Week 22 is here, and the fantasy basketball playoff grind continues. With tanking teams and unpredictable rotations, the waiver wire can get weird — so be flexible and do what you have to do.
My Playlist is focused on impact players for your lineup, especially those with games on lighter slates (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday). This week, I’m keying in on the Hornets, Kings, Pelicans, Knicks, Pistons and Magic. The Suns and Timberwolves are tricky because they only play two games apiece. I’m holding on to Ayo Dosunmu (more on him later), but you may need to cut other rosterable players. The choice is yours. Now, let’s get into the pickups!
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Fantasy basketball pickups and advice.
Shallow league pickups
Saddiq Bey — SF/PF, New Orleans Pelicans (44%)
Bey shouldn’t be floating on your waiver wire, but he’s still available in 56% of Yahoo leagues. The Pelicans have one of the better schedules this week, playing three of their four games on lighter slates. He’s been a top-75 asset in High Score over the past two weeks, scoring over 34 fantasy points per game. The Pelicans are the only team out of Play-In Tournament contention with a winning record over their past 10 games (6-4), a strong indication they’ll make every effort to compete this week and likely through the end of the season. Bey’s been a multi-category asset for all formats, so get him if he’s out there.
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Ayo Dosunmu — PG/SG/SF, Minnesota Timberwolves (35%)
Ayo was one of the best acquisitions at the deadline for the Wolves, especially now that they’ll be without Anthony Edwards for at least the next week. The downside to picking up any Wolves players is that they only play two games in Week 22. That said, for High Score, that’s enough to hold Ayo through Wednesday. Dosunmu’s been a valuable source of points, rebounds, assists and efficiency since Ant went down, averaging 19-8-5.5 with 50/49/90 shooting splits. I understand if you need to cut him to increase the number of games, but I’d keep him on your roster, especially in High Score.
Ace Bailey — SG/SF/PF, Utah Jazz (42%)
The fifth overall pick in the 2025 draft is making a strong late-season push for First Team All-Rookie. Since the calendar turned to March, Bailey has been averaging nearly 20 points with 4 boards, 2 assists, 4 3s and 2 stocks per game, with solid efficiency. I picked him up in a couple of High Score leagues because of his last two spike games of 55 and 62 fantasy points in Week 21. The Jazz cleared the path for their young core to thrive, so I’d trust Bailey in the final weeks of the fantasy season.
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Daniss Jenkins — PG/SG, Detroit Pistons (25%)
Cade Cunningham (lung) will be re-evaluated in two weeks, leaving Jenkins as his direct beneficiary. As a starter this season, Jenkins is averaging 14.9 points, 6.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 32.3 minutes per contest. He’s coming off a 48-fantasy-point performance in High Score on Friday, and with four games (two on lighter slates), Jenkins is a player who needs to be rostered if you’re in need of points and assists.
Mitchell Robinson — C, New York Knicks (18%)
I don’t know what it is, but it seems like most of the targets I see on the wire are big men. Robinson just grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds in a win at Indiana on March 14. He’s averaging 11 boards and 2.7 stocks per game while notching a double-double in two of his last five games. He won’t score you much and the free throws are ugly, but if you need elite rebounding and blocks in a deep-league matchup, Robinson’s opportunity is real because the Knicks don’t play a back-to-back set and all of their games fall on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday (the smallest slates).
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Other options:
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Wendell Carter Jr. – PF/C, Orlando Magic (36%)
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Tristan da Silva – SG/SF, Orlando Magic (17%)
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Tobias Harris – SF/PF, Detroit Pistons (36%)
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De’Anthony Melton – PG/SG, Golden State Warriors (16%)
Deep league pickups
Dylan Cardwell — PF/C, Sacramento Kings (9%)
I’d be looking at Cardwell in deep leagues if you want rebounds and blocks. The Kings are still playing their vets more than most; however, their frontcourt remains thin, with just Maxine Raynaud and Precious Achiuwa. Even in limited minutes, Cardwell has been a beast on the glass and in a four-game week where all of the Kings’ games fall on slates under 10 games, he’s a streamable asset to consider for 9-cat leagues. Another name to keep an eye out for is Malik Monk — but that’ll depend on Russell Westbrook’s status.
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Yves Missi – C, New Orleans Pelicans (10%)
Missi was great in Week 21, closing the week 78th in 9-cat leagues. Like Cardwell, he won’t do much for scoring, but the rebounds and blocks are crucial for fantasy managers. Missi averaged 9 rebounds and 3 blocks last week with a surprisingly high 3 assists per game as well. At this stage in the season, the Kings and Pelicans are the only tanking teams giving their vets meaningful minutes, and though Missi will rarely eclipse 30 minutes, he’s doing enough on a per-minute basis to be streamed in a four-game week.
Ja’Kobe Walter – PG/SG, Toronto Raptors (3%)
It’s slim pickings out there, but Walter has quietly been a top-100 asset over the past two weeks and finished in the top 60 in 9-cat in Week 21. The Raptors’ schedule is decent, too, opening the week against Utah, traveling to L.A. to face the Clippers, playing New Orleans and finishing the week at home versus Orlando. Walter’s more of an add for 9-cat because his ranking is primarily coming from his efficiency, shooting 63% from the field and 68% from 3 in his last five outings. If he doesn’t do enough on Monday, cut him and move on, but I like his chances against the Jazz to begin the week.
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Ousmane Dieng — SF/PF/C, Milwaukee Bucks (8%)
The former Thunder forward is getting far more playing time with Giannis Antetokounmpo out and Bobby Portis and Myles Turner being in and out of the lineup lately. Dieng finished Week 21 inside the top-150 after posting a respectable 14.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 3.0 3s and 1.3 stocks per game. As we get deeper into the season and the Bucks fall even further from contention, it feels like we’ll see less of the vets and more from guys like Dieng. That’s what I’m betting on in a four-game week with no back-to-backs — time to let the young man cook.
Other options:
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Ron Holland – SF, Detroit Pistons (2%)
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Paul Reed – PF/C, Detroit Pistons (4%)
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Ryan Kalkbrenner – C, Charlotte Hornets (9%)
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Malik Monk, PG/SG, Sacramento Kings (17%)
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