This NBA stock report will be an article that comes your way weekly for the rest of the season, keeping you up to date with which players you can look to add/drop or trade/trade for from your season-long fantasy roster. This week has even more meat on the bone with Thursday’s trade deadline passing.
Here’s some players to keep an eye on this week:
Stock Up
Grizzlies frontcourt — With Marc Gasol shipped off to Toronto, Memphis is going to focus on developing its young players. Jonas Valanciunas will earn some minutes, but the focus here will be Jaren Jackson Jr. — the No. 4 overall pick in last summer’s draft. In the last two games with Gasol sidelined, Jackson’s averaging 25 points and 6.5 rebounds. Ivan Rabb should also see significant minutes down the stretch. Memphis is going to look to tank the rest of the season, so Mike Conley could be held out of some games, boosting the value of the rest of the roster for those contests.
OG Anunoby — The overlooked fallout of the Gasol trade is that Delon Wright and C.J. Miles both went to Memphis, with no wings headed back to Toronto. Anunoby was already thrusted into the rotation at times, but could see a firm role now that 32 minutes per game has opened up in the rotation. Anunoby played 26 minutes against the Hawks on Thursday, going for six points and eight boards.
Wesley Matthews — Matthews made a brief stop in New York after being shipped over from Dallas in the Kristaps Porzingis trade. With the Knicks buying him out, the Pacers are just waiting to make things official. Indy has a huge role to fill on the wing with Victor Oladipo shutdown for the season, and while Matthews won’t be ‘Dipo, he could figure into a 30-minute role for a solid team. Matthews thrived under head coach Nate McMillan when he made a name for himself in Portland, and now will have the chance to play for him in Indiana.
Ivica Zubac — Zubac was more of a DFS play during his Lakers tenure, and his role in the rotation was never solidified. But when he played big minutes, he generally produced big games. Montrezl Harrell is the Clippers’ top big, but the team sent Boban Marjanovic to Philly as part of the Tobias Harris deal, and then waived Marcin Gortat. Zubac should finally have a consistent role with the Clippers. Lou Williams and Danilo Gallinari could also become better plays with the loss of Harris’ scoring ability.
Stock Down
Anthony Davis — With the trade deadline passed, and AD still in New Orleans, the good news is that he’s going to return to playing for the Pelicans. So if you own AD, get him back in your lineup regardless. The bad new is that Davis will have his minutes limited, and sit out most (if not all) back-to-backs. If you can find someone in your league that wants to pay anywhere close to full price on Davis, I’d go for that.
Marc Gasol — Gasol was quietly having a strong season in Memphis, playing 33.7 minutes per game, which was up from last season. He also only missed one game due to injury while with Memphis, so he’s fresh and ready to play for Toronto. While I expect him to make an impact, he just can’t be the same fantasy player. Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry are better scoring options, and the Raptors have talented, young big men, highlighted by Pascal Siakam. Gasol’s value with decrease here simply based on volume.
Tobias Harris — Harris was in the midst of a career-season for the Clippers when they sold him off, averaging 20.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists. While he’ll help the 76ers immensely, there’s no way he can maintain those numbers alongside Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler and even Ben Simmons. Simmons could maintain similar value here, while Embiid is established as the top offensive option. I think Harris sees his fantasy value drop off most as the new guy, while Jimmy Butler takes a hit as well.
Nikola Mirotic — Mirotic hasn’t played since January 23rd for the Pelicans, but should be close to a return for his new team — the Bucks. Same story, different player here. Miortic gives Milwaukee a knock down shooter to help them win games, but it doesn’t give Mirotic a place like New Orleans he can thrive in. New Orleans plays at a fast pace, and with one of the worst defenses in the league, was often playing catchup. That allowed Mirotic to post averages of 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, although injuries have limited him to just 32 games. Khris Middleton is the cleat-cut second option for the Bucks, and Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon, Brook Lopez and so on will all get theres. Mirotic will contribute, but he’ll be down in the pecking order.
