Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wired, Week 8: Opportunity for Rui Hachimura

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Next week will be Week 9 in Fantrax and ESPN leagues, but it will be Week 8 in Yahoo due to their decision to combine the previous two for Week 7. That’s the format we’ll use in this week’s Waiver Wired column, with teams playing two or three games in the final week before Christmas. The two Emirates NBA Cup semifinal winners will also play three times in Week 8, which features two heavily congested days (Thursday and Saturday), with three games scheduled for Friday and Sunday.

With most of the league not playing its first game until Thursday, navigating the waiver wire can be tricky. Who should be added immediately, and who can managers afford to wait until Wednesday to move for? Let’s look at some of the top waiver options heading into Week 8.

Priority Adds

1. Payton Pritchard

2. Rui Hachimura

3. Gradey Dick

4. Tari Eason

5. Ayo Dosunmu

6. Yves Missi

7. Buddy Hield

8. Goga Bitadze

9. De’Andre Hunter

10. Cason Wallace

SF/PF Rui Hachimura (51%), Los Angeles Lakers

With LeBron James ruled out for Friday’s game against the Timberwolves for personal reasons, there will be more shots to go around within the Lakers rotation. Hachimura is one of the potential beneficiaries, and the improved defensive production is what boosts his value. Ranked just outside the top 25 in 9-cat per-game value (Basketball Monster), he’s averaged 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks over the past two weeks. Add in solid production in points, rebounds production, and percentages, and Hachimura will be worth a look as long as LeBron is out. The only negative is the schedule, as the Lakers’ two Week 8 games will be played on the busiest days (Thursday and Saturday).

SF/PF Tari Eason (51%), Houston Rockets

Eason’s been good all season, and the schedule could also work in his favor for Week 8. If Houston can knock off Oklahoma City in Saturday’s Emirates NBA Cup semifinals, they’d have a three-game slate for Week 8. That would begin with Tuesday’s final against Atlanta or Milwaukee, the only game scheduled for that day. To end Houston’s week, a game in Toronto on Sunday (December 22) is part of a three-game slate. Averaging 23.0 minutes per game, Eason remains a top…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy-basketball-waiver-wired-week-140000438.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-13 14:00:00

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