NBA fantasy basketball waiver wire watch: Week 1
We’re just a few days into the NBA season but that means it’s already time to make some waiver wire decisions for your fantasy team.
After perhaps the wildest offseason in NBA history, the 2017-18 regular season kicked off with a bang Tuesday night. Not only did LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Kyrie Irving and the new-look Boston Celtics, but the Houston Rockets staved off the defending champion Golden State Warriors, 122-121, under an avalanche of 3-pointers and highlight-reel plays.
Tuesday wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for fantasy basketball owners, though. Gordon Hayward suffered a gruesome ankle fracture just minutes into his Celtics debut, which will likely sideline him for the rest of the 2017-18 season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Prior to tipoff, The Vertical’s Shams Charania reported Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic had been hospitalized after getting into a scuffle with teammate Bobby Portis. The team announced Mirotic “suffered a concussion and maxillary fractures,” the latter of which will likely require surgery and sideline him indefinitely.
While fantasy owners shouldn’t necessarily cut bait on Mirotic — particularly in deeper leagues — Hayward owners should brace themselves to drop him once the Celtics confirm his recovery timetable. With 11 games on the slate Wednesday, we luckily didn’t have to wait long to see potential replacement options in action, but fantasy owners didn’t make it through unscathed. Jeremy Lin suffered a ruptured patella tendon and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season, the team announced Thursday.
Every week here at FanSided, we’ll run a waiver-wire watch — typically on Mondays, for owners with weekly lineup locks — highlighting players who deserve to be owned in far more fantasy basketball leagues. To qualify, a player must be owned in fewer than 50 percent of ESPN.com leagues. We’ll also highlight a few deeper-league options — those owned in fewer than 20 percent of ESPN.com leagues — for those who play in 14- or 16-team formats.
If any of these players are floating around on your waiver wire and you already have some dead weight at the end of your bench, make the switch before it’s too late.
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