BUY LOW
Kyle Lowry
Kyle Lowry lost his starting role after returning from injury, but even off the bench he has plenty of fantasy relevance. In five games manning the second unit, he’s putting up 13.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.8 treys and 1.4 steals, which is basically starter’s stats anyway. There have been trade whispers in Toronto involving Kyle Lowry or Jose Calderon and if either is dealt, it will do wonders for both of their values. Consider Lowry a mid-tier point guard for the present, but a trade or even an upgrade to the starting lineup gives him great potential to rise. Some Lowry owners might be upset with the lack of minutes for now and willing to deal, so it’s worth sending an offer.
Anthony Davis
It’s been a bit of a tough start to the promising career of Anthony Davis so far. He’s missed 13 of his team’s 33 games, and despite averaging 13.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.9 blocks, his stat lines have been rather inconsistent. In 2013, he’s putting up just 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and no steals through three games. However, there is tremendous room for improvement in the second half of the season. Despite his team’s struggles, there is a lot of upside surrounded by Davis in New Orleans between the return of Eric Gordon, the continued breakout campaign of Greivis Vasquez, and the development of Austin Rivers – a huge second half from The Brow is quite feasible. Davis’s current averages are pretty much his floor and as long as he stays healthy, he’ll get plenty of run on a team fading fast from the playoff race
Nene
An early season bout with lingering plantar fasciitis derailed yet another sound season from Nene, but when he’s 100 percent healthy, which he has been approaching recently, the guy is a fantasy stud. Nene played a season-high 36 minutes Friday night, but his stats, especially in rebounding are not where they once were or should be. If you are in need of a big man but don’t have much to give up, now is your chance to pounce. When at full strength, Nene has the chance to lead the league in field goal percentage, while shooting above average for a big man at the free throw line, and giving you well above average defensive stats. Get your offers out now before it’s too late.
Hurt Players
This includes Anderson Varejao, Andrew Bynum, John Wall, Raymond Felton, Tyreke Evans, Danny Granger and Derrick Rose, among others. Their value is at an all-time low right now and if you can afford to sit on an injury for a while, these guys can make an impact for the fantasy playoffs, when it really counts. The best time to deal for them is before there is a set return date and an owner can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
SELL HIGH
Tim Duncan
I know that it’s asking a lot to trade what is probably your best big man, but you can get a ton in return for him, and you always have to be concerned about Pop sitting his starters down the stretch. Unfortunately for Duncan owners, now is the time to sell, not after it starts being brought up in postgame interviews. At 37 years old, he’s averaging a career-high in free throw percentage (81 percent) while averaging the most blocks for him since the 2004-05 season. He’s as solid as they come in fantasy and as long as he’s on the floor, his free throw percentage and blocks combination is hard to come by, but the risk of him missing games without being injured in the fantasy playoffs makes me queasy. I wouldn’t blame you for keeping him, but I wouldn’t blame you for trading him either.
Joakim Noah
Derrick Rose participated in a few team shootarounds this week and upon returning will probably take a lot of Noah’s offensive value away. While this scenario is still a long ways away, now is the time to start thinking about it. To win the championship, you always have to be a move ahead of your competitors and while Noah still provides tons of value defensively with his 10.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 2.0 blocks, his 12.8 points could come down even lower and without a volume of touches, his 4.4 assists is unsustainable. My suggestion would be to dish him sooner rather than later before his offensive breakout is old news.
J.R. Smith
I wrote about J.R. Smith in my last sell high and my opinion still hasn’t changed too much. Although he seems to think that he’s an All-Star, he is far from a fantasy all-star despite his career-highs in points, rebounds and assists. Sure he’s playing hot now, but there are plenty of mouths to feed and things are going to get even more crowded when Iman Shumpert and Raymond Felton return from injury. Usually defense keeps you on the court under Mike Woodson‘s watch and last year Shumpert proved he has the potential to be a shutdown defender, which could seriously eat away at J.R.’s minutes. Sell now before it’s too late.
Jameer Nelson
Jameer Nelson is a heck of a frustrating player to own in fantasy. He misses a lot of game due to tick-tack injuries and is good enough to be owned, but not really good enough that anyone will be requesting trades for him. That’s why you need to send offers out immediately after reading this. In his last four games played, Nelson is averaging 26.3 points, 7.5 assists, 4.8 treys and 1.0 steals. If there were ever a time that someone would take him, now would be that time so get those offers out immediately.
Who are you looking to trade right now?
Follow Kevin on Twitter at @DaOtherKevSmith.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
