Fantasy Basketball Daily: Ajay Mitchell's 5-Steal Night Is the Wire Add Nobody Sees Coming

Thursday night only had two NBA games, and the whole fantasy world is staring at Tyrese Maxey's 32 and Chet Holmgren's blocks. Fine. Look at the other box score, because the Thunder's Ajay Mitchell just handed you a steals thief with a pulse.

The line: 12 points, 5 steals, 5 of 11 from the floor in Oklahoma City's 96-84 win over Denver. Five steals. That was the team high on a roster that recorded 12 as a team. Denver turned it over 22 times, and Mitchell was a big reason why.

If you need steals, Ajay Mitchell's 5-steal night is the kind of wire add that wins a category for you. Guards who rack defensive counting stats do not need 25 points to matter, and Mitchell is playing real minutes in a real rotation on a contender that defends for a living.

Context that matters: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went 6 of 19 and nobody cared, because the Thunder suffocated the Nuggets 52-36 in the second half. This team wins games with its defense, and Mitchell is part of the machinery. The minutes are real.

Chet Holmgren: 12 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks on 5 of 9 shooting. That is the name the big outlets will chase, and they should. If he is somehow sitting on your wire, you are not reading this right. Add him blind and figure out the rest later.

Aaron Gordon: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 of 9 from the floor, 3 of 4 from three for Denver. Nice line on the wrong side of a blowout, and Gordon is rostered everywhere already. Nothing to do there.

So the call is Add on Mitchell. Steals are the scarcest category in fantasy, and a guard producing them in bunches off a winning rotation is exactly what the wire is for. Streamers in deeper leagues should already be moving.

Friday's 12-game slate is where this either sticks or fades. Watch his minutes in the next one. If the defense travels, he travels with your roster.

Start every morning's wire run with the updated breakouts and the schedule watch at The Sports Nus fantasy basketball page.