NBA Waiver Wire: Week 25 Look-Ahead

The last full week of the season is upon us, and with seemingly half the league set to watch it from the med tent, pickups are as important as ever.

Given all the injuries, it should come as no surprise that this week's top adds are dominated by injury replacements. But make sure to look past the top adds, as the other recommendations list at the bottom is as strong a field as ever. Pick whichever players are best for your lineups.

The schedule is all kinds of weird, with massive slates Wednesday (12 games), Friday (13) and Sunday (14), and tiny slates Tuesday (4), Thursday (3) and Saturday (2). Monday carries no games in observance of the NCAA Tournament Final.

In daily lineups leagues, that slate imbalance creates a massive advantage for players who play on the slow days, and disadvantages those in action on the busy nights. The 76ers, Warriors, Lakers and Kings all have four games during the week including two games on the slow days, and the Bucks have a three-game week including two on the slow days. The Clippers, Grizzlies, Pelicans and Wizards all play only three games, and all of their games are on the busy nights, making them teams to avoid in daily lineups leagues.

League-wide, it's a very busy week, with 24 teams playing four games and just six playing three games. No teams have a two-game week.

This article will focus on players available in at least 50 percent of leagues. Players are listed in the order I'd recommend them, assuming all are equally good fits for your team.

Christian Wood, Pelicans (17 percent rostered)

Next week's schedule: Cha, at Pho, at Sac

Less than a week after getting cut by the Bucks so that they could sign journeyman backup point guard Tim Frazier, Wood has scored more than 20 points in consecutive games for the Pelicans. In those two games he averaged 24.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 3.5 blocks in 30.0 minutes. Yes, those are real, actual NBA stats from real, actual NBA games. Anthony Davis was out for both games, but we're now late enough in the season that the Pelicans can get away with shutting him down for the year, as they seemed to want to do after the trade deadline. Regardless, even when Davis plays, he only plays 21 minutes per game, and he's sat out at least one in every three games for the past two months anyway. There should be plenty of opportunities for Wood the keep getting minutes.

Zach Collins, Trail Blazers (17 percent rostered)

Next week's schedule: at Min, Mem, at Den, Den

Jusuf Nurkic (leg) is out for the season after last week's gruesome injury, creating a massive hole in the Trail Blazers' front line. Nurkic has averaged 27.4 minutes, 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds this season, and Collins is the primary candidate to replace most of that production. Collins made some waves earlier this season but faded from fantasy relevance as his minutes and field goal attempts dropped. But his averages per-36 minutes imply that he could make a major impact as a decent scorer, a capable rebounder, and a quality shot blocker. Those blocks – 1.7 per-36 minutes – are easily his most important fantasy attribute, especially at a time when waiver wire blocks are scarce. In the first game without Nurkic, Collins scored 13 points and added three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two threes in 25 minutes.

Shaquille Harrison (7 percent rostered) and Wayne Selden, Bulls (2 percent rostered), Bulls

Next week's schedule: at NYK, at Was, Phi

The Bulls have shut down, well, pretty much everyone at this point. With Lauri Markkanen (illness) joining the ranks of the "out for season" crow, the Bulls are up to four players with an OFS tag, not including Otto Porter (shoulder) who has missed the last five games or Zach LaVine (thigh) who has missed the last four. They're running out of healthy bodies.

As a result, Harrison has started the last five games, averaging 34.6 minutes per game, and topping 15 points in three of those. He's also averaging 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals as a starter, and seems to be improving as he gets more comfortable in his newly expanded role. Selden has only started the last two games, but he's also been solid, averaging 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals. Selden will have a hard time maintaining his steals rate, but Harrison's thievery may be the real deal – he's averaging 2.4 steals per-36 minutes this season. Both of these players are priority pickups in leagues of all sizes, despite their still-low roster rates.

Seth Curry, Trail Blazers (34 percent rostered)

Next week's schedule: at Min, Mem, at Den, Den

C.J. McCollum (knee) is out at least until next Wednesday, and there is no guarantee he'll return that soon. In the five games he's already missed, Curry has stepped up in a big way, averaging 17.4 points and 3.0 threes in 29.8 minutes. The Trail Blazers desperately need extra offense with McCollum and Nurkic out, and Curry has been their best option there by far. After Damian Lillard and Curry, the Trail Blazers' next leading still-healthy scorer over the past week has been Al-Farouq Aminu – who is averaging less than 10 points a game this season despite starting every game.

Other recommendations: Tyus Jones, Timberwolves (37 percent rostered); Emmanuel Mudiay, Knicks (38 percent rostered); Bruno Caboclo, Grizzlies (15 percent rostered); Dwayne Bacon, Hornets (4 percent rostered); Dwyane Wade, Heat (45 percent rostered); Dion Waiters, Heat (15 percent rostered); Miles Bridges, Hornets (40 percent rostered); Jalen Brunson, Mavericks (37 percent rostered); Thomas Bryant, Wizards (50 percent rostered)