Yahoo Sports Corner: Stay Ahead of the Game

The 76ers were missing key players Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey in Wednesday's game. In need of a spark on offense, their rookie lottery pick, Jared McCain (29% rostered in Yahoo leagues), stepped up in a big way. Making his first career start, McCain showed out with an impressive stat line of 34 points, two rebounds, 10 assists, two steals, and six 3-pointers in a tough loss to the Cavaliers.

McCain entered the starting lineup to replace George, but it may be difficult for Nick Nurse to move the rookie back to the bench after this performance. It wouldn’t be surprising he continued to start, with Kyle Lowry (17 minutes) being pushed to a reserve role. Even if Nurse doesn’t make that move, McCain should play enough minutes to provide standard league value moving forward.

McCain should be the priority waiver wire pickup, but there are some other players worth considering after 11 games on Wednesday.

Ziaire Williams- 3%

Williams drew a second straight start with Dorian Finney-Smith sidelined with an ankle injury. In the first one, he finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, and he followed that up with a 23-point outing in this game. Until DFS returns to the lineup, Williams should be a decent streaming option. The Nets finish up their week with games in New York on Friday and Sunday.

Tari Eason- 41%

A top-50 player is rostered in less than half of Yahoo leagues. Eason recorded a double-double with three stocks on Wednesday and should continue to play a large reserve role for Houston. There isn’t much context to add here, since he is simply too good to be so widely available. They have two more games this week before playing four games next week.

Malik Beasley- 13%

With Tim Hardaway Jr. sidelined, Beasley slid into the starting lineup and had a monster performance. He finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and eight 3-pointers in a revenge game against his former team. He has now scored at least 15 points in four straight games and at least 20 in three of those four. He can only be relied on for 3-pointers consistently, but until THJ is back, Beasley should remain in the starting lineup to provide spacing for Cade Cunningham.

Donovan Clingan- 13%

The rookie got the second start of his career on Wednesday, and this one went much better than the first. He posted career-highs of 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks in 32 minutes as Portland beat the Timberwolves for the second straight day. It’s difficult to know what his role will look like when both Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams are healthy, but the hope is that this type of performance will earn him some extra minutes.

Yves Missi- 18%

Missi recorded a second straight double-double on Wednesday, and he should be the Pelicans’ starting center for the rest of the year. He’s got some short-term value with two more games this week and three more the week after that, but he is also a long-term play. Most of his value will come from traditional center stats, but he should be a reliable option.

Brandon Boston Jr.- 39%

Despite another poor shooting performance, Boston Jr. still made an impact across the board against the Thunder. He finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one triple, though the poor shooting and six turnovers can be chalked up to an elite OKC defense. The well-rounded numbers have him ranked in the top-50 over the last two weeks, and the efficiency should get better against defenses that aren’t quite as good as the Thunder.

Keon Ellis- 8%

Ellis didn’t have a great game on Wednesday, but DeMar DeRozan exited early with a back injury, which allowed Ellis to start the second half. With Malik Monk still out a few more games, Ellis could start and play more than 30 minutes in their next game if DeRozan remains sidelined. He’s more than capable of racking up defensive stats and contributing some 3-pointers occasionally.

Mavs/Jazz players

There is only one game on Thursday, and it is between these two teams. If your league doesn’t have a games cap, stream anybody you can from either of these two teams to get any little boost that you can.