Every Wednesday, we will be providing players you should not only look to acquire via trade but also players you should look to trade away.
In the future – where fitting – with the data collected, we’ll build in potential trade scenarios for those you should look to acquire and those you should look to move.
Let’s get to it, and happy NBA season.
Check out the latest fantasy basketball expert consensus rankings
Trade For
With the way that Nikola Jokic plays basketball, which is essentially like no one else, the Nuggets have run out lineups with Murray coming out with the second unit.
It makes sense for now, but it won’t be here to stay. Murray is getting his legs back under him, and he’s been playing heavy minutes of late, which is outstanding. In the Nuggets’ last game – sans The Joker – Murray dropped 23 points thanks to being more of a focal point in the offense.
Will we get bubble Murray back? Perhaps not. But we will get that score-first guard who is just about clear of any lingering rust.
Murray ranks No. 142 on the season, but he’s posted top-90 numbers over the last two weeks and top 65 over the last week. It’ll be a shock if Murray doesn’t finish as a top 60 player this year. Grab him before the opportunity passes.
Players to trade for him that are ranked higher:
Devin Vassell, Bennedict Mathurin, Kyrie Irving
Trade Away
I get it. I get it. This is the one deal you’re likely not making, and I’m not sure you can trade him one-for-one for anyone and feel any type of confidence about it.
But what we are seeing from Luka so far, while amazing, is hard to imagine him keeping up the pace he’s at. He’s a player who has had conditioning issues in the past. While he’s used to leading the league in usage, he’s at a career-high so far this year (42.6) while playing 37.2 minutes per game.
What we are seeing from Luka is a player who has struggled in the second half of games – well, at least struggling for him – especially compared to the first half. He’s a 7.5 in the first half of games and a -4.5 in the second half. He’s shooting 44.4% in the second half, down from 53.7% in the first half of games.
So, what are you trading him for? Well, straight up, probably Jokic, and that’s it. But I don’t mind the idea of floating him out there for a pair of players to address some needs for you. They need to be high-end players (a top 12 and a top 24) player.
Players to trade for him that are ranked lower:
Donovan Mitchell and Nikola Vucevic, Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler, Jaylen Brown and Stephen Curry
Trade For
After putting together a nice stretch of games when he debuted, Keegan Murray has been relatively cool of late. He’s posting 14th-round value over the last two weeks, and to boot, he left Tuesday’s game with an injury, opening the door for Terence Davis.
“Man, those rookies are so untrustworthy.”
At least that’s gonna be the pitch that you give (ignoring the fact that the manager will likely call you out for wanting a player you are talking smack on).
But just like a basketball game is a game of runs, a rookie season is filled with ebbs and flows.
Right now, Murray is in the middle of an ebb, and despite Davis’ big game that he had in relief of Murray, it’s Murray’s job when he’s healthy. The skill set – as we saw in his first four games in the league – is extremely fantasy friendly and polished for a rookie.
Players to trade for him that are ranked higher:
Luguentz Dort, Aleksej Pokusevski, Malik Beasley
Trade Away
So many players, just one ball. That was the thought coming into the season for the Pelicans. But one player we figured would be safe was Jonas Valanciunas, as he was the clear big man for the majority of the game.
But of late, JV has been struggling, but the fantasy community hasn’t quite caught up yet. He’s ranked No. 86 on the season in nine-cat leagues, but over the last two weeks, he’s coming in at No. 188.
Yikes.
His teammate Larry Nance, meanwhile, has posted top-71 numbers over the same stretch. In his last two games, Nance has played 31 and 28 minutes while scoring 19 and 22 points, respectively.
JV, meanwhile, has failed to eclipse the 20-minute mark in his last three games.
While the biggest sample we have for a lineup is with C.J. McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones, Zion Williamson, and JV, the lineups that have been most successful by most metrics have Nance at the five and JV on the bench.
Late in games, against smaller lineups, the Pelicans will move more toward Nance at center for matchup purposes. While JV still has the name value and the overall numbers to draw a nice return, I’d cash in those chips ASAP.
Players to trade for him that are ranked lower:
P.J. Washington, Al Horford, Christian Wood
Other Players to trade for:
Other Players to trade away:
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.