Pickups: Add Portis, Kuzma while Giannis is sidelined

The NBA Cup dominated last week's NBA scheduling, with a relatively sparse number of games around the league to support the tournament. This trend continues to start this week, with only five games on the schedule Monday and only eight total games played through Wednesday, including Tuesday night's NBA Cup Final.

For fantasy managers, this will mean another week where every game is a premium because there aren't as many games as in a typical week. It's always important to work the waiver wire to your team's advantage, but on weeks like this intelligent use of the wire could easily be the difference between a win and a loss.

That's what we do, here: help you to work the waiver wire to your team's advantage. As usual, in this article we look beyond the obvious big name stars and identify lightly-rostered players that deserve more attention and can help your fantasy squads thrive.

Resources: Sign up and play | Rankings | Adds/Drops | Scoring leaders | Player Rater | Mock draft lobby | Depth charts | Schedule | Injuries

Point guard

Bub Carrington, PG/SG, Washington Wizards (12.2% rostered in ESPN leagues): Carrington has started the last three games for the Wizards with multiple teammates injured, and has taken advantage in averaging 17.3 PPG and 7.3 APG. Carrington is still only 20 years old in his second season, playing for a rebuilding team, so if he continues to play well he could earn more minutes even once his teammates return.

Shooting guard

Max Christie, SG, Dallas Mavericks (5.8%): Christie is a 3-and-D wing for the Mavericks, averaging 12.0 PPG and 2.5 3PG on the season. His upside is capped as a role player, but he is also very consistent with 16 games with at least three 3-pointers and another four games with at least three stocks (steals + blocks).

Cam Spencer, SG, Memphis Grizzlies (15.3%): Spencer is a pure shooter who has a consistent green light in his role off the bench. He has scored in double-figures with at least one 3-pointer in nine straight games, a span in which he's averaged 15.8 PPG, 5.1 APG and 3.1 3PG in 25.1 MPG.

Small forward

Jordan Walsh, SF, Boston Celtics (20.4%): Walsh moved into the starting lineup for the Celtics about a month ago, but he really started thriving on the last day of November. In his last six games, he has averaged 15.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.0 APG and 1.7 3PG in 28.5 MPG.

Power forward

Marvin Bagley III, PF/C, Washington Wizards (8.8%): Bagley has started the last seven games he has played in place of Alex Sarr, who could be out for an extended period with an abdominal injury. Bagley is coming off consecutive impressive double-doubles in which he's posted two-game totals of 38 points and 27 rebounds.

Bobby Portis, PF, Milwaukee Bucks (43.6%): Portis has maintained his sixth man role even with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined, but his frequency of popping for big games seems to have increased. Portis is averaging 12.0 PPG on the season, but he scored at least 18 points in five of the last seven games with Antetokounmpo out.

Kyle Kuzma, PF/SF, Milwaukee Bucks (25.4%): Kuzma has also stepped up with Giannis out, moving into the starting lineup as one of the main scoring threats from the frontcourt. In his last seven games without Antetkounmpo on the court, Kuzma has averaged 16.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG. He has notched double digits in either scoring or rebounds in all seven games.

Center

Jay Huff, C, Indiana Pacers (26.6%): Huff has been in this space before, and he has consistently produced as a shot-blocker and long-range shooter since moving into the starting lineup for the Pacers. He has at least two blocked shots in 12 straight games, averaging 3.5 BPG in that stretch, and has made at least one 3-pointer in 10 of those 12 games while averaging 2.2 3PG.

Isaiah Stewart, C/PF, Detroit Pistons (14.0%): Stewart has played well all season as a sixth man and a nightly double-double threat with good shot-blocking potential. In the last week, he has shown he can score more when called upon, with consecutive games of 19 and 17 points.