This past week came with a flurry of unfortunate injuries. Tyler Herro and Cam Thomas suffered sprained ankles. Jamal Murray and CJ McCollum will miss time due to a hamstring injury and a collapsed lung, respectively. Wendell Carter Jr. is out for multiple weeks after hand surgery and Robert Williams is set to have what could be season-ending surgery on his knee.
In an NBA where players miss time as often as ever, injuries that sideline players for weeks are real bummers. With that, fantasy lineups change on a dime. And it’s crucial to stay on top of your league’s trade market.
Here are some players to trade for or away this week:
Check out the latest fantasy basketball expert consensus rankings
Fantasy Basketball Trade Advice (Week 3)
Trade For
Lonnie Walker IV (BKN – SF, SG)
The aforementioned Thomas, who’s averaging 26.9 points for the Brooklyn Nets this season, is set to miss at least two weeks with an ankle sprain. His 20.6 shot attempts and 32.5 minutes per game will be left for someone else to pick up. Walker IV, who signed with Brooklyn in early July as a free-agent afterthought, has a pretty impressive five-game stretch and has averaged 16.2 points while shooting 52.6% from the field, 37.5% from 3-point range and 80.0% from the line in just 21.7 minutes per game.
While it’s not likely that Walker replicates Thomas’ incredible production, he’s a safe bet to load the box score for at least the next six to seven games.
Players to Trade Him For Who Are Ranked Higher: Eric Gordon, Delon Wright, Andrew Nembhard
Trade Away
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN – C, PF)
Towns is currently averaging career-lows in minutes, points and rebounds per game, as well as field goal shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage. What’s worse is that Naz Reid really hasn’t been too far off in production despite playing 8.3 fewer minutes per game than Towns. The jury is still out on if Towns can truly succeed as a No. 2 player on a team, which he most certainly is with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Keeping Towns around to see if he starts to improve is an option, but there have been plenty of other big men who have outperformed him through this point in the season. If someone in your league still holds Towns in high regard, try to work out a deal where you land a team’s first option.
Players to Trade Him For Who Are Ranked Lower: Bam Adebayo, Jaren Jackson Jr., Lauri Markkanen
Trade For
One of the early-season candidates for the Most Improved Player Award, Johnson has been absolutely terrific on an Atlanta Hawks team that has longed for a dynamic wing. His counterpart at forward, De’Andre Hunter, averages more points than the Duke product by just a hair, but Johnson has the upper hand in the rebound and assist departments.
Understanding Johnson’s value to Atlanta as an athletic ball handler is an advantage over your league mates who may not be privy to his impressive start to the season.
Players to Trade Him For Who Are Ranked Higher: Max Strus, De’Andre Hunter, Kelly Oubre Jr.
Trade Away
The San Antonio Spurs and Gregg Popovich have absolutely nothing to lose by essentially throwing this season. The Spurs’ point differential is easily the worst in the NBA and they allow the second-most points per game. They’re not good, and that’s fine. But Jones – and this sounds strange – has been replaced by Jeremy Sochan at point guard. Pop is getting experimental, folks.
Jones is a fine passer and is relatively careful with the ball, but he completely lacks a ceiling. His 7.1 shots per game ranks seventh on the team behind Sochan and fellow guard Malaki Branham. What we thought would be a fun two-man game between Victor Wembanyama and Jones just hasn’t materialized. Deal him for a player with a higher ceiling.
Players to Trade Him For Who Are Ranked Lower: Shaedon Sharpe, Dennis Schroder, Cole Anthony
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