It’s Thursday, and you know what that means.
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.
For the players this week, I’m pulling from the fantasy trade chart, which came out earlier this week, to highlight a few of the risers and fallers.
View optimal lineups, waiver, and trade suggestions, and league analysis
Buy
I don’t think that Konchar is the most talented player in the league. But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times – opportunity matters.
Right now, Konchar is getting a ton of run with the Grizzlies continuing to battle the health and safety protocols.
In a surprise on Wednesday, he drew the start over De’Anthony Melton with Desmond Bane out of action.
He’s put up 10th-round value over the last month, but much of that came from his out-of-nowhere 15-point, 17-rebound game against Minnesota. I’m buying him in deep leagues for the short term as long as he keeps getting run.
For all of the love that Darius Garland and Evan Mobley are – deservingly – getting, let’s just appreciate Allen.
Before every home game, he goes to the scorer’s table and finds fans who are waving to him, and he will just wave back to as many as he can before the buzzer sounds. He’s a great guy, and he’s as good of a fantasy player, too.
He’s as close as you can get to a walking double-double with points and boards each night, and he’s entering the upper echelon of fantasy big men.
This is an error on my part. I’ve had Looney off the chart all season because he’s just kind of a forgettable player.
But when you’re on the Warriors, you play yourself into value, which is what Looney is doing.
He’s still really the only true big man they have, and even when James Wiseman returns, Looney has the starting job locked down.
He’s putting up 10th-round value over the last two weeks, and as long as the Warriors aren’t in shootouts with teams, Looney can help you in rebounding, especially.
Sell
I had Yurtseven in this spot last week because I feared that with Bam Adebayo coming back, he’d lose his playing time despite dominating in Bam’s absence.
Boy, was I right.
Despite providing top 90 value over the last month, Yurtseven has registered two straight Did Not Plays with Adebayo’s return. The Heat opted to go with Dewayne Dedmon over him as the backup center.
It’s safe to cut Yurtseven in all seasonal leagues, unfortunately.
There have been numerous articles out there about Gafford being happy that Thomas Bryant is back for the Wizards.
Don’t tell that to fantasy managers who have Gafford.
It’s been why I’ve been lower on the Wizards’ big men all season because eventually, a time crunch was going to happen.
In the four games that Bryant has been back for, Gafford has played a grand total of 47 minutes with 21 points and nine boards. Gafford is the odd-man-out in Washington and you can safely move on from him despite his talent.
Like the other two guys in the sell section, Smith’s outlook was pretty clear despite his stellar play over the last few weeks. His play came with Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee out of the lineup, and he stepped up in a big way for Phoenix.
Despite Ayton missing the Suns’ last game, Smith played just a few minutes of garbage time and he’s buried behind Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder.
He’s going to be a popular sleeper next year in drafts, but for right now, he’s waiver wire fodder until another opportunity presents itself.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.