The 76ers have turned to rookie Jared McCain to pick up some of the scoring slack while star players remained sidelined.
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It has been a trying start to the fantasy basketball season with so many key players going down with injuries. However, there is still help to be found on the waiver wire. Here are six players to consider adding who are still available in the majority of Yahoo leagues.
After missing two games with a foot injury, Clarkson has scored at least 16 points in each of his last four games. He also produced averages of 4.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.3 3-pointers per game during that span. The one negative was that he logged 24 minutes or fewer in two of the four games.
Clarkson is averaging 25 minutes per game this season, down from 31 minutes per game last season. His production is down as a result, but he has still been valuable with averages of 14.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.9 3-pointers. We’ve seen him thrive in a reduced role like this before. He averaged 27 minutes in both of his first two seasons with the Jazz. Still, he finished with averages of at least 16.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.4 3-pointers in both seasons. Clarkson shouldn’t be available in this many leagues.
The Rockets have a lot of quality depth and have been mostly healthy to start the season, especially compared to other teams. They didn’t play Eason a ton out of the gate, leaving him to average just 18 minutes over their first five games. However, despite their roster being mostly healthy, Eason has averaged 27 minutes over their last seven games.
With the added playing time over the last seven games, Eason averaged 14.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 3-pointers per game. He showed his defensive prowess last season, averaging 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks over just 22 minutes per game. The Rockets are 5-2 over their last seven games, so there’s no reason to believe that Eason’s role will shrink again anytime soon.
The Pelicans can’t catch a break on the injury front. While Trey Murphy III is finally back, Jose Alvarado could miss more than a month after suffering a hamstring injury Monday. He joins Zion Williamson (hamstring), Dejounte Murray (hand), CJ McCollum (thigh), Herbert Jones (shoulder) and Jordan Hawkins (back) as players on the Pelicans who are currently out.
Since the Pelicans have such a depleted depth chart, Boston has started five straight. Not only has he started, but he averaged 36 minutes during that span. He has made the most of his opportunity, averaging 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.4 3-pointers. Until the Pelicans start to get some of their stars back, Boston should be rostered in most formats.
Not much has gone right for the 76ers in an injury-riddled start to the season. Joel Embiid has played in just one game and Paul George has played in only five games. Their latest injury has seen Tyrese Maxey (hamstring) be ruled out for at least one week.
The 76ers are short on scoring options and have turned to the rookie McCain to pick up some of the slack. He has been up to the task, averaging 25.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.3 3-pointers over the last four games. Embiid and George are back now, but it appears both could be sitting out at least one-half of back-to-back sets for a while. Maxey might also not be too far off from making his return. However, until Maxey is back in the fold, McCain is worth rostering.
Wendell Carter Jr. (foot) is hurt again. He has never played more than 62 games in a season in his career and has already missed seven games this season. There have been no positive updates regarding when he could return, so it would not be a surprise if he is out for at least a couple of more weeks.
The Magic have turned to Bitadze to start each of the last six games. While he has logged a modest 26 minutes per game, he has averaged 10.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks. He has also shot 69.0% from the field during that span. Across 33 starts last season, he averaged 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks over 24 minutes per game. With him being locked into a significant role right now, he’s a great option for fantasy managers in search of a center.
The Hornets hoped that Mark Williams (foot) would be their center of the future, but injuries have put a damper on his career. He played just 43 games his rookie season, 19 games last season and has yet to take the floor during the current campaign. There have been no positive updates regarding his return as Williams has still been limited to doing individual drills. Nick Richards played well when Williams went down last season but suffered a rib injury that will sideline him for multiple weeks.
Grant Williams has mostly come off the bench despite the injury issues at center for the Hornets, but he has still averaged 30 minutes over the last seven games. That boost in playing time has propelled him to averages of 11.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.0 blocks and 1.6 3-pointers across his last five games. That’s not exactly stellar production, but those in deeper formats could benefit from adding him to their roster.
