The rush of early-season NBA waiver wire adds has come and gone, so which players of the bunch are legit long-term contributors after four weeks of the 2020-21 campaign?

While it’s a recommended strategy to stream hot streaks or injury replacement players, there are few feelings more satisfying in fantasy than adding someone with sustained season-long value.

Players on the backend of your roster won’t be full 9-cat contributors so it’s important to visualize how they’ll impact your roster. For your reference, the top-150’s per game averages are listed below:

NBA Fantasy

 
MIN FG FT PTS 3PT REB AST STL BLK TO
 29.6 48% 79% 15.87 1.76 5.75 3.54 1.05 0.68 1.86
 

Here are three players (pre-season rank outside the top-125) who are primed to finish the season in the top-100 and three players (pre-season rank inside the top-100) who won’t be on the list:

 

Contenders:

Seth Curry, 76ers (Pre-season rank: 129): Even though he’s been off the last six games dealing with a positive COVID-19 test, his production and efficiency should remain in this Sixers lineup. From an eye-test standpoint, he’s a perfect fit beside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. With so much defensive attention put on those two, Curry has been left wide open on the majority of his three-pointers leading to his current 60 per-cent field-goal clip. Is that sustainable? Obviously not but I wouldn’t be surprised if he finishes around 3.0 three-pointers shooting over 50 per cent from the field. He’s one of the most reliable three-point specialists this season.

Sustainable production: 3PT, TO, FG, FT

 

Enes Kanter, Trail Blazers (Pre-season rank: 183): With Jusuf Nurkic out at least eight weeks nursing a fractured wrist, Kanter is due to provide top-75 production as the fill-in starter. Just like the others on this contenders list, Kanter is a proven fantasy commodity with predictable stat lines. Sure he put up two steals and five blocks last game in his first start, but that’s fool’s gold. In reality, you add Kanter for the efficiency, points and boards. Three years ago playing just 26 minutes per game, he put together a top-50 season. With Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum getting to the rim as they have, expect more easy looks for Kanter.

Sustainable production: FG, REB, TO

 

Nicolas Batum, Clippers (Pre-season rank: 197): Most fantasy managers (including myself) had the 32-year-old Frenchman as an afterthought coming into 2020-21. With 14 games under his belt (six alongside Marcus Morris), he might be back to relevancy. While there’s no single category he dominates, he’s a roto-friendly contributor giving you a bit of everything. The 48 per-cent field-goal clip might be the one that sticks out but considering he’s been open six feet or more on 40 per cent of his three-pointers, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this continue. The main threat to his top-100 status will be rotation changes, but so far he’s only playing two minutes less since Morris’ return.

Sustainable production: TO, 3PT, STL, FT

 

Pretenders

Ricky Rubio, Timberwolves (Pre-season ranking: 65): After two down years in Utah, the Spanish prodigy bounced back with a 62nd finish in the 2019-20 fantasy season playing for Phoenix. Returning home to Minnesota this season, there was optimism that he’d finish somewhere between the two. Unfortunately, he’s near career-low in all stat categories through 11 games adjusting to a new bench role. As I mentioned in last week’s article, minutes are king and with Rubio averaging under 25 mpg, the path to fantasy relevance is near unattainable. At this point he’s only valuable to managers desperate for assist and steal production. It’ll take a trade or injury to get him back into the top-100. 

Sustainable production: AST, STL

 

Lou Williams, Clippers (Pre-season ranking: 67): It pains me to say but “Sweet Lou’s” days of fantasy relevance might be over. In his age-34 season, he’s playing just 20 minutes per game. His field-goal attempts, assists, three-pointers and usage are all well below his career-averages. Sometimes the drop-off for veterans is a slow burn, for Williams it’s more like a Thanos snap. If he’s not scoring, he has little use in fantasy. There several younger players with higher upside worth rostering over the three-time Sixth Man of the Year. 

Sustainable production: FT

 

Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves (Pre-season ranking: 87): The ride has been rocky with 2020’s No.1 overall pick. He’s displayed his potential once or twice this season but the majority of his performances have been duds. Like most rookies coming into the NBA, efficiency has been a problem for Edwards. After shooting 40 per cent in college, his numbers have dropped even further to 38 per cent this year. As an added hurdle, Malik Beasley has been significantly outplaying him and rightfully starts over the rookie. While this all feels negative, don’t misread my blurb as calling him a bust. He’s more of a work in progress. For the purposes of fantasy in 2020-21, there are too many improvements required for him to crack the top-100. You’re better off watching from afar and hitting the add button when he shows some more consistency in the shooting department.

Sustainable production: TBD