In this edition of Working the Wire, we’ll take a look at the games scheduled for week nine, including those teams that have a back-to-back set. Before looking ahead, let’s quickly take a look at last week’s waiver wire pickups and whether we struck gold or came up empty. We will then run down the list of players you could consider picking up for longer than a couple of games, although do remember that not every player is going to suit your needs. Finally, we take a look at a list of current streaming options, based on categorical need.

Games Schedule – Week 9

Back to Backs

Mon/Tues: GSW, PHX
Tues/Weds: POR
Weds/Thurs: HOU, IND, PHI, WAS
Thurs/Fri: 
Fri/Sat: BOS, GSW, MIL, ORL, UTA
Sat/Sun: BKN, CLE, DET
Sun/Mon (of Week 10): CHA, CHI, MEM, PHI, SAC, SAS

A Look Back…

Guards

Chris Duarte (31st ranked player) – A pretty clear win with this one

Killian Hayes (223rd ranked player) – Has to be a loss but I still have some hope

Ish Smith (24th ranked player) – Only played one game and is now sidelined for a while

Eric Gordon (110th ranked player) – Doing what he needs to do, making this a win

Forwards

Cameron Johnson (58th ranked player) – A nice win here

Jeff Green (128th ranked player) – Probably a pass, given he is doing just enough

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (140th ranked player) – Much the same, a decent enough pass

Juan Toscano-Anderson (370th ranked player) – Wow

Centers

Dewayne Dedmon (230th ranked player) – Technically a loss but closer to a pass for me

Maxi Kleber (371st ranked player) – Not being used as I hoped, a bad loss

Waiver Wire Options

Guards

Donte DiVincenzo – Obviously, DiVincenzo is going to take a while to get going but we know he can be a top-100ish player when he is rolling. He is more of a stash/add given the Bucks are going to ramp him up slowly. You should just be looking his way if you are sitting nicely in the standings.

Terence Davis – The Kings obviously have no idea about anything and so this one could very well end in tears. They fired one coach, only to replace him with another proven disaster. While Davis should be getting minutes, chances are he continues to be minimized, and so this is really just a flier type.

Garrison Mathews – Prior to Saturday, Mathews had been playing really well for the undermanned Rockets. As long as both Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green are out, he really should be rostered in most formats.

Cody Martin – The Hornets are paper-thin across the roster, making just about every player left standing worth a look in fantasy. Chances are Martin is already rostered in most places but if he has slipped through the cracks, go and pick him up.

Forwards

Cam Reddish – Reddish did nothing in his return but as long as he can remain healthy, his production should ramp up quite quickly. He has a nice path to minutes with De’Andre Hunter out for the foreseeable future. Although his value is reliant on scoring, he can chip in enough on the defensive end to have fringe top-100 value when he is rolling.

Devin Vassell – Vassell is working his way back from injury and while it could be a little frustrating, to begin with, common sense tells us he should see his playing time increase over the coming week. He is another player who could very well be rostered in your league, although the lack of minutes may have resulted in some frustrated GMs moving on prematurely.

Marcus Morris – Leading into Saturday, Morris had been putting up some nice production. Nic Batum is now out with an ankle injury and while it might not be a long-term thing, he is certainly not yet ready to assume a full workload. Morris could very well fall off a cliff in a hurry but there is enough there for him to at least be added, just to see what happens.

Danilo Gallinari – Gallo has finally started to resemble the player we saw two seasons ago. There is almost zero chance he gets back to his best in terms of fantasy production, but he does at least look to be relatively healthy. The return of Reddish is going to put a clamp on Gallo’s playing time but his scoring can be key, meaning he needs only to log minutes in the low-20s to have value.

Centers

Hassan Whiteside – Coming off arguably his best two games of the season, Whiteside continues to play his role to perfection. Clearly, he only offers upside in a couple of categories, meaning he won’t be for everyone. If you are looking for boards and blocks, go and grab him to see if he can maintain his recent momentum.

Kevin Love – Love has settled into a consistent bench role, typically logging around 20 minutes per night. He offers basically nothing on the defensive end, but can still grab more than his fair share of rebounds while also knocking down the 3-ball with relative consistency. He is only a backend target but he is generally doing enough on a nightly basis.

Streaming Targets

Points

Malik Beasley

Armoni Brooks

Jae Crowder

Terrence Ross

Gary Harris

3-pointers 

Malik Beasley

Armoni Brooks

Luke Kennard

Jae Crowder

Gary Harris

Assists

Joe Ingles

Facundo Campazzo

Gabe Vincent

Cameron Payne

Armoni Brooks

Rebounds

JaVale McGee

Terance Mann

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Tristan Thompson

Dwight Howard

Steals

Kenrich Williams

Cedi Osman

Gabe Vincent

Kyle Anderson

Eric Bledsoe

Blocks

Alex Len

Danny Green

Drew Eubanks

JaVale McGee

Isaiah Hartenstein

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