Unlike last year’s NBA Trade Deadline, all of the league’s superstars stayed on their respective teams. However, there were still a lot of impactful players traded, which will shift the balance of rosters around the league. The intent of this article is to tell you how you should react, from a fantasy perspective, to each notable trade. Let’s take a dive into the transactions and see what to make of it all!
NBA Trade Deadline Transactions
Bojan Bogdanovic to NY Knicks
Bogdanovic is a tremendous scorer and is always useful on a fantasy roster, provided he gets adequate playing time. But let’s be honest: he’s going from playing 33 minutes per game (as the second/third option) on a historically bad DET Pistons team, to the fourth (?) scoring option on a playoff team. I’m not sure where the pecking order will shake out on playing time either, as Thibs’ teams prioritize defense, and Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Donte DiVincenzo, and now potentially Alec Burks, stand before him at his position. Bogdanovic’s fantasy stock has fallen, in my opinion.
Gordon Hayward to OKC Thunder
This is a great trade for OKC on a player development level, as a team this young, could use a veteran player as an everyday voice in the locker room. From a fantasy perspective, he’s averaging 15/5/5 on 32 minutes per game this season. However, that was on a terrible Charlotte team that had no direction. This OKC team goes through Shai and Jaylen WIlliams, with Chet Holmgren as the anchor. Hayward had a 20% usage rate this year and hasn’t had a lower usage rate than that since his 2017 season, but I believe that changes now on OKC. He’s likely relegated to a catch-and-shoot player + downhill/turnover action. On top of all that, he hasn’t played since December. Don’t expect more than 8-10 shots per game out of Hayward on this squad.
PJ Washington to DAL Mavericks
STOCK UP! I love this trade on multiple levels for Washington. Washington goes from playing 30 minutes off the bench for a Charlotte team that has no identity and plays almost entirely through Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball (score-first players), to becoming the best frontcourt player on the Mavericks, with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic as his primary distributors. Both of those guards are score first, but that’s out of necessity. They are both elite passers and can spoon-feed Washington buckets. On top of that, with the addition of Daniel Gafford, Washington can play his natural Power Forward position, instead of having to play so many Center minutes. I expect Washington’s rebounds to go up, in addition to his PPG, now that he’ll have better matchups. Love it!
Dennis Schroder to BKN Nets
The only way you’ve been hearing Schroder’s name this year is if you play NBA Fantasy or if you’re a Toronto Raptors fan. But be that as it may, he’s having a nice season, playing 30+ minutes per game, averaging 13/3/6. Now he goes to Brooklyn where he becomes the primary facilitator to some talented scorers (Mikal Bridges, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, and Nic Claxton inside). If he doesn’t get bought out to try and play for a championship contender, Schroder has a nice chance to pad his stats. Stock up.
Alec Burks to NY Knicks
Pretty much everything I said about Bojan Bogdanovic is true about Alec Burks on the Knicks. He’s a proven NBA scorer. However, there are a lot of players ahead of Burks at the same position (who play better defense). Alec Burks’ stock is flat to down after this move.
Daniel Gafford to DAL Mavericks
This move makes me smile. The Dallas Mavericks had an excellent trade deadline. They addressed their needs, without really altering the usage rates of their top two players. With the addition of Daniel Gafford, the Mavs now have a legitimate starting Center. A player who can protect the rim, stay out of foul trouble, alter mid-range jumpers, and has underrated post moves. With Washington this year (his first year as a full-time starter), he’s averaged 11/8 and 3 stocks (steals+blocks) per game over 27 minutes per game. I don’t anticipate his minutes per game to inflate much further, but he now has two of the top passers in the game to spoon-feed him baskets. On top of that, he’s likely to be reinvigorated going from one of the worst teams in the league to a team that now has the tools to make a deep run in the playoffs. Gafford’s stock is up.
Buddy Hield to PHI 76ers
It’s really too bad that Joel Embiid will be out for the immediate future because this is a heck of a move by Philly, who is finally understanding how they need to build around Embiid. Embiid is a black hold. You throw it to him in the post and the defense collapses in. If you have elite shooters around him, he’s able to use his vision to pass out of double/triple teams to an open shooter for three. Guess who shoots a career 40%+ from the three-point line. That’s right! Buddy Hield! Between Hield, Kelly Oubre, Tobias Harris, and Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers now have a team full of knockdown shooters that can take scoring pressure off of Philly. The only downside is that Embiid has started to catch the ball at the elbows or top of the key because he’s been relied on to score the ball so heavily this year. He’ll need to tone that down in order to get the most out of Hield. Hield only averages 12 PPG this season, and I expect that to improve now that he’s going to have less of the facilitating role he had in Indiana. Stock up.
Other Notable Moves:
Patrick Beverley – stock flat with MIL
Kelly Olynyk – stock up with TOR (if he isn’t bought out)
Simone Fontecchio – stock flat/slightly up with DET