We've reached the calm before the storm with the NBA trade deadline only a week away. Fantasy managers have been wheeling and dealing for weeks, though, and we have a couple of trades to ponder for this week's mailbag column. Also, I'll discuss a few big men across the league, and what to expect from them moving forward.
I was offered Robert Williams and Josh Giddey for Miles Bridges and Jarred Vanderbilt. Should I make the trade? - @WESYAP
This is a fun trade with four exciting young players. Bridges is having a breakout season for the Hornets, averaging 19.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.9 three-pointers per game. Despite shooting an ugly 31.6 percent from behind the arc, he's still shooting 48.6 percent from the field, overall. While Vanderbilt doesn't have nearly the same kind of scoring upside, he's been a monster on the glass, averaging 9.1 rebounds per game. He's also providing 1.6 steals per game, while shooting 58.7 percent from the field.
As good as Bridges and Vanderbilt have been, I'd make this deal. Giddey is in line for an expanded role with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (ankle) out through the All-Star break. His percentages are rough, but he's still having a very good rookie campaign with averages of 11.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 three-pointers per game.
Williams might be one of the most underrated players in all of fantasy. He's not flashy, but he's stuffing the stat sheet in
We've reached the calm before the storm with the NBA trade deadline only a week away. Fantasy managers have been wheeling and dealing for weeks, though, and we have a couple of trades to ponder for this week's mailbag column. Also, I'll discuss a few big men across the league, and what to expect from them moving forward.
I was offered Robert Williams and Josh Giddey for Miles Bridges and Jarred Vanderbilt. Should I make the trade? - @WESYAP
This is a fun trade with four exciting young players. Bridges is having a breakout season for the Hornets, averaging 19.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.9 three-pointers per game. Despite shooting an ugly 31.6 percent from behind the arc, he's still shooting 48.6 percent from the field, overall. While Vanderbilt doesn't have nearly the same kind of scoring upside, he's been a monster on the glass, averaging 9.1 rebounds per game. He's also providing 1.6 steals per game, while shooting 58.7 percent from the field.
As good as Bridges and Vanderbilt have been, I'd make this deal. Giddey is in line for an expanded role with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (ankle) out through the All-Star break. His percentages are rough, but he's still having a very good rookie campaign with averages of 11.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 three-pointers per game.
Williams might be one of the most underrated players in all of fantasy. He's not flashy, but he's stuffing the stat sheet in multiple areas with averages of 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 2.1 blocks per game. He's shooting a robust 73.3 percent from the field, which is not crazy for him considering he's never shot worse than 70.6 percent from the field in any season of his career.
I was offered Jakob Poeltl for Wendell Carter Jr. and De'Anthony Melton. I definitely have a need for more blocks. My only concern is that the Spurs play only two games the week of my semi-finals in my head-to-head playoffs, while the Magic play three. What should I do? - @kevin_radnor
After further discussion with this fantasy manager on Twitter, he informed me that he is essentially locked into first place in his league. That's important context. If you're battling for a playoff spot in your league, then it's premature to already have an eye on the fantasy playoffs. A lot can happen between now and then, especially with the NBA trade deadline coming up.
Since this manager is already locked into a spot, the fact that the Spurs will only play two games during the semi-finals of his fantasy playoffs is important. Poeltl is averaging 1.7 blocks per game, but with Carter averaging 0.7 blocks and having an extra game that week, it's not a slam dunk that Poeltl should be started over him anyways. With that in mind, I'd pass on the deal and try and shop Carter and Melton for another option who has a better schedule during the fantasy playoffs.
Is Mo Bamba a drop in a points league? He's been pretty bad lately and his minutes are starting to decline. - @jack42425842
Bamba is averaging only 22 minutes over the last eight games, which included one game against the Bulls in which he only logged seven minutes, and a meeting with the Pacers on Wednesday in which he only played 15 minutes. When the Magic play teams that deploy small lineups, Carter seems to get playing time over Bamba as the Magic also try to go small.
With that being said, Bamba has still averaged 12.0 points. 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks during that eight-game stretch. That's not too far off from his season averages of 10.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. Better days should be coming, so I'd have some patience and stick with him. His upside is too good to have him sitting on the waiver wire.
Who would you rather have in a points league for the rest of the season: Nicolas Claxton or Isaiah Stewart? - @jtory79
Talk about two disappointing big men, from a fantasy perspective. A lot was expected from Stewart, who played well at the end of last season and seemed poised for an expanded role this season. However, he's only averaged 25 minutes per game, leaving him with modest averages of 7.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks.
Claxton is in a tough spot as a young player with a lot of promise who is playing on a veteran-laden team with championship aspirations. He's only averaged 22 minutes per game, but he's still provided some value with averages of 9.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, while shooting 64.7 percent from the field.
Given that the Nets could be active either at the trade deadline or in the buyout market, it's anyone's guess what their center options will look like for the remainder of the season. Given the uncertainty that surrounds Claxton, I prefer Stewart.
