NBA fantasy definitely takes a lot of skill, but also a bit of luck. It takes skill to be able to draft the right combination of players and to pull off trades that will better your team as a whole. On the other side of it is luck. Luck is required when picking up free agents off the waiver wire. The reason why it is mostly luck instead of skill is because most of the players in the free agent pool aren’t usually going to provide you with the best stats. Sometimes you can be able to track patterns and consistency of a player, but that’s how far it goes.

With that being said, it is important to know that working the waiver wire can either make you or break you in fantasy basketball. This year’s pool of free agents can vary depending on the size of your league and the competition level. If you’re playing in a 14 team league that is very competitive, the likelihood of striking gold in the free agent pool may be more difficult than playing in 8, 10, or 12 team league. For the sake of this article, let’s just discuss potential free agent pick-ups that can help you in most leagues.

There are quite a few sleepers in NBA fantasy that can really get your team the stats they need. One rookie that you might consider picking up is K.J. McDaniels who plays for the 76ers. Right now he is coming off the bench, but when he gets on the court he can provide you stats all across the board. Though his percentages might not be the greatest, he can give you great defensive stats while giving you a 3 pointer and some rebounds. You won’t normally find a rookie sf getting close to 1 block and 2 steals per game. If he can get more playing time then his value will increase over time.

Louis Williams is also a candidate as an NBA sleeper. He can definitely provide you points, 3 pointers, free throws and surprisingly a steal or two per game. Now that Derozan is sidelined for at least a month, look for Williams to get even better numbers. If he was averaging 14 points per game while coming off the bench and playing around 20 minutes per game, imagine what he can produce for you with starter minutes. Williams will be heavily leaned upon considering the hole that the Raptors have to fill with Derozan out. If Williams is not available, consider taking Vasquez as an alternative.

Corey Brewer and Mo Williams can also be a great pick-up. Although Williams is most likely out of the free agent pool, but if he’s still there pick him up in a heartbeat. Brewer can give you great value until Martin gets back, which is 6-8 weeks from now. Brewer and Williams will continue to get minutes for the Timberwolves as Martin and Pekovic are nursing their injuries. With Pekovic out, Dieng is a great option for a big man. He can give you a boatload of rebounds, steals and blocks and shoots great percentages from the free throw line. Pekovic is known to be injury prone so even when he does come back, Minnesota may look to monitor his minutes and even rest him on certain days.

JJ Hickson and Mareese Speights are great big men to target as free agents. Hickson is playing on the Nuggets team who don’t really have a legitimate big man in the middle. With McGee nursing an injury and Faried continuing to struggle, Hickson has been steadily getting an increase in minutes. Although he is also coming back from an ACL injury, it looks like he will be able to get minutes in the mid-20s. Speights has been great for the Warriors from the bench and with Lee still out he can continue to see consistent minutes. He is great for percentages, rebounds and a block. Even with Lee coming back, Speights should continue to see steady minutes. Lee and Bogut have had their injury history so you might even get lucky if one of them gets hurt. On the other hand, if Draymond Green is still on the waiver wire in your league, you need to pick him up ASAP. He has been producing stats all across the board and has been consistent with his 3-point shot. There are also rumors that he will remain in the starting lineup even when Lee gets healthy enough to rejoin the Warriors.

If you can manage to score big with free agents, then you are poised to make it on top in your leagues. The most important part is assessing the current situation and the consistency of the players you’re looking to target.