Life rarely works out this cleanly.

At its core, this is a waiver wire column. The twist is that I'm highlighting the best players to help in each category, one at a time. Most of the time, that means some of the best overall additions get relegated to an explanation-free mention in the "other suggestions", while I have to manufacture a full paragraph on some backup scrub just because he averaged 0.8 blocks over his last four games. But not this week.

This week, at a time when the waiver wire is unusually loaded with long-term options, the best players had the decency to excel in different categories. E'Twaun Moore is shooting the lights out, Caris LeVert is passing, and the key players returning from injuries – Nikola Mirotic and John Collins – were good sources of rebounds and blocks before they got injured. In the season and a half that I've been writing this column, I've never had an easier week. Every player with a blurb comes highly recommended, not only for the category that they are in, but as a solid overall addition to your teams.

In general, we'll focus on players available in at least 50% of leagues in ESPN, Yahoo!, and CBS. That said, since the ownership can vary significantly from one site to the next, sometimes we have to fudge those rules a bit.

Points

The Heat backcourt has been problematic for fantasy, in large part because they have too many players of similar ability levels. But when looking for points on the waiver wire, we need to accept that we're usually looking for a series of short-term adds – long-term sources rarely emerge this late in the season. In that context, we don't need to worry about the fact that Johnson's minutes might decline. We can simply focus on Johnson's current, six-game streak, during which he is averaging 16.2 points and 2.8 threes while shooting 59 percent from the field.

The "buy" window on Alec Burks may already be closing, but he's still available in enough leagues to warrant a shout-out here. He's been a top-30 player in 9-category settings since Rodney Hood (ankle) went down. The Jazz have not provided any useful information about when Hood will return – it could be for their next game, or it could be several weeks away.

Other suggestions: E'Twaun Moore, Pelicans; Alex Burks, Jazz; Jonathon Simmons, Magic; Caris LeVert, Nets; Ersan Ilyasova, Hawks; Nikola Mirotic, Bulls

Three-Pointers

Moore has become a key figure in the Pelicans' rotation. Over the past seven games, his minutes have jumped from 30.3 to 38.1 per game – and, in what feels like a rare development, that increase is not related to any injuries to teammates. The increase has accompanied an improvement in play – he's averaging 19.4 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.0 rebounds while shooting an astounding 62.1 percent from the field and 67.6 from behind the arc. His shooting efficiency will inevitably tail off at some point, but as long as he keeps shooting more than five threes per game, he'll be a solid contributor in threes. The Pelicans' team stats are also up during this stretch, so there is reason to believe that Moore's boost in minutes could be a long-term change.

Ersan Ilyasova should have been a must-add in all leagues when Dewayne Dedmon (leg) and John Collins (shoulder) went down at the start of December, yet he remains widely available. Ilyasova has averaged 13.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.4 threes in 26.2 minutes with the pair of big men sidelined, and he is shooting just over 54 percent from both the field and behind the arc in that span. Collins is set to return later this week which hurts Ilyasova, but there is definitely room for Ilyasova to maintain most of his value as long as Dedmon remains out – and that could still be weeks away.

Other suggestions:Allen Crabbe, Nets; Marvin Williams, Hornets; Ersan Ilyasova, Hawks; Wesley Matthews, Mavericks; Nikola Mirotic, Bulls; Trey Lyles, Nuggets; Marco Belinelli, Hawks; J.R. Smith, Cavaliers

Rebounds

Mirotic missed the first 23 games of the season after getting punched by teammate Bobby Portis in the preseason. He's ramped up quickly in his three games back, playing 15 minutes in his debut, followed by 20, and then 32 Monday night against Boston. Lauri Markkanen (back) missed Monday's game, and Mirotic won't see 32 minutes while Markkanen is healthy, but it's still unclear how long Markkanen will be out. Even with Markkanen at full health, Mirotic is likely to settle in at around 25 minutes per game. With that workload, he's demonstrated that he can be a source of points, rebounds, and threes, in addition to minor contributions in steals and blocks. Last season he averaged 5.5 rebounds in 24.0 minute per game – it's not an exceptional total, but he's still improving, and he's worth owning for his all-around contributions.

Greg Monroe is better as a stash than someone you need to use on a consistent basis, but if he is ever liberated from the Suns, he could become a fantasy force.

With Cody Zeller (knee) sidelined indefinitely, Frank Kaminsky has a lot of fantasy potential. The Hornets have a lot of bigs, so managers might not have to jump on him quite yet, but he's certainly a player to watch.

Other suggestions:Greg Monroe, Suns; Frank Kaminsky, Hornets

Assists

Acquiring out-of-position contributors is probably the best way to improve in a specific category – adding a guard who blocks shots, a center who gets steals, or a non-point guard who gets assists frequently provides a bigger boost than simply upgrading the existing talent at a position. That's why LeVert is such a good source of assists. While there may be other players available who get more total assists, LeVert can get them from the small forward spot (or SG in Yahoo, or SG and PF in ESPN). His recent stats are a bit misleading after a fluky-good 10 assists last Thursday, but LeVert has legitimately added passing to his game this season. He is averaging 5.0 assists per-36 minutes, and has exactly the same number of rebounds (91) as assists (91) this season. He is slightly negative in shooting efficiency and turnovers, but he is a slight positive or better everywhere else.

Other suggestions:Milos Teodosic, Clippers; Patty Mills, Spurs; Tony Parker, Spurs; J.J. Barea, Mavericks

Steals

Steals have been an odd category this season. The waiver wire has lots of steals available, but most of them are attached to players who are otherwise not worth owning. Ntilikina edges out Bogdanovic here because the former has the clearer path to consistent minutes, while the latter may be bogged down in the Kings infinite logjam of rotation-players-not-good-enough-to-start-on-most-NBA-teams. Both rookies have top-100 fantasy ceilings if they could consistently get up to 30 minutes per game.

Kris Dunn has been gobbled up already in most leagues, but he should be added if he's still available, whether or not you need steals.

Other than LeVert, none of the "other suggestions" are good overall adds for standard leagues – they should be considered steals specialists only.

Other suggestions:Caris LeVert, Nets; Thabo Sefolosha, Jazz; Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kings; Andre Roberson, Thunder

Blocks

Collins (shoulder) has missed five games, and is on track to return either Tuesday or Thursday. The game before he got hurt, the Hawks lost Dewayne Dedmon (leg), who is likely to remain out for at least another couple of weeks. Collins averages 2.0 blocks per game when he plays at least 27 minutes, and with Dedmon out, Collins is likely to see a significant boost in minutes. Blocks have been so scarce on waivers this season that a player who only provides one block per game is a valuable commodity. Even managers who do not need blocks might want to consider adding Collins as a strategic maneuver to keep the waiver wire scarce. He also provides value in rebounding and field goal efficiency, with minor contributions in steals and points.

Other suggestions:Maxi Kleber, Mavericks; Andre Roberson, Thunder; Danny Green, Spurs; John Henson, Bucks