NBA Waiver Wire: Pick-Ups and FAAB for Week 20

It's either playoff time or it's so close that you can feel it, and that means the time for stashing is coming to a close. Holding onto a guy like Jrue Holiday may be detrimental to your team, despite his upside if he does actually return. Biting the bullet is the name of the game at this point as you make the moves to get you onto the next round. Let's go.

Point Guard

Shabazz Napier: (deep leagues); (FAAB: $1)
This is a short term sort of move, but with the Heat's other point guards, Goran Dragic (back) and Mario Chalmers (knee) hobbled, and Luol Deng (thigh) and Dwyane Wade (hip) battling their own injuries, minutes are opening up for the rookie. Even though Chalmers played Saturday, Napier got the start and could have some value while Dragic is out. As a starter, his numbers aren't all that impressive, averaging 6.2 points and 4.8 assists per game, but with assists hard to come by on the wire, especially in deeper leagues, those sort of numbers can be very useful. His place on a fantasy team has a short expiration date, but until we find out more on Dragic, Napier may give you a temporary boost.

Jordan Clarkson: (standard leagues); (FAAB: $4)
Despite Jeremy Lin's hot streak, head coach Byron Scott has stuck with his rookie point guard as the starter and he is a guy who has significant value for fantasy teams. In his last seven games, Clarkson has averaged a stellar 16.1 points, 1.1 three-pointers, 3.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists on 53 percent shooting. The field goal percentage is not sustainable, but in saying that, he's shooting 49 percent over the last month, so maybe he's improved his shot dramatically as he's developed. His numbers and play on the court are trending in the right direction, and despite Scott's odd rotations, Clarkson appears locked in for 30 minutes per night and is putting up numbers that belie his 30 percent ownership in fantasy leagues.

Others to consider:Isaiah Canaan got hot during the week and has significant upside, enough so to be owned in most leagues. In his last eight games, he's hit 3.3 three-pointers per game while averaging 13.8 points and shooting 89 percent from the line. There'll be bad nights, for sure, but I like the upside in the Sixers' starting point guard.

Shooting Guard

Lou Williams: (season-long value); (FAAB: $4)
Williams is criminally underowned in fantasy leagues, and has been all season, despite playing only 26 minutes per game. Over his last three games, Williams has been doing what he's been doing all season, that is scoring, hitting three-pointers, dishing dimes and hitting his free throws, with only his steals dropping. The fact that he is averaging 1.9 three-pointers and 1.1 steals over the season is testament to his fantasy value, and if he's still floating on your waiver-wire, which he is in a number of leagues, you should seriously be looking at adding him to your squad.

Rodney Stuckey: (deeper standard leagues); (FAAB: $2)
There is barely a less-interesting player in fantasy leagues to own than Stuckey. He sucks the soul out of viewers and fans with his particular brand of basketball, but on the offensively-challenged Pacers, he is putting up real numbers that deserve real attention. It's hard to believe the 1.3 three-pointers he's made over his last 11 games, given that his career mark is 0.4, but the 16.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 0.9 steals with 90 percent shooting from the line are very real. If you can stomach it, adding Stuckey now could be a solid move.

Arron Afflalo: (most leagues); (FAAB: $4)
With the devastating news of Wesley Matthews' season-ending Achilles injury, Afflalo was moved into the starting lineup for the Blazers. While adding him to fantasy rosters is a solid move, the expectations must be tempered, as he is not close to the player Matthews is. As a starter in Denver, Afflalo was not a must-own player. Averages of 14.5 points, 1.5 three-pointers, 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.6 steals per game while shooting 43 percent from the field is not a player who will win your fantasy league, but in Portland, with better players around him, he may be able to improve on that. Taking a flier on Afflalo is a solid move, just don't expect huge things from him.

Others to consider: With Jimmy Butler down for the next two to five weeks, Tony Snell has been starting, but coming up a little empty of late. He's still worth a pickup in deeper formats, but in standard leagues, you can likely find someone better.

Small Forward

Mike Dunleavy: (short-term value); (FAAB: $2)
As with Snell, Dunleavy will need to step up his game with the absences of Butler and Derrick Rose (knee), and over the last handful of games, he has been. In his last two contests, Dunleavy has averaged 17.5 points, 2.5 three-pointers, 6.5 rebounds and hasn't missed a free throw. While it may seem fluky, Dunleavy has been known to get on hot streaks, and he has had three games of over eight rebounds in his last five outings, so even that number isn't totally inflated. It's hard to recommend Dunleavy in shallow leagues, but deeper 12 -team leagues should be taking note.

