You are in luck! Christmas just came a little early for you. Call me “Kamla Claus.”

There are lots of fantasy goodies to be found on the waiver wire for the first week of December so let’s start opening these presents.

Double-Check Zone

These are players who are highly likely to be gone — maybe even drafted — in any competitive league. And yet, their roster percentage is well below 100 on Yahoo, meaning you need to take the 20 seconds and make sure that these guys are not floating around anywhere.

De’Andre Hunter (35%)

Hunter is light in the defensive stats with 0.8 stocks per game, which is downright annoying. That said, I’m messing with him right now because his efficiency is off the charts and he has been very consistent. People are sleeping on Hunter because he’s coming off the bench, but he is scoring a career high 18.5 points per game (ppg) in 27.5 minutes. Smokin. Hunter is flirting with 50-40-90 with shooting splits of 49-42-90. He’s #93 in 9-cat value and he should be rostered in at least 50% of Yahoo leagues.

Jared McCain (48%)

Y’all are bailing on McCain way too soon. Slow down…breathe…and pump the brakes. Over the last week, McCain has fallen in roster percentage by 11%, due in large part to coming off the bench in the last game and scoring seven points. There are so many reasons to hang in there with McCain. He is a super talented and athletic young dynamo, who recently ripped off seven 20-plus point games in a row!

The Sixers are the walking wounded and I don’t expect that to change on a bottom five team with very little reason to rush their players back. Plus, with a pick that projects to be fourth overall right now, the SIxers may decide to enter the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. Hang in there with McCain, who could be a down the stretch league winner on a tanking Sixers team.

Brandon Podziemski (52%)

Poj has started the past two games, including the last one over Lindy Waters, who should have never been higher in the rotation. Waters over Poj is yet another example of the fact that Steve Kerr has the most unfriendly fantasy rotation in the NBA. Boo.

Poj has been Poj, with a PRA of 12-7-4, 1.5 stocks and 1.5 threes in these starts. Just in case Coach Kerr “means it this time” by starting Poj, we all better pick him up now because that’s a goodie line if you ask me. #FreePoj

Malcolm Brogdon (38%)

Brogdon lives! He continues to be a solid PRA player with three-point upside, even with a terrible Wizards team that should be very actively shopping him before the trade deadline. Over the past two weeks, Brogdon is 55th in 9-cat Yahoo leagues with a PRA of 19-6-4 with 1.2 stocks and 1.0 threes.

The Wizards are showcasing him for a trade and he is auditioning for contender roles, so the goodies are going to continue as long as the playing time is there. Ride the wave and hope for a new destination so he doesn’t get Cooper-Flagged.

Standard Leagues

These are players worth a long look in 12-team leagues. Maybe they help in one key area; maybe they have legitimate season-long appeal and will continue to improve; maybe they are good but not better than the last guy on your roster. Maybe they hit the wire as a streaming sacrifice, or to make space for someone in the Double-Check Zone. That’s life sometimes! But this group should all be at least on the radar, if not full-on rostered in standard formats.

We’ll also display a player’s Yahoo roster percentage next to their name.

Jaime Jaquez Jr (15%)

Jaquez might be the best pickup in fantasy hoops right now and he is super available in just about every league around the world. Erik Spoelstra just made the adjustment of starting Jaquez and he delivered with 19-10-3-0-3 in 36 minutes in a loss to Boston.

Jaquez was decent last season, with a PRA of 12-4-2 in 28 minutes with 1.0 steals and 0.9 threes. Maybe Jaquez is about to make the first-to-second-year leap now that he is in the starting lineup. Maybe not. But it’s time to roll the dice and strike with Jaquez because he is a very talented and versatile player who has a good relationship with the box score going back to his UCLA days. Plus, you have the built-in turbo-booster that is Jimmy Butler and all of his maddening DNPs that will lead to an even more prominent role for Jaquez.

Vasilije Micic (17%)

LaMelo Ball is out indefinitely again and none of us have any idea how many games he will miss. But I do know this, Ball is a game-misser, who played 58 games the past two regular seasons combined. 58. We all knew this was coming, we were braced for it, we anticipated it, and now it’s here. Death. Taxes. Ball missing huge chunks.

Enter Vasi, who proved to be a goodie guy at the end of last season, with a PRA of 11-2-6 and around a three and a steal in the second half. Micic has started the past two games, averaging a solid 12-5-7-0-1 with two threes. Plus, you have Tre Mann out indefinitely with a back issue, making Micic a must-add in every format.

Quentin Grimes (19%)

I think we are all bracing to see what happens with Grimes now that Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are back on the floor. There is a parallel with the aforementioned McCain and Grimes in that they have absolutely killed it and we all want to see if they can maintain fantasy value now that the stars are back.

I recommend either picking up Grimes or holding him for another minute or two because the recent performances have earned our patience. Grimes’ scoring has gone 21-24-28 with 14 threes over the past three games, which is not something that I immediately send back to waivers without letting it breathe for a couple games.

