he again saw the lion's share of minutes Friday in Utah, while Bell picked up a DNP-CD.
Malik Monk, Hornets (39 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at TOR, at CHI, CHI, at PHI
For now, Monk is only a deep-leagues add. But it will only take a couple more performances similar to his opening night outburst for him to skyrocket into stop-reading-go-add-now territory. The Hornets' second wing spot – alongside Nic Batum – is wide open, and Monk is one of the two leading contenders. Not only is there a large role in the rotation that is there for the taking, but the Hornets' lineup is bereft of scorers outside of Kemba Walker. If Monk can secure the job, he has legitimate potential to average nearly 20 points per game. The problem is that Jeremy Lamb is still more likely to claim that starting role, or at least force a timeshare. Monk outplayed Lamb on opening night, but there are still 81 more games to be played. Monk also had a few great games early last season, only to end up as an end-of-bench option averaging only 13.6 minutes and 6.7 points per game.
Boban Marjanovic, Clippers (38 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: HOU, at NOR, at HOU
Now we're getting into the even-deeper-league prospects. Marjanovic has teased us many times before, putting up excellent numbers in limited minutes, only to return to a rotation afterthought. As he showed on opening night, he can dunk while his feet are still on the ground. And there is upside potential – this is the first time in his career that he won't be backing up either Andre Drummond or DeAndre Jordan. But even though he was shooting 75 percent from the field and posted 18 points and eight rebounds, coach Doc Rivers still felt the need to limit him to just 18 minutes. Until he shows the ability to consistently stay on the court for more than 20 minutes per game, he'll have a hard time staying on standard league rosters.
Allonzo Trier, Knicks (6 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at MIL, at MIA, GSW
Trier is purely a speculative add at this point. He was effective in 26 minutes, putting up 15 points, four rebounds and two blocks. But that came with Courtney Lee (knee) out, and he's expected to return to action shortly. The Knicks are somewhat clogged in their backcourt, with Trey Burke, Frank Ntilikina, Tim Hardaway, Emmanuel Mudiay, Lee, and Trier so minutes may be hard to come by. If Trier can carve out meaningful minutes, he could provide a lot of Fantasy value, but that's still a big if.
Other considerations
Bojan Bogdanovic, Pacers (57 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at MIN, at SA, at CLE
Trey Burke, Knicks (21 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at MIL, at MIA, GS
Danny Green, Raptors (25 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: CHA, MIN, DAL
Nemanja Bjelica, Kings (13 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at DEN, MEM, WAS
Cory Joseph, Pacers (2 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at MIN, at SA, at CLE
Nik Stauskas, Trail Blazers (4 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: WAS, at ORL, at MIA
