Last Updated on October 28, 2026 9:58 am by Mark C | Published: October 28, 2026

Happy Wednesday! This will be your weekly stop for all the top waiver wire pickups all season long. But right now…the season is barely a week old. That makes it tough to whet the real long-term pickups from the ghostly spectral scary one-off performances.

But I’ll do my best here to separate out those ghouls and goblins who attempt to vex and hex your line-ups with blanks, and instead give you some treats for adds! We’ve already seen a host of scary injuries, and it’s only week one. However, I’ll try to shine a light in the darkness and highlight some waiver adds who can help boost your fantasy team’s prospects.

A reminder of some general tips in the early going when assessing adds and drops: Don’t panic if a player is getting minutes but not necessarily producing just yet. In such a small sample size, minutes are a more positive sign rather than a player who happened to have an excellent shooting night. Remember why you drafted some players in the first place! If you knew they may take some time to become top-100 contributors (like a Khaman Maluach), then no need to go dropping him unless the player add has similar upside. If you drafted a player who was more a short-term option or a low-upside player (maybe like a Jaylon Tyson or Keegan Murray), then feel free to churn those back-end options for more enticing ones.

Even though we only have roughly a week’s worth of data, there is still enough to see some trends emerging across teams and players. We’ll identify some players who should already be on standard league rosters in the Double-Check Zone before highlighting some of the Top Adds for Standard Leagues. We’ll identify some On the Rise options for those seeking some more boom-or-bust adds before finishing off with Deep League Adds.

We will have more names as time goes on and we get into the meat of the season. We’ll also be running a special Deep League Waiver column every other week, so be on the lookout for that in November. Your author plays in numerous 30-team dynasty leagues, so you’re going to get a very real sense of what that landscape looks like. But that’s another story for another time, a tale for a different audience, when we can all repeat the hauntings of emerging rookies and prospects. For now, let’s get into the second Waiver Wire rundown of the year.

Double-Check Zone

Ajay Mitchell (75%) & Jared McCain (40%)

All these injuries bum me out, but perhaps none so much as the Jalen Williams one. Nonetheless, we have to trudge through in fantasy. The obvious adds are Jared McCain and Ajay Mitchell. By the time this is published, Mitchell should already be rostered in every league, every format. Including him is a formality.

The more interesting one is Jared McCain. Because of his stature and profile, numerous managers are going to flock to add him as well. There is possibly more creation upside than what we’ve seen in the early going, but that hasn’t been McCain’s strong suit. Instead, McCain excels as a high-volume off-ball shooter. Sure, that’s a useful player, but one that is probably only putting up points and threes for your fantasy squads. His stat line Monday did impress: 18 points (6-of-14 FG, 2-of-3 FT), four treys, three boards, four assists, one steal, one block in 30 minutes. For the opportunity alone, he’s worth an add if you need points and treys. If your squad requires other stats, I’d probably look at a different option given there should be a number of helpful names available. McCain is like a Reese’s — not everyone’s flavor of candy. And that’s okay!

Anthony Black (67%)

Paolo Banchero will most likely be out for somewhere between 4-6 weeks and Jalen Suggs is out at least two weeks, likely longer. That should led to Anthony Black garnering plenty of minutes, Maybe he doesn’t start if the Magic prefer to start Tristan da Silva (more on him later), but either way Black surely will see heavy minutes. As you would expect, Black saw his stats elevated with more minutes and usage last year, and that should be the case yet again. Just like every Halloween you can bet there will be candy flying around everywhere!

In addition, there could be further untapped upside with a new coach in Sean Sweeney and a new offensive system. If Black isn’t already rostered, give him a hard look if you need some guard stats over the next month.

Ace Bailey (60%)

Bailey was originally going to be in the below grouping, but with the Jaren Jackson Jr. news, he propels up to the double-check zone. Bailey has excelled this season honing in on a complementary role which he has parlayed to production across the board. Bailey is a strong add for decent production in multiple categories, something most every fantasy team could use.

Other Names: Ayo Dosunmu (75%); Paul Reed (55%); Moussa Diabaté (49%); Devin Vassell (41%)

Top Adds for Standard Leagues

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