This time of year is always what I consider to be the most crucial for middle of the pack fantasy basketball teams. Most league’s trade deadlines are a couple months away, but waiting until a week or a few days before the deadline to make a move is foolish and often doesn’t work out. If you have a weakness in a particular category or lack of depth at a certain position, making a move now helps you out a lot more than one in late-February.
For a second straight week, we have a big man theme going on here. Included in that is a top-20 fantasy stud that you should look to deal right now if you owned him. That’s right; I said a top-20 fantasy player needs to be dealt.
Who could I be talking about? Hmmm.
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Players to Buy
Kyle Kuzma (SF/PF – LAL)
Man, am I still kicking myself for not picking up Kyle Kuzma earlier in the season. With all the bodies on the Lakers fighting for minutes, it was tough to envision him having this prominent of a role. Well, here we are about to flip the calendars over to 2018 and Kuzma is the most valuable fantasy player on the Los Angeles Lakers and only the second rookie ever to score 30+ points on Christmas day.
The other? Some dude named LeBron James. My sources tell me that he’s pretty good at this basketball thing.
Kuzma has been solid all season, but the last two weeks is when he’s really upped his production. He’s averaging 25.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 3.7 three-pointers and almost a steal and block per game. Throw in some solid percentages, and you have yourself a top-20 fantasy asset over the last 14 days.
Is he likely to sustain this blistering pace for the next 50 games or so? Probably not.
However, Kuzma is proving that he’s a top-50 fantasy player for the rest of the season and should be treated as such. Act now before his trade value catches up to his fantasy value.
John Collins (PF/C – ATL)
Okay, I might have a small man crush on John Collins. I’ve discussed him on many different sites and social platforms over the season, but he’s still not getting the love he deserves.
As it stands today, Collins is still only owned in 60% of fantasy leagues. Granted, some of those leagues are either smaller or non-competitive leagues, but that number needs to be much higher.
With each passing month, Collins continues to improve. On the season, he’s a top-90 player and a top-50 player over the last month with averages of 12.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals, 1.1 blocks, and an insane 75.0% from the field. I’d be doing whatever it took to get this kid on my fantasy team. If this trend continues, we could be looking at a top-25 player for the rest of the season.
He’s that good. Don’t make me remind you all again in three weeks.
Bismack Biyombo (PF/C – ORL)
With Nikola Vucevic out for the next six-to-eight weeks, Bismack Biyombo enters the starting five for the Orlando Magic. If you’re going to roster Biyombo, you need to know exactly what type of player you’re getting.
First off, he’s not going to score much. Throw that notion out of your brain right now. It isn’t going to happen.
His season high was a mere nine way back on opening night. The added minutes will help some, but we’re still likely only looking at a 7-8 PPG scorer while Vucevic is sidelined.
Now that we’ve cleared all that up, let’s look at the positives of owning Biyombo, outside of the cool name. You’re getting help in just two, maybe three categories. Biyombo should provide a good source of rebounds and blocks each game and keep his FG% high most nights.
Last night’s game is a perfect example of all of this. While facing Hassan Whiteside, Biyombo scored just three points on one-of-seven shooting but grabbed 12 boards and blocked five shots.
If a couple more of those shots go down, that very easily could’ve been a double-double. If a big man that can rebound and block shots is what you desire, Biyombo can help.
Players to Sell
Joel Embiid (C – PHI)
Before you start forming angry mobs with pitchforks, hear me out. In my opinion, Joel Embiid is one of the 10 most talented players in this game and a player I’ve likened to Hakeem Olajuwon. I grew up in the golden age of big men, so I don’t throw around comparisons like that for just anyone.
With that being said, his back injury freaking scares the “you know what” out of me. I don’t currently own him on any fantasy team, but if I did, I’d be looking to deal him quick.
This nagging back injury has caused Embiid to miss five of Philadelphia’s last nine games. He’s been straight cash money in the four games he’s played, but missing time like that can ruin a fantasy team, no matter how dominant the player is.
What drives this is the fact that Embiid mentioned that he just wants to push through this back issue. “Pushing through” a back injury is tough for even the healthiest of players, and for extremely fragile cargo like Embiid, it’s incredibly worrisome.
This is not me saying to trade him for 80 cents on the dollar. That would just be dumb. But if you can get a good offer for him, it’d be wise to move him before the other shoe drops with this back injury.
I could be wrong, and he could play the rest of the season without a problem. However, with his track record, I’m not betting on that happening.
Dennis Smith Jr. (PG – DAL)
Didn’t envision myself putting Dennis Smith Jr. here at any point this season, but his overall play warrants it. He started off his rookie season slowly, but hey, he’s a rookie. He’ll figure it out in time.
Today is December 27, and that still hasn’t happened. For the season, he’s averaging 13.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.4 three-pointers. He doesn’t chip in much in the way of defensive stats, and both his field goal and free throw percentages are subpar.
So, what should you do with the struggling rookie? I wouldn’t drop him outright quite yet, but over the next few weeks I’d dangle him out on the trade block to see if any decent offers come in, while at the same time, seeing if he can get it going. Smith Jr. is still a very talented player who should have a bright career in the NBA, but it doesn’t appear to be happening for him this season.
Eric Cross is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Eric, check out his archive and follow him @EricCross04.