This article is part of our In-Season Strategy series.
With the fantasy postseason looming, it's time to take a hard look at your roster and assess what categories need fortifying during the stretch run. Naturally, there's often slim pickings on the waiver wire at this time of year, especially in deeper formats.
With desperation palpable on the part of many owners who've suffered key injuries that have led to significant production drops, we'll highlight some conceivably available players that could help in each standard category. This is a bit of a deeper dive than usual, so expect to find some more obvious names left out, given that the likelihood of them being available in many leagues is low.
Points
Montrezl Harrell, Clippers (22% owned)Those in deeper formats looking for some scoring at this late stage could do a lot worse than Harrell, who's never shy about putting the ball up early and often when he's on the floor. The 25-year-old plays with considerable energy and has made offensive aggression a trademark, especially lately. Harrell has posted four straight double-digit scoring efforts and five in his last six games overall, while also putting up double-digit shot attempts in three straight. Looking at a larger sample, he's averaging 13.2 points over a modest 18.3 minutes across his last 10 contests, and he's shooting 67.4 percent from the floor over that span.
Additionally, the big man's shot attempts and minutes both appear to be trending in the right direction. Harrell's 10.8 field goal tries per contest over the last four
With the fantasy postseason looming, it's time to take a hard look at your roster and assess what categories need fortifying during the stretch run. Naturally, there's often slim pickings on the waiver wire at this time of year, especially in deeper formats.
With desperation palpable on the part of many owners who've suffered key injuries that have led to significant production drops, we'll highlight some conceivably available players that could help in each standard category. This is a bit of a deeper dive than usual, so expect to find some more obvious names left out, given that the likelihood of them being available in many leagues is low.
Points
Montrezl Harrell, Clippers (22% owned)Those in deeper formats looking for some scoring at this late stage could do a lot worse than Harrell, who's never shy about putting the ball up early and often when he's on the floor. The 25-year-old plays with considerable energy and has made offensive aggression a trademark, especially lately. Harrell has posted four straight double-digit scoring efforts and five in his last six games overall, while also putting up double-digit shot attempts in three straight. Looking at a larger sample, he's averaging 13.2 points over a modest 18.3 minutes across his last 10 contests, and he's shooting 67.4 percent from the floor over that span.
Additionally, the big man's shot attempts and minutes both appear to be trending in the right direction. Harrell's 10.8 field goal tries per contest over the last four games represent a nice bump over his 6.4 per game for the season, and he's averaging more than 22 minutes per game in that span. As an increasingly pivotal source of second-unit offense, and the primary backup to both DeAndre Jordan and Tobias Harris, Harrell's role appears locked in for the stretch run.
Other suggestions: Dwight Powell, DAL; Isaiah Taylor, ATL; Shabazz Napier, POR; Fred VanVleet, TOR
Three-Pointers
Doug McDermott, DAL (5% owned)McDermott's move to the Mavs from the Knicks shortly before the trade deadline has equated to a decent boost in production, particularly from distance. The 2014 first-round pick is posting an outstanding 64.7 percent success rate from behind the arc over the last five contests, and he's averaging 4.3 three-point attempts across 19.3 minutes in his last four.
That surge has pushed McDermott's three-point shooting north of 40 percent for the season, leaving him less than two percentage points shy of his career best. It's also worth noting that head coach Rick Carlisle has shown an immediate willingness to afford his new acquisition solid playing time, as McDermott already has one 34-minute outing and three 20-plus-minute tallies on his resume since arriving in Dallas.
Given his availability in a number of leagues at this stage of the season, he could serve as a prudent grab for those needing help from beyond the arc, especially if Carlisle continues to give more opportunities to young players over the final month-plus of the season.
Other suggestions: Marco Belinelli, PHI; Kyle Korver; CLE; C.J .Miles, TOR; Ryan Anderson, HOU; Josh Hart, LAL
Rebounds
David Nwaba, CHI (43% owned)Head coach Fred Hoiberg has rightfully decided to devote the rest of the season to developing his plethora of young players, and Nwaba is set to be one of the primary beneficiaries. He's taken over the starting small forward role and is averaging 32.5 minutes in the four games since the All-Star break. He's already proven to be a solid source of boards over that modest sample, posting a pair of nine-rebound tallies and averaging 7.5 rebounds per game overall.
Nwaba has been one of the Bulls' better per-minute glass-cleaners all season, and his rebounding pace extrapolates to a 9.7 boards per 48 minutes. Moreover, given his own squad's general ineptitude at getting the ball in the basket (43.8 percent team shooting percentage, second-lowest in NBA), the 25-year-old should see a healthy amount of opportunities on the offensive glass to help round out his overall tally for the balance of the campaign.
Other suggestions:Nemanja Bjelica, MIN; Jarrett Allen, BKN; Al-Farouq Aminu, POR; Ed Davis; POR; Alex Len, PHO; Mike Muscala, ATL; Ivica Zubac, LAL
Assists
J.J. Barea, DAL (60% owned)Barea has shuffled between the second unit and starting five recently, but his skills as a facilitator have transcended his role. The veteran has dished out no fewer than six assists, and as many as 13, in eight of his last nine contests, pushing his season figure to a career-high 6.3 per game in the process. Despite the possibility that he takes a seat as another non-playoff season winds down for the Mavs, head coach Rick Carlisle has shown no indication of such intentions thus far.
Other suggestions: D.J. Augustin, ORL; Shelvin Mack, ORL; Andrew Harrison, MEM
Blocks
Jakob Poeltl, TOR (16% owned)Poeltl has been progressively earning additional playing time and is now averaging 21.4 minutes per game over the last 10 contests and 18.3 on the season. He's unsurprisingly doing plenty of rim protecting at 7-foot-1 and averages 1.3 blocks for the season, but his rejections have hit elite levels of late. The 2016 first-round pick has multiple stuffs in three of his last four contests and in six of his last 10 games overall. He's averaging 2.4 blocks in the last five outings alone, and given starter Jonas Valanciunas' modest 22.1 minutes per game, Poeltl projects as a sure bet for a decent workload each night as the Raptors continue their push for the Eastern Conference top seed.
Other suggestions:John Collins, ATL; Daniel Theis, BOS; Emeka Okafor, NOP
Steals
Mario Hezonja, ORL (52% owned)Hezonja took full advantage of an extended absence on the part of Aaron Gordon (hip) earlier this season, providing a caliber of production that's helped force the hand of coach Frank Vogel to find time for him on the second unit. That's helping keep his numbers up across the board, especially in steals. Hezonja's recent level of thievery is such that he's logged multiple steals in an impressive eight straight games, as well as nine of his last 10 overall.
That's helped lead to an average of 2.3 over that span, and an impressive 2.33 per 48 minutes for the season. Given Vogel's stated intentions to continue supplying him with minutes as Orlando careens toward the high-lottery, he makes for an excellent late-season nab for those fortunate to find him on the waiver wire.
Other suggestions:Taurean Prince, ATL; Tomas Satoransky, WAS; Michael Carter-Williams, CHA; Delon Wright, TOR
