Injuries, injuries and more injuries have been a common theme in the NBA this season. We have seen teams lose multiple stars already, which has a ripple effect across the fantasy landscape. One way to try and help your team stay afloat through injuries is to make trades. Let's discuss some players to buy low on, sell high on or hold based on their early starts.
Buy
Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
Mitchell had averaged at least 26.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists in both of his first two seasons with the Cavaliers. He is below all of those marks this season, averaging 23.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists. His scoring is not down because of a lack of efficiency. He is shooting 46.8% from the field, including a career-high 41.0% from behind the arc.
The reason Mitchell's numbers are down is because he has averaged only 31 minutes per game. He averaged at least 35 minutes in both of the last two seasons. The Cavaliers have been blowing teams out on their way to a 12-0 start, which means that they haven't had to push Mitchell to play a ton some nights. His usage rate is still 31.4%, which is identical to his mark from last season. As the Cavaliers play more close games, Mitchell should spend more time on the floor. While he's not exactly struggling, this might be the low point for his fantasy value for the season.
Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans
Injuries, injuries and more injuries have been a common theme in the NBA this season. We have seen teams lose multiple stars already, which has a ripple effect across the fantasy landscape. One way to try and help your team stay afloat through injuries is to make trades. Let's discuss some players to buy low on, sell high on or hold based on their early starts.
Buy
Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
Mitchell had averaged at least 26.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists in both of his first two seasons with the Cavaliers. He is below all of those marks this season, averaging 23.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists. His scoring is not down because of a lack of efficiency. He is shooting 46.8% from the field, including a career-high 41.0% from behind the arc.
The reason Mitchell's numbers are down is because he has averaged only 31 minutes per game. He averaged at least 35 minutes in both of the last two seasons. The Cavaliers have been blowing teams out on their way to a 12-0 start, which means that they haven't had to push Mitchell to play a ton some nights. His usage rate is still 31.4%, which is identical to his mark from last season. As the Cavaliers play more close games, Mitchell should spend more time on the floor. While he's not exactly struggling, this might be the low point for his fantasy value for the season.
Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans have been completely decimated by injuries. Things became even worse for them Tuesday with Jose Alvarado (hamstring) potentially out for around six weeks. He joins Zion Williamson (hamstring), Dejounte Murray (hand), CJ McCollum (thigh), Herbert Jones (shoulder) and Jordan Hawkins (back) on the sidelines.
One of the few bright spots for the Pelicans is that Murphy made his season debut Monday after sitting out their first 10 games. He only played 26 minutes, posting 12 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two three-pointers. As he continues to round his way back into shape, he should become one of their focal points of their offense. Try to trade for him now before he starts to produce gaudy scoring and three-point totals.
Sell
Jordan Poole, Washington Wizards
Poole has provided more scoring for fantasy managers this season, averaging 20.0 points and 3.3 three-pointers per game. He is shooting 42.6% from the field, which is pretty to close to his percentage from last season. However, he is shooting 41.7% from behind the arc, which is up from 32.6% last year.
As encouraging as things have been for Poole to begin the season, it's difficult to be overly excited for him moving forward. He is still averaging just 30 minutes per game because the Wizards get blown out often. He has also never finished a season shooting higher than 36.4% from behind the arc, so he should be in line for some significant regression in that department. Kyle Kuzma is also back from injury, so the Wizards don't need to rely as heavily on Poole for scoring. Now is the time to float out trade offers and see if someone is willing to overpay for Poole in a trade because of his hot three-point shooting.
OG Anunoby, New York Knicks
Anunoby doesn't have crazy stats with his averages of 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists. However, his averages of 1.6 steals and 2.2 three-pointers are a valuable combination. He remains a reliable shooter from behind the arc, making 41.5% of his three-point attempts this season.
The reason to consider selling high on Anunoby is his injury history. He hasn't played at least 70 games in a season since his rookie campaign. While he hasn't missed a game this season, it's scary that a player with his injury history has averaged 37 minutes per game. With their lack of talent on the bench, don't expect the Knicks to ease up on Anunoby's minutes anytime soon. It's difficult to envision him holding up the entire season with this type of heavy workload.
Hold
Norman Powell, Los Angeles Clippers
Powell averaged just 26 minutes in both of his first two full seasons with the Clippers. Now that Paul George is gone, the Clippers need more from Powell this season. He has responded by averaging 26.0 points and 4.2 three-pointers over 34 minutes per game. While his 50.5% shooting on three-pointers likely won't hold up, he has shot 39.9% from deep for his career.
Not only has Powell been playing more, but his usage rate has increased from 20.0% last season to 26.6% this season. The Clippers don't have a deep roster and there have been no positive updates regarding the status of Kawhi Leonard (knee). The Clippers need Powell to play a lot and jack up a ton of shots. There's no need to sell high on Powell right now. He should remain a reliable source for points and three-pointers moving forward.
Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics
Holiday saw his scoring production take a massive hit during his first season with the Celtics, and that has carried over with him averaging just 12.5 points per game this season. However, what has been surprising has been his general lack of production in other departments this season. After averaging 5.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 0.9 steals last season, Holiday has provided 3.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 0.3 steals per game this season.
Holiday has never averaged fewer than 0.9 steals per game for a season in his career, so his production should increase in that department soon. He also has seven straight seasons in which he has averaged at least 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. The Celtics have been involved in a lot of lopsided scores out of the gate, which has resulted in Holiday averaging two fewer minutes per game than last season. His playing time should increase in short order, so look for him to improve on his counting stats. Don't panic and trade him away at a discount.
