Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire: Who to consider adding ahead of the NBA trade deadline

Week 17 of the fantasy basketball season is upon us, and, like every Monday, I'll break down several players who are less than 50% rostered in Yahoo fantasy basketball leagues.

With the NBA trade deadline on Thursday, however, I'd recommend that those in daily leagues save their transactions as best they can for midweek because there are several notable veterans on the trade block who, if moved, could offer up opportunities to other players that you'll want to jump on immediately.

Of course, there's the possibility that nothing happens beyond this Kyrie Irving trade (more on that in a second). Still, given the contract situations of several players around the league, I'm expecting more fireworks by Thursday.

Speaking of that blockbuster trade — in case you haven't heard, Brooklyn Nets star guard Kyrie Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday — the deal sent Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 unprotected first-round pick, 2027 second-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick to Dallas for Irving and Markieff Morris. I'll have much more on the fantasy implications of the trade in a video today — keep an eye out for it.

With that out of the way, let's get to the schedule and waivers for this week:

Fantasy Schedule:

Four games: 9 teams (Bulls, Celtics, Cavaliers, Jazz, Kings, Mavericks, Nets, Pistons and Spurs)

Three games: 20 teams (Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, Heat, Hornets, Jazz, Kings, Knicks, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Nets, Pacers, Rockets, 76ers, Suns, Thunder, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Warriors and Wizards)

Two games: 1 team (Pelicans)

Now that you know which teams to target for streaming, let's get to the pickups.

Priority Adds in Shallow leagues (10 teams or less)

Cam Thomas - SG, Brooklyn Nets (52% rostered, up from 33% on Sunday night)

"I'm Killa, no Andre Miller." No slight to Andre Miller because he was a great fantasy player, but I'm waiting for Cam Thomas to channel his inner Cam'ron.

If you're playing in a points league or looking for instant offense, Thomas is worth adding for Week 17. Spencer Dinwiddie likely slots in as the starting PG with Kyrie Irving in Dallas, but after putting up 44 points (16-23 FG, 8-9 FT, 4-5 3PT) with five rebounds and five assists and four turnovers to lead the Nets to a victory on Saturday night, Thomas has likely earned more minutes in the short term. The Nets play four games this week, and Seth Curry has already been ruled out on Monday, so this will be the Cam Thomas show. Go check if he's still available.

Royce O'Neale - SG/SF, Brooklyn Nets (47% rostered)

The Nets will be down quite a few players to start Week 17 between injuries and trades, which puts O'Neale in an ideal position to stuff the stat sheet. The Nets will be without Kevin Durant, Dinwiddie, Curry and Finney-Smith, with Ben Simmons questionable on Monday. They then have another game on Tuesday.

O'Neale finished 39th in per-game value last week after averaging 10.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.0 threes, 1.0 steals and 1.7 blocks with only 1.0 turnover across 30 minutes per night. He should be rostered in well over 50% of leagues, so there's value in picking him up in shallow leagues, too.

Priority Adds in Deep Leagues (12+)

Donte DiVincenzo - PG/SG, Golden State Warriors (41% rostered)

Steph Curry will miss multiple weeks with a knee injury that will sideline him for at least a month. According to Shams Charania, the Warriors' medical staff must wait until the swelling subsides to get a better idea of his return timeline. Now, while that means Jordan Poole re-enters the starting lineup, DiVincenzo also steps into a more prominent role.

He'll be the sixth man for the Warriors and has been a top 75 player over the past month. He'll be a good source of threes, points and steals while Curry is out.

Isaiah Hartenstein - PF/C, New York Knicks (39% rostered)

It took Jericho Sims getting into foul trouble and a couple of nothing burgers to release Hartenstein from Thibs' doghouse, but it's time to add him again in shallow leagues. Hartenstein finished in the top 90 last week after averaging almost eight points with 12 rebounds, two assists and a shade under two stocks in an encouraging 31.5 minutes per night.

