Fantasy Basketball Working the Wire: Too Early? Not For Us

  • By Mike Passador

    Last Updated on October 21, 2026 2:52 pm by Mike Passador | Published: October 21, 2026

    Happy Wednesday! This will be your weekly stop for all the top waiver wire pickups all season long. How can we have a Working the Wire already, you ask. It’s been one night and 80% of the league hasn’t even played yet. That’s all true… but the grind never stops. You’re going to see a lot of movement in the early days of the season because this is, sadly, the most locked-in that most leagues are likely to be. It’s that time of year when every team is on its way to the title and the transactions roll in on the regular.

    That means you’re going to end up snaking some good pickups by virtue of your competitors getting overly aggressive or flat-out impatient. Save some bullets for that but also don’t be afraid to swap out the bottom of your roster for players who quickly emerge with long-term, high-upside appeal. For all the work you do to prepare, teams love to whip out some surprises when it comes to roles and playing time. Since we don’t have that information quite yet, we’re going to take a quick spin through the league and identify five players who already look like they’ll be standard-league relevant (plus several honorable mentions, which are mostly “this guy should already be rostered but maybe take a look” types) and then five players who look positioned to deliver for deep-league managers.

    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 a 14-, an 18- and a 30-team league so you’re going to get a very real sense of what that landscape looks like. But that’s another story for another time, when we can all sing the ballad of Craig Porter Jr. together. For now, let’s get into our first Working the Wire of the year.

    Standard Leagues

    Brayden Burries (10%)

    The Bucks answered one of our big questions for them on Monday, waiving Kevin Porter Jr. in a fairly shocking move that helps clear up a big logjam. There are still things to sort out, but removing a player like Porter that is good enough to play legitimate minutes really opens some doors for others. We’re likely looking at Ryan Rollins, Tyler Herro and Kasparas Jakucionis as the primary ball-handlers now, which in turn takes Herro, Rollins and Porter himself away from some of the off-ball minutes in the backcourt. We expect a bulk of the freshly available work to go right to Burries, Milwaukee’s top pick in the draft.

    Burries is coming off a season of16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.8 triples per contest while shooting .491 from the floor and .391 from deep at Arizona and brings some physicality to the wing position. It’s a complete checklist of things the Bucks need from their next long-term player and Burries has every opportunity to hit the ground running. He might not start on opening night but we’d bet on him working his way up the ladder before too long. He’s a rookie with a well-rounded game on a rebuilding team that just cleared up 24 minutes by waiving a score-first ball-handler. Burries won’t be the direct beneficiary of that vacated usage, but he’ll get some of it, and the minutes should flow to him as a player who looks like he’ll fit in with just about any lineup group. A strong preseason has led into an improved setup for opening night. If Burries can get off to a hot start, you might never be able to pick him up again, and we’d like to take the chance on his skills rather than a low-upside placeholder on your bench. Guys like that are just holding a place, after all, for a player like this.

    Jalen Smith (20%)

    Smith figures to be one of the most-added players in the league this week, possibly as soon as Thursday morning when the fantasy community at large realizes he’s going to be Chicago’s starting center. Nic Claxton just sat out for two weeks with a hamstring injury and was ruled out for at least another two weeks as of Monday, and that doesn’t even account for the ramp-up period that will only extend as Claxton continues to stack missed days. Smith has a fairly low trust factor given the way previous cusp-of-a-breakout stretches have been followed by long periods of nothingness, but the reason he hasn’t been written off completely is because Smith does tend to deliver when the stars align.

    Consider the stars very much aligned to start this season. Last year Smith made 21 starts, averaging 12.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.7 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.6 3-pointers in 24.1 mpg while shooting .522 from the field. Considering how many of those games were spent alongside a depleted Bulls lineup, those numbers feel like a reasonable baseline for Smith to start out. Don’t go expecting top-100 numbers all season, but you’re likely looking at a couple weeks of must-start value, if not a month and change. It’s not a forever engagement but Smith is probably going to outproduce the last guy on your bench for at least the next little while.

