Our waiver wire adds had some tough luck last week as Jarred Vanderbilt is set to miss about a month. Paul Reed has averaged just 16 ppg the past week, BUT Joel Embiid is set to miss numerous months. If you added Paul Reed, you have leverage towards the manager who has Joel Embiid. With that being said, the Week 16 Waiver Wire Adds feature three players all rostered in under 60% of Fantrax leagues.
The explanation for these three players is as follows. Aaron Nesmith has made this list before but is still rostered in 72% of leagues. Then, there is Precious Achiuwa who has stepped up in a major way with the injury to Julius Randle. Lastly, you have Scotty Pippen of the Memphis Grizzlies. All have paved paths on their respective team and should all be added in Week 16 of the NBA Fantasy Basketball season.
NBA Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Adds
Aaron Nemsmith, F – Indiana Pacers (72% rostered)
Aaron Nesmith has been crushing his play the past few weeks. With the major hamstring strain to Tyrese Haliburton, the rest of the team has had to take a step forward. Haliburton is on a minutes restriction and has stated he will be for some time. Nesmith is one of the Pacers that has picked up as of late. Currently, he is averaging 22.3 fantasy ppg on the season but has done 33.6 fantasy ppg the past week. You can even go back a month and Nesmith is still averaging 26 fantasy ppg. The most impressive part of Nesmith is how efficient he has been. In his seven games, he has shot better than 54% in five of those seven games. Nesmith needs to be rostered in over 90% of Fantrax leagues. Correct that and add him to your roster before it is too late.
Precious Achiuwa, F/C – New York Knicks (57% rostered)
The best thing to happen for Precious Achiuwa’s career is getting traded from the Toronto Raptors. Young players who have not found a role always feel refreshed when they re-start somewhere else. Achiuwa has been filling in as best as possible while Julius Randle recovers from his shoulder injury. Achiuwa is averaging 17 fantasy ppg on the season but is currently averaging 27 fantasy ppg the past week with 12.3 ppg and 8.5 rebounds per game. Although OG Anunoby will be back soon, Achiuwa has proven that he can be a viable asset to the Knicks and should see valuable minutes even when Anunoby returns.
Scotty Pippen, G – Memphis Grizzlies (32% rostered)
Overall, the Memphis Grizzlies season was on the brink of being over before Ja Morant returned. Then, he returned and it looked like the team might make a run into the NBA play-in. That all changed after Morant suffered a season-ending injury. Since then, they have been 6-9 and have the seventh-worst record in all of basketball. Scotty Pippen on the other hand is looking to show the organization that he is legit and deserves a spot on this team. At 32% rostered, he is more than likely available in your Fantrax league. In the past week, Scotty Pippen has averaged 28.5 fantasy ppg with a 31.5-point game in his last outing. At 13.7 ppg. 4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.3 steals in the past week, Pippen has been able to fill the stat sheet up which equates to fantasy gold.