His scoring is way down from last season, but with the additional minutes in the absence of Mitchell Robinson, he'll be more useful in H2H leagues than in points for his ability to rebound and rack up stocks.

Mid-tier Adds

Malaki Branham - SG/SF, San Antonio Spurs (10% rostered)

There are a few reasons why I like picking up Branham. First, the Spurs' backcourt has been riddled with injuries, and he's played exceptionally well since Tre Jones left with a foot injury last Wednesday. Since then, Branham's averaged 24 points with 4 assists and 2.5 triples on 69% shooting from the field. He finished in the top 70 last week, and even though his FG% isn't sustainable, he's ballin' right now. He's shown glimpses of his scoring ability throughout the year, and with Tre Jones ruled out again on Monday, he should cook while seeing over 30 minutes. It also helped that Jeremy Sochan, a guy getting more playmaking opportunities, has been out too.

Also, with the trade deadline looming, there's no doubt that the Spurs will be sellers. Josh Richardson and Jakob Poeltl are two names floating around. If J-Rich in particular gets moved, I'd expect to see more Branham for the rest of the season. At a minimum, he's worth streaming while he's hot, and the Spurs are one of nine teams playing four games this week.

Give him a look now before it's too late.

Daniel Gafford - C, Washington Wizards (44% rostered)

Given he's over 40%, he's more of a shallow league addition, but as long as Gafford's entrenched as the starting center for the Wizards, he should be rostered. His splits as a starter nearly doubled his production as a reserve, posting 11.5 points with 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

He won't wow you, but he's blocked over three shots on six occasions this season. He'll be a low-end double-double threat and a blocking specialist for however long he holds down a starting spot in the rotation.

Short-term but worth a look

Xavier Tillman - PF/C, Memphis Grizzlies (15% rostered)

He's started in three straight games for the Grizzlies and has been quietly productive over the past two weeks, ranking 72nd in per-game value. He's been valuable primarily for rebounding and steals, averaging almost eight boards and two steals per game over the past 14 days. Steven Adams is still a ways away from returning, too.

Even though he and Brandon Clarke are battling for minutes, the Grizzlies will need his physicality in Week 17, facing teams with viable fantasy bigs in Chicago, Minnesota and Boston. Clarke is rostered in 57% of leagues, so Tillman is the cheaper option who is still widely available if you require rebounds and steals from the center spot.

Trendon Watford - PF/C, Portland Trail Blazers (6% rostered)

Most would assume Drew Eubanks would be the one to benefit most from Jusuf Nurkic (calf) being out through the All-Star break, but I'm rolling with Watford. He's looked better than Eubanks in the last two games, and Eubanks went to the locker room twice on Saturday with back issues. Eubanks is probable for Monday, but this will be a position battle to monitor.

Watford snuck under the top 100 in per-game value last week, while Eubanks was close to the top 150. Watford offers more scoring upside (20+ in his previous two games with two threes), with Eubanks being the better option for rebounding and shot-blocking.

Both players should be rostered in deep leagues, but my lean is with Watford to continue outperforming Eubanks.

Stash house

With the trade deadline around the corner, here are the players I'm stashing who are under 40% rostered:

KJ Martin - SF/PF, Houston Rockets (39%)

Jeremy Sochan - PF, San Antonio Spurs (35%)

Jalen McDaniels - SF/PF, Charlotte Hornets (33%)

Bones Hyland - PG/SG, Denver Nuggets (33%)

Zach Collins - PF/C, San Antonio Spurs (20%)

Mark Williams - C, Charlotte Hornets (12%)

Others to consider by my rankings:

Larry Nance Jr. - PF/C, New Orleans Pelicans (44%)

Rui Hachimura - SF/PF, Los Angeles Lakers (35%)

Marcus Morris Sr - PF/C, Los Angeles Clippers (35%)

Caleb Martin -SF/PF, Miami Heat (11%)

Dwight Powell - C, Dallas Mavericks (6%)