    Malik Monk (3%)

    The Kings went from a shaky, unproved backcourt mix to the thinnest backcourt in the league (for now). They lost Ben Simmons, who was expected to start and play a big role, to a torn Achilles and waived Adam Flagler, meaning it’s just Darius Acuff Jr., Emanuel Sharp, Zach LaVine and Malik Monk in the mix as ball-handlers. There are reports that the Kings want to get into the Kevin Porter Jr. business and we’ll find out soon whether they win that sweepstakes, but either way it looks like there’s ample room for Monk to get involved again. He was iced out last season as the Kings tried to find time for the likes of Russell Westbrook, Dennis Schroder, DeMar DeRozan and Keon Ellis at times — they’re all gone now — and a fresh start with a weak depth chart means that Monk should be back at 20-plus mpg by default.

    That’s a lot of faith that the Kings won’t do something insane but Monk has been a credible standard-league guy in the past. In 2024-25 he finished 78/99 in 8/9-cat scoring in 31.6 mpg; the year prior he was 124/148 in a slightly more realistic 26.0 mpg. He didn’t become a useless player over the course of one season and the Kings might not have any choice but to play him. Monk fits a position of need and should be at least a top-140 producer with top-100 upside, and that sounds like a good deal to us.

    Dennis Schroder (6%)

    Speaking of Schroder, he looks to be Charlotte’s starting PG for the immediate future. Coby White is out with a left calf strain and the Hornets will provide updates “as appropriate,” which could mean just about anything. The only other option looks like rookie Christian Anderson, so this is Schroder’s operation for better or worse. He wasn’t able to hold onto the keys last year in Sacramento but that likely has more to do with the Kings than him, and the Hornets’ lack of alternatives will work in his favor. Schroder is a serviceable NBA player and fantasy managers can consider him as a low-end play for points and assists with a smattering of 3-pointers and steals.

    Charlotte’s offense was high-powered last year but is already missing some key pieces, so ideally you get the infrastructure that led to the fun stuff with the rotation vacancies for Schroder to step into good numbers. You don’t have to feel too bad about dropping him if a more appealing option emerges but Schroder should be capable of top-130 numbers (and more in punt-FG% builds) for as long as he’s starting.

    Isaiah Jackson (18%)

    Jackson is a player who was a total afterthought in our offseason prep but all the news out of Clippers training camp established a fun flier case here. It felt crazy a couple of months ago but Jackson looks to be the team’s starting center entering the season. He had some sleeper appeal last year as the presumptive starting center for a Pacers team that was wading into a gap year, but Jackson was unable to separate from the pack and then got hurt before being traded to LA. That goes to show that this is far from automatic, but the Clippers aren’t going to overtax Brook Lopez in a year without major postseason aspirations, and at the moment there isn’t much else to work with.

    Be mindful of the fact that Yanic Konan Niederhauser is the endgame for the Clippers, but his recovery from foot surgery could take him into December. That gives Jackson at least a few weeks of time to put his stamp on the job and if he can earn 24 minutes a night there should be usable rebounds and blocks on a helpful FG%. Don’t expect the world here but Jackson is worth an early add just in case he can finally live up to the promise of his stat set and previous per-minute production.

    Other names: Reed Sheppard (41%), Cameron Johnson (31%), Christian Braun (36%), Anthony Black (40%), Grayson Allen (19%), Tre Jones (25%), Jeremiah Fears (44%), Moussa Diabate (27%)

    Bonus Help

    If you want to be able to look at some competing options and take a look at how they will specifically impact the categories you’re chasing, we’ve got a place for you to do just that. Make sure you’re messing around with our new Ethos360 Dashboard. Check it out learn to use it because it’s going to make your life way easier. From the dashboard — without clicking off the page — you can both this year’s stats and projections, injury news and notes, recent blurbs and our full Draft Guide player profiles available all in one spot.

    There’s a great query tool there as well so you can see players based on all kinds of filters and you can even compare players head-to-head, which will be particularly helpful when you’re deciding which player to pick up. That dashboard is already a fixture in our work, and it should be a one-stop shop as you work your way through the fantasy season.

    Deep Leagues

    For this exercise, we’re looking at players likely available in 14- and 16-team leagues. The waiver wire in formats larger than that won’t have much to offer right now but you’ll see some movements after everyone plays. Sorry if you’re itching to make moves in a 30-team league already. If that’s you, here’s a freebie: Javonte Green.

    Brook Lopez (11%)

    Of course, as we just said, the last time Jackson had a chance to run with a starting job he totally fell on his face. That competition was with James Wiseman, Jay Huff and Tony Bradley, and Jackson didn’t even come close to winning it. As such, it makes sense to look at the other player in this battle. That just so happens to be a veteran with an extended track record of fantasy value thanks to a reliable stat set. Lopez was a top-120/90 player in 8/9-cat leagues after Ivica Zubac was traded, averaging 11.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.8 steals, 1.4 blocks and 1.6 3-pointers on .477 shooting in 27.8 mpg. Things are different between a new supporting cast in LA and the likelihood that he doesn’t play nearly as much, but those blocks and 3-pointers will always pay the bills in fantasy.

