.png){kind=small}
The NBA trade deadline is now past us, and the fantasy outlook for a lot of players has changed with the All-Star break coming.
Here are my five waiver wire adds for the coming week.
All stats and ownership rates are as of entering game action on Sunday, Feb. 11.
Stanley Johnson, SG/SF, Detroit Pistons
Over his last six games, all starts, Johnson is averaging 15.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game over just under 36 minutes per contest. The last five of those have come since the Pistons acquired Blake Griffin, as Avery Bradley’s departure has brought an opportunity.
Johnson is still deficient as a three-point shooter (27.8 percent for the season). But as long as playing time is not an issue, he’s in line to put up solid counting stats across the board.
Johnson should at least be on fantasy watchlists, but I like him as a solid depth addition in most leagues.
Yahoo! Ownership: 19% ESPN Ownership: 12.8%
Michael Beasley, SF/PF, New York Knicks
In eight starts this season, Beasley is averaging 20.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. That includes 21 points, seven rebounds, three steals and one assist against the Toronto Raptors Thursday night, as New York’s starting power forward in place of Kristaps Porzingis (knee).
Porzingis is out for the season with a torn ACL, and Beasley is first in line to benefit. His usage rate with Porzingis off the floor this season is hovering around 30 percent, and no one is a serious threat to change that.
Beasley has been roster-worthy in fantasy leagues for a while. But now he has a big, unabated opportunity ahead of him.
Yahoo! Ownership: 59% ESPN Ownership: 52.8%
Joe Ingles, SF/PF, Utah Jazz
Ingles scored a career-high 23 points against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, along with five rebounds and five assists. He has scored in double figures seven times in his last eight games, while making just north of 54 percent of his three-pointers over that span.
The trade deadline departures of Rodney Hood and Joe Johnson stood to open things up for Ingles, and he delivered immediately.
Ingles is on the fringe of consideration for his list based on his Yahoo! ownership, but his ownership in ESPN leagues has a long way to go to catch up. He might not light the world on fire, but most fantasy owners won’t regret having Ingles from here on out.
Yahoo! Ownership: 66% ESPN Ownership: 37.6%
De’Aaron Fox, PG, Sacramento Kings
Fox was already taking the reigns at point guard for Sacramento, starting each of his last 18 games. But the trade of George Hill to Cleveland has left the rookie out of Kentucky as the only healthy Kings’ point guard.
Fox has battled injuries throughout this season, most recently an ankle issue. But he has not missed a game since the calendar flipped to 2018, as he perhaps straddles the line between being hurt and injured.
An occasional missed game is firmly in play, but Fox was a trade deadline winner in fantasy basketball and he should be far more widely owned.
Yahoo! Ownership: 56% ESPN Ownership: 42.6%
D.J. Augustin, PG, Orlando Magic
Orlando sent Elfrid Payton to the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline, which opened up a spot in the starting lineup for Augustin. In two games since, he is averaging 14.5 points, 7.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 10.5 shot attempts (5.0 three-pointers) per game.
Shelvin Mack is also in the mix at point guard for the Magic, and he’s coming off a 19-point effort against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. Augustin will have to shoot better to stave off that threat from Mack, but for now having the starting job gives him the fantasy edge and makes him the better immediate addition off the waiver wire.
Yahoo! Ownership: 31% ESPN Ownership: 16.7%