Trading in fantasy basketball can help you improve your team in the short, as well as in the long term. But, even more than that, it's just plain fun. Negotiating with your mate, going back and forth with offers, and hopefully, reaching a mutually beneficial agreement in the end.
It's not always easy to find the right deal that both parties could agree upon, so using the current form to your advantage could be helpful for you to get a deal done, and perhaps even get the most out of it.
Here are our Sell High and Buy Low candidates for Week 6 of the NBA season, right here at RotoBaller.
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Are You for Real, Naz Reid?
Karl-Anthony Towns has been out with COVID-19 for about two weeks now, so naturally, Naz saw his minutes skyrocket to almost 27 a night. And boy, did he use them well with averages of 14.3 PTS and 1.3 3PM on 51.7 FG% and 84.2 FT%, 5.7 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.0 STL, 2.7 BLK and 2.5 TO in the six games played over this period. This is good enough for rank #33 on Yahoo. Pretty ridiculous for a player who could be added from free agency in most fantasy leagues.
Now, while I do agree that Naz is super talented and that he could become a force in the NBA in years to come, it is highly unlikely that it will happen this year. Even with the Timberwolves pretty much out of the playoff contention already.
I really don't think Naz can be a top 75 player when KAT is back. In the four games Towns played this season, Naz never played more than 18 minutes and got double-digit points just once. Even if Towns gets eased back in the rotation, Naz should go back to 15-20 minutes a game pretty soon, and that just isn't enough to keep up doing what he's doing (unless of course, you're my man Boban Marjanovic).
Managers who had the sense to add Reid before all other rivals should also have the sense to try and get the most out of him before KAT returns. a guy at around the 70-80 would be something I would aim at, and especially if my rival is doing poorly and needs some production right away, and his player I am targeting is in a bit of a slump. Steven Adams (if his FT% won't hurt you), Kelly Oubre Jr., or the hero of our next story Coby White come to mind if they fit your team better than "an 18 minute a game" Naz Reid does.
Baller Move: Sell high
Time to Panic on Coby White?
With long-range shooters like Coby, a lot hangs on how hot his hand is. The hotter he gets, the more confidence he has. The more confidence he has, the more shots he takes, and more of them he hits. Then the guards start coming too close, so he blows past them for a layup or an assist to a wide-open shooter. This is what was happening around New Year's day with white scoring everywhere from 16 to 36 points in six of seven games in a row.
But then he got a bit cold, and hit over 20 points just once in the next seven games, staying in single digits three times, and even going scoreless in 25 minutes once in that same time frame. Averages of 11.5 points with 2.0 threes on 35.2% from the field and 87.5% from the line, 4.5 boards, 4.7 dimes, 0.8 steals, no blocks and 2.2 turnovers in almost 32 minutes per outing have him way down at #178 in Yahoo rankings.
Although those TO and FG% hurt his fantasy GMs, it is encouraging that he is still contributing pretty decently in 3PM, AST and even FT% and REB from the guard positions. If these categories are something your team could use, and you don't have a problem with White dragging your FG% and TO down on occasion, you should definitely look into the possibility of obtaining his services for pennies on the dollar if his manager is feeling disappointed with his poor form.
I would gladly swap anyone who is outside of the top 100 for White in the hope he gets his groove back. Players like Derrick Rose, Malik Beasley or Cam Reddish, who are all doing better than Coby at the moment by the way, would be good baits and should all be outperformed by him during the rest of the season.
Baller Move: Hold or buy low.