    Jackson has the buzz behind him but it’s not like he’s guaranteed to thrive, and Lopez will be there to pick up any leftovers beyond his 20-24 mpg baseline. The hard public fade has given you a free look at someone who could produce top-200 numbers without getting it out of first gear.

    Leonard Miller (6%)

    The Bulls gave Miller his first real shot at regular playing time late last season when the core guys were out and the results didn’t matter, and he responded with borderline 12-team value. Things are different this season with Caleb Wilson set to become the franchise centerpiece, Norman Powell around to siphon shots, Nic Claxton giving the team a true starting-caliber center and the team generally healthy, but Miller did enough last year to earn minutes in this one.

    Of course, the one exception to the “generally healthy” bit happens to be Claxton. While we endorsed Jalen Smith as a standard-league player during his upcoming run of starts, the fact that he’s the full-time five does leave Chicago a bit undersized. The Bulls don’t have the personnel to do anything other than lean into that and go forward-heavy with their rotation. That should be good news for Miller, who was outstanding in preseason as well. We’d treat him as a preemptive add in 16-team formats and hope that the Bulls don’t bungle this. If Miller gets near 24 mpg, he could be a top-125 threat.

    Jaxson Hayes (1%)

    The Jazz have been a popular topic of discussion over the offseason but their frontcourt rotation looks a little suspect when it comes to delivering on playoff hopes. Jusuf Nurkic was re-signed to start at center but will miss at least a couple more weeks while he recovers from a partial plantar plate tear in his right foot and all signs point to Hayes getting the first shot to start in his absence. Utah doesn’t seem to want to try Jaren Jackson Jr. at center full-time just yet, and Hayes has found himself in a pretty fantasy-friendly spot.

    Hayes won’t do much besides finish at the rim, grab rebounds and block the occasional shot but it’s a tried and true stat set that doesn’t need much to produce usable fantasy numbers. With Hayes slotting in alongside a tremendous young guard for the pick-and-roll, he should provide a tidy boost to deep-league teams for as long as his starting role holds.

    Precious Achiuwa (7%)

    The Kings signed Achiuwa after the start of the regular season last year and ended up treating him as a full-time starter. Some of that had to do with the team’s many injuries but at the end of the day, you don’t get that treatment unless the coaching staff really likes you. They signed him back and already you see the path clearing. Ben Simmons was slated to start at a forward spot but is gone for the season. Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell will miss multiple weeks, opening up lots of time at center behind Domantas Sabonis, who is coming off knee surgery. Achiuwa has the trust of the coaching staff and a few holes to plug in the rotation.

    We’re not expecting a repeat of last year when Achiuwa generated top-80 value after the All-Star break on 15.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals, 1.0 blocks and 0.4 3-pointers on .555 shooting in 30.9 mpg. But even in 20 minutes a night, a player with Achiuwa’s motor is going to back into rebounds and defensive stats. He’s a short-term pickup who will be good for top-250 numbers with a route to more — more playing time, more stats, more fantasy value — thanks to friendly starting circumstances.

    Jake LaRavia (9%)

    The Lakers have a lot to figure out still and we imagine that they’ll cycle through a few different rotation options before settling on the one that works best, unless they hit the right mix immediately. There’s one starting spot that feels up for grabs and a few contenders to fill it, but if you plotted them all out on a chart representing shooting touch, size, versatility and defensive ability, Jake LaRavia would be the guy at the dead center. He’s a better defender than Sandro Mamukelashvili. He’s a more well-rounded player than Matisse Thybulle, especially offensively. He’s sturdier than Ziaire Williams. LaRavia is the happy medium of a lot of the things the team is looking for in a role player who won’t rock the boat next to higher-usage guys.

    LaRavia’s 3-point percentage collapsed on him last year but he still managed 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.0 3-pointers on .459 shooting from the field. That’s the kind of balanced production that comes in handy on a deep-league bench. He’s a speculative add in 18-team leagues with a path to top-200 value if all goes well. LaRavia feels like a solid glue guy in both fantasy and reality.

    October 21, 2026, 12:34 pm