Gerschon Yabusele (14%)

With Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond on the shelf, Nick Nurse has played the “Dancing Bear” card on the table and the results have been strong. In the last two weeks, Yabu is averaging 12 points, seven rebounds, 1.2 stocks and 2.6 threes. That line needs to be scooped off waivers so you can capture these imported goodies while the getting is good. Plus, he has center and power forward eligibility in Yahoo leagues, making him a little more valuable.

Streamers, Maybe More

Take a look at these players for short-term help with an outside chance at a long-term commitment. For now we’re just having fun, but who knows where life takes you? Maybe an injury fill-in spot becomes permanent. Maybe the hot streak never ends. And maybe you’ll add someone on a bender and feel free to drop them for the next hotness when the time comes.

Zach Risacher (19%)

Risacher is building towards a nice crescendo right now, with a scoring pattern of 17-11-14-13 in the last four games. More impressively, he has at least one block, one steal and one three in each of those games. His stat line for the last week reads 14-2-1 with 1.3 blocks, 1.0 steals and 2.0 threes per game. The minutes aren’t where they need to be to really take off because of Hunter’s efficient play, but grab the rookie now because the upside is being realized as we speak.

Matas Buzelis (2%)

I loved Buzelis in the pre-draft process because he reminded me of a poor man’s Chet Holmgren due to his combination of three-point shooting, shot blocking and dog. Matas just gained some attention with a sweet line against the Nets, with 20 points, 4 threes and 2 blocks in 22 minutes off the bench. Don’t rush to pick him up. He is germinating in Billy Donovan’s rotation, but he has the potential to post a really versatile stat line if/when given the playing time. Keep your eye on Buzelis.

Tidjane Salaun (2%)

Given all the injuries in the Hornets’ frontcourt, Salaun has been starting and playing big minutes. There was a recent two-game stretch where he averaged 15 and 6 with 3.5 threes and 1.5 steals per game. He validated those performances (after a bagel-riffic dud) with a double-double and multiple threes and steals against the Sixers. I have been streaming him for the past week and he has hit in three of those four games.

Deeper Leagues

Managers in 16-team formats (and even 14-teamers, if we’re being real) can still find a lot of value out there. The barriers to roster entry get lower as the player pool deepens so some of these guys will end up as streamers, while others could end up being game-changing adds. Might as well find out who is who.

Haywood Highsmith (4%)

Highsmith is in the starting lineup and playing solid minutes for Coach Spo, who loves his defensive versatility. I love the fact that Highsmith understands the concept of fantasy good, which is blocks, steals and threes. Over the last four games, Highsmith has six threes, four steals and eight blocks.

Shake Milton (1%)

My man Shake Milton is back on the fantasy radar, for deeeeep leagues only. With all the injuries in the Nets’ backcourt, Milton is playing significant minutes and flashing from time to time. Over the last two weeks he is averaging a PRA of 11-2-3 with 1.4 threes.

Trendon Watford (3%)

Watford is a player who always takes advantage of his opportunities. He is a physical scorer with an attack mentality and right now he’s hovering around 20 minutes per game. Over the last four games, he has scored at least 12 points in each with four threes and two steals.

Who’s Popping?

These are players who are in mid-pop or players who are about to pop for various reasons. (“Pop” is another way of saying “increase in stats”.)

It is our job as winning fantasy managers to constantly target these “pop players” in drafts and off waivers. Why? Because the best way to build a championship team is with a crew of studs who are having career years. You cannot win chips with a bunch of dudes having injury-hit or “down” years. It’s all about the arrow, folks. Is it pointing up…or down?

Yves Missi

Missi is a thing and he is popping, folks. He is the protypical contemporary big man with his ability to block shots, catch lobs, roll to the hoop, set screens and rim run, and the Pelicans know how to utilize him. Over the last five games, Missi has three double doubles with 9 blocks and 5 steals. Those are crazy defensive goodies, with no end in sight. Not only is Missi the best pickup in fantasy hoops right now (31% rostered in Yahoo leagues), he is popping into a legit starting center before our eyes.

RJ Barrett

Barrett is one of the biggest pop players of the season, with a PRA of 24-6-6 to go with 2.1 threes and 1.1 stocks. Just when you thought he had reached his ceiling, he has taken his game to new heights, averaging 28-7-8 with 2.7 threes over the past week.

These numbers will continue as long as Immanuel Quickley is out of the lineup, so enjoy them while they last. One more thing to keep in mind, Barrett was supposed to be this good. Barrett was #1 in recruiting rank coming out of high school and he was the third overall pick in the draft for a reason. He can ball. This is not a fluke.

Jabari Smith

After a slow start to the season that has caused his Yahoo rostered percentage to drop to 84%, Smith is now rolling. Over the last week, he is averaging 14 and 8 with 2.3 blocks and 2.7 threes–by far his best week of this campaign. Last season, Smith averaged 14 and 8 with only 0.8 blocks and 1.8 threes and he was a top-100 player in Yahoo 9-cat leagues. Those numbers are important because they prove that his pace over the last week is sustainable, with upside on top of that.