There are a few ways to win your fantasy basketball league. One is pure luck. That's not why we're here, and that's not why most of us play fantasy basketball. Another one is a good strategy on draft day. That is something I applaud.
But here you need to remain injury free or to surf the waiver wire like a pro. And another is to improve your team whenever you can, riding the tides of slumps and surges by wheeling and dealing.
Let's talk about a way to exploit that last option this week. Below are my Week 14 fantasy basketball buy low and sell high candidates.
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Buy Low, Sell High Advice for Week 14
Are You for Real, DeAndre Jordan?
With his comrades Chris Paul and Blake Griffin struggling with injuries, DeAndre Jordan has taken on a significant role on offense in addition to his already massive contribution on the defensive end. In his previous 6 games he averaged 17.2 PTS on 80.4 FG% and 48.8 FT%, 16.2 REB, 2.3 AST, 0.5 AST, 2.0 BLK and 0.8 TO in 33 minutes per game. Those averages from the last 14 days have him ranked at number 10 in my 10-cat head-to-head league (double-doubles are the 10th category though) even with that abysmal free throw shooting. That is not typical for him. In that time he picked up his shot attempts from 6.9 field goals and 5.1 free throws to 8.5 FG and 7.2 FT per game. His usage percentage also rose from 14.9% to 17.0%.
But in his last two games he only had five attempts from the field. He did, however, get to the line 20 times, but that's not his strong suit, is it? And now, with Griffin back and apparently on no minute limit (he played 29 minutes in his first game back) Jordan's looks might decrease even further. And now with the "Carmelo Anthony to the Clippers" rumor going on, that would practically limit DJ's offensive opportunities to second chance points after an offensive rebound. So the sell high window is closing.
Now, on one hand, DJ's production is probably going to go down and owners would be wise to swap him for someone with more value. Of course, I must stress here that if you're punting FT% you shouldn't be looking to get rid of DJ even if his value is the highest it's been whole season. But if you're not, you could unload his FT% tanking ass for quite a valuable asset.
On the other hand, Clippers do have one of the better playoff schedules, with 4-5-3 games in weeks 20-21-22. DeAndre playing 5 games in week 21 would make it nearly impossible for your team to lose FG%, REB and BLK if you built your team accordingly so any owner reading this should take his playoff needs and preferences into consideration before deciding weather or not to pull the trigger.
For those who would be willing to part with Jordan, you should be looking to get back a top-20 or top-25 player in return. Damian Lillard is a bit overlooked at the moment since his teammate C.J. McCollum is playing so well. Paul Millsap's owner might be willing to let him go cheap with him being featured in many trade rumors but that's a bit of a gamble because if he does get moved he might not be worth as much as he currently is. Targeting Kemba Walker or the hero of our next story Kristaps Porzingis should be a bit more of a safe bet.
Of course, since DJ has such a specific skill set, which doesn't include FT shooting, it might be a bit difficult to find an owner willing to take on such an anchor in that category. Good luck!
Baller Move: Sell high (unless he fits your team and your playoff schedule like a glove)
Time to Panic on Kristaps Porzingis?
Kristaps Porzingis has suffered an Achilles injury which kept him out of four games two weeks ago. He hasn't found his groove yet since his return with averages of just 12.5 PTS with 0.5 3PM on 43.5 FG% and no misses in his eight attempts from the line in those four games. He also contributed with 4.5 REB, 1.3 AST, 0.8 STL, 0.8 BLK and 1.8 TO in 28 minutes per game during that period. Now most of those stats are ridiculously below his season averages of 18.8 PTS with 2.0 3PM on 44.8 FG% and 80.0 FT%, 7.2 REB, 1.4 AST, 0.8 STL, 1.9 BLK and 1.8 TO in 33 minutes a night. Zinger is the future of the Knicks and it's hard to imagine his four game slump going on for much longer. This is a buy low window for sure!
It's been reported that Porzingis has been playing through a swollen shooting elbow. Hopefully it's nothing serious or I'm just giving you some bad advice. But he is only 21 so it's probably going to be water under the bridge sooner rather than later. Furthermore, it's rumored that Melo might be moved before the trade deadline which would open up so much space for Kristaps who would definitely become the first option in New York!
If an impatient owner is holding Porzingis in your league you should try to pry the Latvian away from him with just the right type of offer. Someone like Brook Lopez, coming off of a red-hot performance (33 points, career high 7 three-pointers) or maybe even his current mentor Carmelo Anthony, who will, if traded, probably find himself in a much worse fantasy situation than he is currently in, could be sufficient to persuade Porzingis' owner to let him go. It's just the matter of if you believe him to be better than the player you're giving in return for the rest of the season.
Baller Move: Hold or buy low