Last Updated on November 11, 2025 2:52 pm by Mike Passador | Published: November 11, 2025

Hope everyone’s teams are doing well out there. And you too, naturally.

Now that we’re a few weeks into the season you can see rostership start to solidify. Players who were picked up early and continue to play well are still on rosters, and a lot of the churn is late-round picks who are being let loose in favor of hot performers. It’s only natural. In deeper leagues we’re left with a lot of speculative pickups for players who might be good later and a collection of guys who have already played their way off of rosters. It makes the job harder, but that’s part of the fun.

And while there’s still a pretty big collection of players who are under-rostered in standard leagues that might be hitting wires in 14- and 16-team formats, most managers are left with options that will require a little patience and faith.

Let’s see what we’ve got.

Quick Hits

These are the players under 30% rostered that really should be, even in standard leagues. You’re going to start seeing them talked about in your regular waiver columns as well so if they’re available in deeper formats, feel free pick them up right now.

Season-long potential: Aaron Nesmith (29%), Jake LaRavia (25%), Daniel Gafford (19%), Collin Gillespie (18%), Davion Mitchell (28%), Isaiah Jackson (15%), Josh Minott (19%), Bilal Coulibaly (21%), Derik Queen (17%)

Streamable in the short term, maybe more: Royce O’Neale (26%), Jaylon Tyson (17%), Max Christie (18%), Anthony Black (12%), Marcus Smart (8%)

Boring but reliable: Sam Merrill (12%), Kevin Huerter (14%), Ayo Dosunmu (19%), Mitchell Robinson (11%), Zaccharie Risacher (25%), Ryan Dunn (10%), Moussa Diabate (14%)

14, 16, 18 Teams

We’re going to be referencing Yahoo roster percentages for the most part. In one of my 12-team leagues, the highest-rostered player who is still a free agent is Rui Hachimura (27%), but there are only three other players at 20% or above (who aren’t injured). As such, we’re going to set the guardrails for this between 10% and 20% rostered — for the most part.

That doesn’t mean that Hachimura shouldn’t be rostered in 14-team leagues — with the Lakers’ injuries he’s actually a respectable add — but he may not be available enough to help out the bulk of deep-league GMs. Basically, if you’re probably going to hear about them in 12-team conversations, we’ve included them above. Remember, just because someone isn’t in a certain section of the article doesn’t mean you can’t bend the rules. If there’s a player that’s 4% rostered that’s a perfect fit for your build, go ahead an add him, even in a 14-team league. Things get increasingly flexible as leagues get deeper.

Noah Clowney (8%)

Clowney picked up a spot start when Michael Porter Jr. was out for personal reasons last week, but he did so well that the Nets just left him in the starting five. With Cam Thomas (hamstring) looking at a few weeks on the shelf, there’s even less chance that Clowney returns to the bench unless he plays his way out of consideration. He had games of 15, 17 and 19 points in his first three starts before scuffling to four points on Sunday, though that game saw him shoot 1-of-9 from the field. He salvaged it somewhat by picking up a pair of blocks and deep-league GMs shouldn’t overlook a guy with a starting job who is taking double-digit shots from the field on a normal night. Clowney has been a letdown since a strong finish to his rookie season but he’s playing well now, and the Nets are in a position to keep him in an important role for most of the year.

Profile: Seat-warmer who might have some staying power

Isaiah Collier (13%)

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Mike Passador

Mike graduated from Boston University’s Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.

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