With the arrival of Domantas Sabonis in Sacramento, Richaun Holmes is looking like a fantasy sell.
It’s Thursday, and you know what that means.
But this Thursday, it’s different because it’s the freakin’ (I’d change that if my editor allowed me to) trade deadline. Nothing in any other sport holds a candle to the excitement around the NBA Trade Deadline (OK, maybe playoff hockey for the “please like my sport” crowd) and the 2022 edition didn’t disappoint.
Tomorrow, I’ll have a full breakdown of every single fantasy winner and loser from the deadline, but as the dust settles, we’ll look at four instant-reaction buy and sell players from the moves made leading up to the deadline.
Buy low, sell high is one of the oldest terms in fantasy, but it’s more involved than that. You have to look at the “low” and “high” of it to make sure you’re maximizing value. We can also buy the player, but question the team and role that they are in when it comes to maintaining the pace that they are on.
Most importantly here, with any call you make, you have to be willing to lose the deal or accept that you made the wrong call. It happens all the time when we think we are selling at the highest value, only for that player to buck the trend and play like a stud going forward.
Now that you have an idea of what to expect for this column week to week, let’s get to the players.
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Buy
In case you missed it, James Harden and Paul Millsap are on their way to Philadelphia, and Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond are heading to Brooklyn. There may not be a bigger fantasy winner than Drummond, who isn’t a good real-life player, but can be an exceptional fantasy player when he gets the minute and starting role. He’ll compete with Nic Claxton, who is good but inconsistent, and LaMarcus Aldridge (lol) for minutes. Grab him and don’t look back.
The Wizards traded Montrezl Harrell (more on him below) to the Charlotte Hornets, which makes Gafford once again a must-roster and must-start option.
There was a three-headed monster looming in Washington all year, which caused all three player’s values to dip a bit. But with Harrell out of the way, Gafford should see big minutes at center, with Thomas Bryant backing him up.
Even with the addition of Kristaps Porzingis, who should be the focal part of the offense when he is healthy, Gafford is a buy the rest of the way.
For the better part of a year, I’ve clamored for the Hornets to please get LaMelo Balla big man. I wanted Evan Mobley. I wanted Myles Turner. We’ll settle for Harrell.
Harrell is a buy going forward, and he should get the majority of the run at center. He’ll at least see a 2/3 split with Mason Plumlee.
Speaking of big men, Detroit went out and got draft bust Bagley from the Kings in a four-team deal.
Bagley has been better of late, posting top 115 numbers over the last month. Now, he heads to Detroit to give Cade Cunningham a fantastic lob partner. He’s trending up, believe it or not. I’d buy in 12-team leagues.
Sell
Spencer Dinwiddie (PG/SG – DAL)
I love Dinwiddie. He’s my third-favorite player in the game. This one hurt me on a personal level. In Dallas, his value takes a hit, as he’ll be stuck behind Jalen Brunson and more than likely Reggie Bullock. Expect Dinwiddie’s minutes and usage to dip, making him tough to roster moving forward.
I’m absolutely shocked that the Kings didn’t move Holmes. Sure, he’s disappointed this year, but as a team looking to completely remake itself, I expected Holmes to be on the move somewhere, anywhere, where his value would improve.
Instead, he’s a sell in fantasy, as he’s going to be backing up Domantas Sabonis with the second unit. He’ll still have value, but the disappointing season looks like it’s going to continue for the big man.
In the “wtf?” move of the day – if you don’t count the Porzingis deal at his diminished value – White’s value took a hit for fantasy, as he heads to Boston. Best-case, he’s starting for the Celtics as the distributing point guard they needed. Worst case, he’s splitting time with Marcus Smart, because Boston can’t seem to move away from him.
He’s still a must-roster player and we need to see how it shakes out, but can’t help to think his value takes a big hit.
They almost had us! There were some fake tweets (I hate and love them at the same time) going out about Boucher being sent to Houston.
If that happened, his arrow would be pointing all the way up. Instead, he’s buried in Toronto still, and to make matters worse, the Raptors acquired Drew Eubanks, who isn’t good but is another big guy to compete with for minutes. Big L, Toronto.
