Alright, this is it. Most fantasy basketball trade deadlines are within the next week, so this is the last chance to make some necessary trades to get your roster looking fine for the stretch run. If you have a deficiency somewhere on your roster, fix it. If you’re looking to better your team at a particular position or in a statistical category, do it. Championships aren’t won by sitting on your hands while other teams are getting better.
The unfortunate aspect we also have to deal with around this time of year is players getting periodically rested or shut down altogether. Teams that are well out of the playoff picture have no incentive to play their aging veterans or star players. As fans, we all hate it, but it’s the reality of the NBA these days.
Players to Buy
Tobias Harris (SF/PF – LAC)
What do you know? The Clippers traded away their franchise forward and are still right in the thick of the playoff hunt in the Western Conference. The Clippers currently sit at 31-27, just one game behind Denver for the last playoff spot. A big reason why the Clippers are still in the hunt, other than Lou Williams, has been the play of one of the players they received from Detroit in the Griffin deal.
Tobias Harris has been a top-50 asset in nine games for the Clippers and has been even better than that over the last two weeks, averaging 20.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.0 blocks, and 2.8 three-pointers on 51.9% shooting overall. That’s good for top-20 value over the last two weeks.
The Clippers are really going to need Harris to continue being one of the primary scoring options on offense if they want to get into the playoffs. There’s no reason why Harris can’t be a top-25 fantasy asset for the rest of the season.
Alex Len (PF/C – PHO)
Come on Alex. Did you really have to foul out and put up a stinker of a line right before I recommend you? Horrible timing. Just chalk up Monday’s dud to a bad night. Playing against Anthony Davis can cause games like that quite often.
In the three games before that, Len was averaging 13.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game on 65.2% shooting. For players like Len, being on a bad team is a good thing this time of year. The Suns don’t need to play their veteran big men and could really benefit from giving a guy like Len big minutes to see what he’s truly capable of doing with a bigger role. They know the talent is there. Now it’s time to see if he can showcase that talent for 30+ minutes a night.
Players to Sell
Marc Gasol (C – MEM)
This is as prime of a rest/shut down candidate as you’ll find. Marc Gasol is 33 years old, has been battling various ailments off and on this season, and plays on a Memphis team that has lost 10 in a row and currently sits 14.5 games out of the playoffs in the Western Conference. Their 18-41 mark has them in a cluster of teams aiming to get as many ping pong balls as they can for the upcoming draft. Unfortunately, they have no incentive to play Gasol big minutes down the stretch and may even shut him down at some point to not risk any injuries to their star center.
Now, what does this mean for Gasol’s fantasy value? Nothing good, that’s for sure. The 10th year center is having another stellar season averaging 17.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.5 blocks, and 1.4 three-pointers. His shooting has been subpar, especially for a big man, at 41.5%, but he’s made up for that by shooting a stellar 84.3% from the line.
All in all, he’s been a top-50 player like we all expected him to be. However, with the Grizzlies likely limiting his minutes and giving him a game off here and there going forward, it’s time to see what you can get for Gasol.
Tyreke Evans (PG/SG/SG – MEM)
You knew Evans had to be coming after reading all of what I just said about Gasol. The shutdown factor here with Evans is even bigger than it is with Gasol. First off, Evans is dealing with a rib injury and has only played in three of the last 10 games. On top of that, he’s already been ruled out for tonight’s game against the Phoenix Suns.
A recent MRI of his rib cage showed some cartilage damage, which usually signals a multi-game absence. The Grizzlies are downplaying the severity of the injury, but they’re not fooling anyone. Plus, they basically needed to say that. They can’t just come out and admit they’re tanking. Good luck filling that arena after admitting to tanking.
Though he’s missed plenty of time, Evans is having a pretty good season for himself averaging 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.2 three-pointers on 45.3% from the field. You can likely still fetch decent value for him if you dangle him out on the trading block.
Eric Cross is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Eric, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @EricCross04.
