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Here are my five fantasy basketball waiver wire adds for the coming week.
Note: all stats (trends, etc.) are as of entering game action on Sunday, Dec. 17.
George Hill, PG, Sacramento Kings
Something appears to have clicked for Hill lately, with at least nine points in five of his last six games and solid peripheral averages (3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game) over that span.
In his last two games since a one-game absence for personal reasons, Hill has scored 18 and 16 points respectively while averaging 4.5 rebounds and three assists per game. Kings coach Dave Joerger has urged Hill to be more assertive offensively, and he seems to heeded that notion with at least three attempts from beyond the arc in each of his last four games.
De’Aaron Fox has been out, and may be for a bit longer, which is good news for Hill. He’s worth checking on in your league.
Yahoo! Ownership: 60% ESPN Ownership: 37%
Kent Bazemore, SG/SF, Atlanta Hawks
Bazemore has been up-and-down as a scorer lately, with at least 19 points three times in his last five games and two single-digit outings over that span. But he has delivered in other categories more consistently, averaging 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game over his last six contests.
Overall this season Bazemore is producing across the board, averaging 12.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists,1.8 steals and a career-high 10.4 field goal attempts per game.
Bazemore straddles the ownership line to make this list, and he’s pretty heavily owned in Yahoo! leagues. But he’s an under-the-radar across the board contributor who needs to be owned in virtually all leagues.
Yahoo! Ownership: 77% ESPN Ownership: 50.9%
Milos Teodosic, PG, Los Angeles Clippers
Over three games since returning from a foot injury, Teodosic has averaged 11 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He has really been letting it fly from beyond the arc too, with 24 attempts (but just six makes) over that span.
The Clippers are dealing with a lot of injuries, with Blake Griffin out for a while longer, Patrick Beverley out for the year and Danilo Gallinari out again recently. So Teodosic should be a high usage player, and his playing time is slowly trending up since he came back. That’s a combination fantasy owners have to be aware of, and Teodosic can be added in all leagues.
Yahoo! Ownership: 42% ESPN Ownership: 16.5%
Trey Lyles, PF, Denver Nuggets
Over eight games so far in December, Lyles is averaging 13.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while making over 56 percent of his three-pointers and over 53 percent of his overall field goal attempts. He has played more than 20 minutes off Denver’s bench in seven of those games, with at least 19 points in three of the last four.
Paul Millsap (wrist) is expected to be out until after the All-Star break, so the recent unleashing of Lyles stands to go unchecked. Some correction from his recent production could come, but Lyles is a worthwhile waiver wire add that is still very widely available.
Yahoo! Ownership: 18% ESPN Ownership: 6.5%
Rodney Hood, SG, Utah Jazz
Hood missed seven games with a left ankle injury, and he has delivered double-digit points in all three games off the bench since returning.
Hood probably won’t get his starting job back from rookie Donovan Mitchell anytime soon, but he should be Utah’s sixth man and a primary option for the second unit. Purely from a scoring and shot volume perspective that’s a good thing for his fantasy value, as evidenced by 35 field goal attempts and 17 three-point attempts over his first three games since coming back from injury.
There’s still a lot of room to add Hood in fantasy leagues, and now looks like the time to get back on board.
Yahoo! Ownership: 70% ESPN Ownership: 31.1%