Jae Crowder: (standard leagues); (FAAB: $3)
Crowder seems to have found his place in Boston. When he first came over in the Rajon Rondo trade, Crowder started out on fire, then fizzled into nothingness, and has slowly starting gaining his value back. Whether as a backup or a starter in Avery Bradley's absence, Crowder has been averaging 28 minutes over his last eight games, scoring 13.5 points, 1.9 three-pointers, 7.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals. He'll murder your percentages, shooting 43 percent from the field and 56 from the line in that stretch, but fantasy owners can use the other numbers he is giving on a regular basis.

Others to consider: Make sure P.J. Tucker, DeMarre Carroll and Danilo Gallinari are owned universally, while Andre Iguodala has been a solid help for teams punting points of late, averaging 1.0 three-pointers, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.6 blocks in 30 minutes per game over his last seven outings.

Power Forward

Nikola Mirotic: (most leagues, long-term flier); (FAAB: $4)
I love Mirotic. I love his beard. I love what he can do on a basketball court. I love his fantasy value. What I don't love is his opportunity, which could be shut down very soon with the return of Taj Gibson. Adding him now is a solid move, as you should get at least one more week's worth of top-notch play, but banking on him to keep that going as the fourth big man is tough to project. In his last four games, Mirotic has averaged 22.0 points, 1.8 three-pointers, 8.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks, on 39 percent from the field and 79 percent from the line in 32 minutes. Great numbers to be sure, but when Gibson returns, what happens to Mirotic? Some will say that he will play some small forward with Jimmy Butler out, but I'm not as confident in that happening. That's why adding him now is nice, but I wouldn't be banking on Mirotic carrying you through to championship glory.

Ersan Ilyasova: (all leagues); (FAAB: $4)
Last week I called Ilyasova a guy to add in deeper leagues. I'm amending that to all leagues now as it appears head coach Jason Kidd has settled on Ilyasova as his power forward moving on. Last season, when he was coaching the Nets, we heard that Kidd was very high on Ilyasova and wanted the Nets to deal Brook Lopez to get Ilyasova to Brooklyn, so now that's he's finally healthy, it makes sense to see the big Turk getting significant minutes, especially given the injury to Jabari Parker and the sad story of Larry Sanders. In his last six games, all starts except one, Ilyasova has averaged 14.8 points, 2.0 three-pointers, 7.8 rebounds and 0.7 steals in 31 minutes. Every owner can use that and we'll need to just cross our fingers that he can stay healthy for the next six weeks.

Others to consider: With the ankle injury to Alex Len in Phoenix, Jeff Hornacek could go small and that may mean more run for Marcus Morris. He's scored in double digits in seven of his last nine games, hitting at least one three-pointer in each contest, and is a player who can get you some steals as well. Look at him in deeper leagues.

Center

Kelly Olynyk: (standard league flier); (FAAB: $4)
Olynyk is back from his long-term ankle injury and though we've only seen two games so far, the signs are pointing in the right direction. Olynyk is the youngest of Boston's frontcourt trio, and the only true piece that head coach Brad Stevens could be using to build around given that Jared Sullinger is out for the season, and Brandon Bass and Tyler Zeller are not taking any team to the promised land. The return from his two games back hasn't been great, playing just 15 minutes, but the minutes have increased and when he gets back to 25-30, his versatile game will be able to benefit many owners. If that doesn't happen when the playoffs roll around, you can't hold on, but if he flourishes, you could have yourself a top-100 player who gives nice out-of-position stats for your team.

Andrea Bargnani: (all leagues); (FAAB: $6)
Hopefully we are all over our Bargnani prejudices and can recognize that the 2006 No. 1 overall pick is actually putting up fantasy-relevant numbers on the worst team many of us have seen (non-Philadelphia division). He's never been a big rebounder, so if you're looking for that from your center, you can look elsewhere, but 16.7 points, 0.7 three-pointers, 5.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 blocks per game with 82 percent shooting from the line is useful in anyone's league. How can you not love someone who wears number 77 anyway?

Others to consider: As long as Nikola Vucevic remains out, Dewayne Dedmon and Channing Frye deserve a cursory glance, but it's mainly for deeper leagues. Before Vucevic got hurt, Dedmon had taken the starting role from Frye and both guys give different types of stats, so depending on your needs, you may be able to add one of them as a temporary boost.