Fantasy Basketball Trade Tips: Moves to Make at Your Deadline

The Yahoo fantasy basketball trade deadline is March 6. This will be the last opportunity for fantasy managers to improve their squads outside of the waiver wire. Let's take a look at some players to try and trade for with the fantasy playoffs approaching, as well as some to consider trading away.

Buy

Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers

One of the keys to trying to decide which players to trade for or which players to trade away is their team's motivation down the stretch. The Pacers are likely to earn a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference. They currently occupy the fifth seed, but have a realistic opportunity to finish anywhere from fourth to sixth. That should result in them continuing to deploy their starters as usual.

Siakam continues to be a reliable fantasy option. He is on pace to average at least 20.6 points and 7.1 rebounds for the sixth straight season. He is also averaging 3.3 assists and 1.7 three-pointers this season, while shooting 52.1% from the field. Expect him to remain a valuable contributor moving forward.

Zach LaVine, Sacramento Kings

The bottom of the Western Conference is certainly crowded. The sixth through 13th place teams are separated by six games in the loss column. The Kings currently occupy the eighth seed after having won four straight games. They have a win-now roster, so their starters should play a ton down the stretch.

LaVine hasn't taken a significant step back in fantasy since being acquired from the Bulls, averaging 22.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.9 three-pointers over 11 games with the Kings. He is also shooting 50.3% from the field and 90.0% from the free-throw line with his new team. For the season, he is shooting 51.0% from the field and 81.5% from the free-throw line. Domantas Sabonis (hamstring) is going to miss at least a week, which should leave even more shot attempts for LaVine. His prospects are bright moving forward.

Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks sure looked like sellers at the trade deadline, dealing away De'Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic. However, with how bad the bottom of the Eastern Conference is, they are still in a great spot to make the playoffs. Their starters shouldn't see many rest days, and they could play even more minutes because of the Hawks' lack of depth.

Since the Spurs traded away Hunter and Bogdanovic, Daniels has averaged 14.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals over his last 11 games. He has also shot 51.1% from the field, although his 51.6% shooting from the free-throw line certainly wasn't ideal. It wasn't a huge detriment to fantasy managers, though, as he only attempted 2.8 free-throws per game. Daniels will likely cost a lot in a trade because he can almost single-handedly swing steals in a league, but he could be worth it.

Sell

Paul George, Philadelphia 76ers

It has been a lost season for the 76ers, who are currently in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. It will likely come down to them, the Bulls and the Nets for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament. However, catching the Bulls won't be easy with Joel Embiid (knee) having already been ruled out for the season.

George has battled plenty of his own injury issues this season. Even when he has been on the floor, he hasn't played well. Over his last 11 games, he has averaged 13.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He did average 2.3 steals and 2.1 three-pointers during that span, though, so he still has some fantasy value. To complicate matters, George left Tuesday's game against the Timberwolves with groin soreness. If the 76ers fall further out of the playoff hunt, it's possible that George is completely shut down at some point in the coming weeks. 

Bradley Beal, Phoenix Suns

The Suns have been one of the biggest disappointments in the league. Despite their star power, they have just a 29-33 record. Their hopes of making the playoffs are dwindling, although their chances of catching the Mavericks for the 10th seed did improve with the news that the Mavericks have lost Kyrie Irving for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Still, if the Suns continue to fall down the standings, their stars could be shut down at some point as the end of the season approaches.

Since returning to the starting lineup, Beal has averaged 24.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.5 three-pointers over four games. However, he has almost missed two games recently with injuries. He started his fifth straight game Tuesday, but left after just 15 minutes with calf soreness. That has been the problem for him throughout the season as he has played in a total of just 43 games. Beal hasn't played in more than 53 games in any of the last three seasons, so his injury risk makes him someone to consider trading. 

Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz

The Jazz started resting players in January as they march towards one of the worst records in the league. They have made no secrets about trying to improve their lottery odds by worsening their record. Currently, only the Wizards and Hornets have a worse record. The Jazz have one more win than the Hornets, so they have a shot of "catching" them in the standings.

Despite Walker being just 23 years old, he has been rested frequently during the second half of the season. He has appeared in just seven of the Jazz's last 11 games. He was productive when he played, averaging 13.1 points, 13.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks over those seven games. However, with rest days possibly becoming even more frequent down the stretch, it's difficult to be able to rely on Kessler when it matters the most in the fantasy playoffs.