Jim McCormick, Special to ESPN.com 5y

Robert Covington among top fantasy basketball free-agent finds

Fantasy, Fantasy NBA

Working the waiver wire is pivotal to succeeding in fantasy basketball. With so many games, injuries and endless shifts in rotations throughout the marathon campaign, we'll need to source stats from free agency to maximize our rosters.

In this weekly series, we identify players available in at least half of ESPN leagues at each position. Some of them are purely specialists, capable of helping in one or two categories. Others deliver more diverse and important statistical offerings.

In the breakdowns below, I've ordered players at each position with priority of acquisition in mind.


Point guard

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LA Clippers (rostered in 2.5 percent of ESPN leagues): Add this rising rookie right now. "SGA" has averaged 37.6 MPG in his two starts since being elevated above an injured Avery Bradley. The Kentucky product should continue to provide at least 1.5 "stocks" (steals plus blocks) per game along with nice scoring, rebounding and assist rates. The Clippers' backcourt depth chart is starting to gain some clarity, with Gilgeous-Alexander claiming a role as the lead "drive and kick" weapon for the team.

Quinn Cook, Golden State Warriors (0.9 percent): Cook produced a 27-point gem this past Saturday night, after moving from Stephen Curry's understudy role to a starting gig. The Warriors aren't going to stop relying on 3-point frequency and playmaking from the backcourt, meaning Cook is a positive pickup in all formats until Curry is back.

Deep additions (players available in at least 80 percent of ESPN leagues): Atlanta's Jeremy Lin is going to have some quiet nights serving as the veteran backup behind a high-usage rookie, but he's been netting a strong enough blend of steals and dimes in his 20-or-so minutes per game to merit attention in deep daily leagues. ... Shelvin Mack is similarly limited by playing backup to Mike Conley in Memphis, but has been playing well in this capacity and is worth streaming during lighter slates.

Shooting guard

Justin Holiday, Chicago Bulls (2.9 percent): The market isn't interested in Holiday at all, despite his being one of just three NBA players averaging at least 1.6 SPG and 2.8 3PG per game. The other two are James Harden and Paul George. Holiday isn't close to being on the same overall level of that elite duo, but his "3-and-D" role in Chicago is resulting in a valuable blend of those specific categories. Things will change for Holiday once the Bulls roster is healthier but, until then, there is real value to be found in a wing averaging nearly 36 MPG.

Malcolm Brogdon, Milwaukee Bucks (28.6 percent): The Player Rater is an index that weighs each statistical category used in ESPN standard leagues for every player, compared to their positional peers. The model uses straightforward standard deviation to rank players. For example, Portland's Damian Lillard, relative to all eligible point guards ranks No. 2 during the past seven days -- behind only Toronto's Kyle Lowry. Found at No. 6 on this list is Brogdon, a savvy third-year combo guard who is best evaluated by appreciating the sum of his clean shooting rates and solid scoring, assist and 3-point production. No, he won't "wow you" in any single category, but Brogdon is undeniably worth rostering.

Deep additions: Brooklyn's Joe Harris (1.7 percent) is a shooting specialist with at least three made 3-pointers in three of his last five showings.

Small forward

Robert Covington, Minnesota Timberwolves (23.4 percent): Last season, Covington posted a steal rate of 2.6 percent and a block rate of 2.4 percent, while earning 4.5 defensive win shares. He was the only player in the NBA  to reach all three of these milestones. This Covington sits alone in the "1.8 blocks, 1.8 steals, and 2.3 3-pointers" club. While I'm quite excited my 76ers made a move, however potentially caustic, to get a third star in Jimmy Butler, I'm happy I can still root for Covington's effective "3-and-D" game for the Timberwolves and on many of my fantasy rosters. In a coaching system that relies heavily on starters to play tons of minutes, Covington is going to have plenty of opportunity in Minnesota. This formerly undrafted player, turned first-team All-Defensive team asset, should be rostered in every fantasy league.

Rodney McGruder, Miami Heat (10.1 percent): There are just 11 players averaging 13.6 PPG, 2.3 3PG and 5.6 RPG, and McGruder is one of them. Miami hasn't wavered in feeding McGruder tons of minutes, making him a  bankable utility value to consider.

Deep additions: The value of E'Twaun Moore is likely driven by minutes more than anything else, but we can find nice opportunity rates given the sheer lack of depth at shooting guard on New Orleans.

Power forward

Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors (33.5 percent): It's a close race between Siakam and Covington as my two favorite additions to make this week. Siakam offers a nice blend of defensive metrics to help bolster his profile. He's proving himself to be a key starter on one of the league's best teams. As such, I'd be thrilled to add a player of this caliber as late as November.

Marcus Morris, Boston Celtics (20.3 percent): Enjoying a career-best clip in scoring despite playing his fewest minutes since 2014-15, Morris is hitting an unsustainable 48.3 percent from 3-point range. That said, I think we can sometimes misunderstand such expected regression. It merely means "correction" and not a compete vanishing of the trend. Having watched most of Boston's games this year, I've noticed that Morris is taking better shots than in previous seasons. He is also hitting a career-high from the line and on 2-point field goals, so Morris seems to be a player undergoing real improvement as a shooter.

Deep additions: Somehow available in nearly 90 percent of ESPN leagues, Utah's Jae Crowder is in that unique statistical club we mentioned above with  McGruder as a member.

Center

Montrezl Harrell, LA Clippers (18.8 percent): Simply put, this guy is a winning fantasy player. He's hitting 68 percent of his shots and producing 2.7 combined steals and blocks.

Zach Collins, Portland Trail Blazers (0.2 percent): It could be quite profitable to get ahead of the market on Collins. He's earning more minutes of late and will become a steady source of blocks as his role solidifies as the stretch center for Portland.

Deep additions: New York's Mitchell Robinson (0.5 percent) is following in Collins' footsteps. There will be some invites being sent out for "block parties" whenever he earns lots of minutes.

^ Back to Top ^