Working the waiver wire is pivotal to succeeding in fantasy basketball. With so many games, injuries and endless shifts in rotations throughout the marathon campaign, we’ll need to source stats from free agency to maximize imaginary rosters.

A willingness to entertain competition for the last few spots on your fantasy hoops roster can prove rewarding. When curating this fluid collective of statistical contributors, it helps to consider your end-of-bench players in direct competition with the talent floating in free agency.

The goal of this weekly series is to identify players at each position widely available in free agency in ESPN leagues. Some nominations are specialists capable of helping in one or two categories, while others deliver more diverse and important statistical offerings. In the breakdowns below, I’ve ordered players at each position with the priority of acquisition in mind, rather than roster percentage in ESPN men’s basketball leagues.

Point Guard

Stephon Castle, SG, San Antonio Spurs (rostered in 46.0% of ESPN leagues): The Spurs have some capable veteran creators in Chris Paul and De’Aaron Fox, but the team is clearly giving this Rookie of the Year favorite a valuable runway. In statistical terms, Castle has consumed a 30.8% usage rate over his past 10 games, compared to a rate of 24% in the prior 50 appearances. Can Castle be an offensive engine at times? The Spurs are growing confident in this answer.

Brandon Williams, Dallas Mavericks (8.4%): Desperation is a massive motivator. The Mavericks have somehow gone from being a team overloaded with creation to truly craving any sort of altruism. Williams went off a on Friday against Memphis with a career-high scoring showing (31 points), and he is likely going to be an important part of this new-look rotation until the finish.

Andrew Nembhard, SG, Indiana Pacers (15.6%): The Pacers need growth from their younger core to really ascend to contention. Is Nembhard’s recent rise in passing and scoring indicative of a deeper rotation? Well, yes. It’s rare that a system has this many assists to go around, but Rick Carlisle has engineered such an offense for two decades. Even when the roster is at full strength, Nembhard is intriguing.

Shooting guard

Shaedon Sharpe, SF, Portland Trail Blazers (49.0%): The Trail Blazers have finally owned a direction. That compass points to Sharpe seeing meaningful work. Can he defend, like at all? We shall see. Can he score at will off the dribble from absurd depth? Yes. Sharpe’s scoring acumen is the answer for those who simply need buckets.

Quentin Grimes, Philadelphia 76ers (24.6%): The direction sometimes chooses you. The 76ers had every intention of contending, but a series of injuries and issues have changed the course of the season. Grimes is now a massive part of the game plan on both sides of the ball, and the floor is rising with each strong showing. Grimes has every chance to improve his stock in the coming weeks.

Kyshawn George, SG, Washington Wizards (5.1%): George is a lesson in just letting the numbers get louder. He has been building a pattern of impressive stretches that demand attention. While not a fluid scorer, atypical steal and block outcomes help make George a fun player to look for down the stretch.

Small forward/Power forward

NAJI MARSHALL, PF, DALLAS MAVERICKS (26.9%): Have you noticed the seismic shift in Marshall’s production? He’s been thrust into a superstar’s role, even if he’s not such a talent. This is the case when a franchise loses a historic amount of playmaking talent in a short window. For some context, Marshall has been one of the most productive players in the NBA this past week when it comes to raw totals of points, assists and rebounds. Such a surge embodies the premise of a league-winning addition in fantasy terms.

Tari Eason, PF, Houston Rockets (30.9%): The Texas teams have some glue guys. Eason, in particular, is a gritty two-way contributor who can sway fantasy results in unique ways. This is a player who was 13 games with at least three steals. Eason has multiple steals in more than half of his games this season.

Center

Alex Sarr, PF, Washington Wizards (24.1%): Can you recall a single Sarr moment this year? I am not sure I can, and I watch a fairly absurd amount of NBA basketball. Wait, where’s the pitch? Well, Sarr is actually really fun in rim protection and has some moments on the glass that reveal why he was such a coveted prospect. Sarr is going to take time, but the numbers are already intriguing.

Zach Collins, PF, Chicago Bulls (16.7%): The true star of splits season, Collins becomes a must-start, double-double machine when he’s tabbed to start in place of Nikola Vucevic. This is happening more often.

Special Teams

This section focuses on specialists, players who flash in a singular category and can provide specific value to those in category and roto formats. Nominations are based on which category such players are helpful in and will rotate throughout the season.

3-pointers: No one needs to tell you that Malik Beasley likes shooting and making shots. How about Brice Sensabaugh? The Utah wing is 19th in added value via 3-pointers the past two weeks among all players.

Steals: Detroit’s Ausar Thompson remains a larcenous defender, but he’s also rostered in many competitive formats. The Mavs’ Marshall has been sticky on defense, while Nembhard is also effective in passing lanes.

Blocks: Washington’s George has a real impact at the rim that dates back to college. Finding playable rim-protectors is difficult at the specialist level, but Kel’el Ware is a sleeper to finish strong.

Rebounds: Marshall is putting up NBA Jam numbers of late. Collins is also feasting when given the keys to the paint.

Assists: We can find real passing value in Nembhard and, of course, in the young Utah backcourt.