The NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and ... wow! The big moves have been flying in all day, leading to some big changes on the fantasy basketball landscape. From star players to role players, we've seen quite a bit of change in fantasy value this week that you'll need to account for in your leagues moving forward.
Winners
Minnesota Timberwolves: The Wolves have reportedly coveted D'Angelo Russell since at least last year's NBA draft. Russell reportedly has a good
relationship with Karl-Anthony Towns, and he also plays the type of perimeter-friendly, 3-point-oriented game that new Timberwolves front-office shot-caller Gersson Rosas was looking for. Towns and Russell could potentially be an extremely potent pick-and-roll/pop partnership, creating offense for both themselves and the rest of the team. This, along with the vacuum created by Wiggins' departure, is great news for the Timberwolves' young wings. Lottery pick Jarrett Culver and second-year producer Josh Okogie could both play themselves further into the fantasy landscape for the rest of the season. Andre Drummond: Drummond is a winner by essentially going to a status quo situation. If he had been traded to a contending team, or even a team with stars already in place, like his initially rumored move to the Hawks, Drummond could have seen his numbers drop. By going to a Cavs team that's still deep in Lottery Land with no other established stars and a very real possibility that disgruntled veterans Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson see their roles decrease (if they even remain on the roster), Drummond should still be Drummond in Cleveland. Plus, he's still potentially in a contract year, so he could take the opportunity to go after some statistical marks we haven't seen since the days of Wilt Chamberlain or Dennis Rodman.
Christian Wood and Sekou Doumbouya: Both have already seen an uptick in value due to Blake Griffin's absence, with Doumbouya doing the most to take advantage of the opportunity early on and Wood picking up the pace more recently. Wood is averaging 15.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 55.7 FG%, 1.0 3PG, 1.0 SPG, 0.7 BPG in 23.6 MPG during his past nine games. If that bumps up to 32 MPG, for example, and he also gets a rebounding bump with the Drummond vacuum gone ... he could be a borderline impact-level roto player.
Robert Covington: Covington was having his worst 3-point shooting season in five years, and he was still making 2.3 3PG on 34.6 3FG%. Now he goes to the Rockets, who live and breathe by 3-pointers, and he will be getting wide-open looks with opponents focused on James Harden and Russell Westbrook. He could easily average a career high in points (13.5 PPG in 2014-15) while knocking down close to three 3-pointers a night for the rest of the season.
Justise Winslow: Winslow wins because he gets out of a wing logjam in Miami, where he seemingly had no path to upside. Last season, Winslow showed that he had nice upside when he played consistent point guard minutes. He won't get that chance in Memphis, where Ja Morant and Tyus Jones are entrenched at point guard. However, the Grizzlies do have an opening for a starting wing, and Winslow should get the chance to play significant minutes on a young team on the rise. He could get back onto the fantasy radar after falling off for much of this season.
James Johnson: This was a small trade, right at the deadline, with Johnson having shown in the past that he could be fantasy viable, though he wasn't in such a role this season. However, the dominant Heat big is Bam Adebayo, who plays more power forward, so Dieng could have a chance to beat out Kelly Olynyk and Meyers Leonard for a bigger role.
As for Johnson, he was a sneaky-excellent roto producer for the Heat during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. He fell out of favor with the Heat because he didn't meet Pay Riley's very high fitness standards, so he's hardly played this season. If he actually does have something in the tank, though, the Timberwolves have an opening for a stretch 3-and-D power forward with Covington gone, so Johnson could have interesting upside.
Ish Smith, Shabazz Napier and/or Jerome Robinson: The Wizards quietly moved some perimeter players in and out of town who could be worth monitoring. Smith has shown flashes of production this season, and Napier did the same in Minnesota. One of them has the chance to step forward as the main point guard in Washington moving forward. Robinson was a lottery pick just a few seasons ago, and the Wizards are a team seemingly headed for the lottery. By getting away from the mega-deep, championship-aspiring Clippers, Robinson could get the chance to show what he can do with bigger minutes down the stretch.
Losers
Clint Capela and John Collins: Capela was essentially the only big man getting rotation minutes in Houston, and he was playing off Harden and Westbrook, who were perfect pick-and-roll initiators for lots of Capela dunks. Capela could develop a similar chemistry with Trae Young, who, according to Second Spectrum, uses more on-ball picks than any other player in the NBA, but Young already had a high-volume pick-and-roll/pop big-man partner in Collins. Collins is a strong young big himself, and he and Capela essentially cap each other's upside as scorers and rebounders moving forward.
Andrew Wiggins: Wiggins is in this spot tentatively, because it's possible the downside doesn't occur until next season. He has been able to essentially get every shot that he can handle in Minnesota, and since the team lacked a dominant perimeter presence, he was even asked to handle the ball and do more than he could comfortably handle. If he's to stay in Golden State long term, a big if, he'd be asked to move more into a tertiary-scorer role moving forward, once Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson return to resume their spots. So if the Warriors decide to start getting Wiggins acclimated to the new role that they want for him now, it could start to depress his fantasy value as soon as this season. If, on the other hand, the Warriors intend to try to move Wiggins this offseason, they could very well turn him loose in hopes that he averages a big number to entice future suitors. If that's the case, with the Warriors still incredibly injury-depleted, he could continue to put up the same numbers as he was in Minnesota.
Larry Nance Jr., Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson: Love and Thompson were already publicly unhappy in Cleveland and were players who could have been on the move themselves. Thompson could still eventually get bought out, since he's on an expiring contract, but Love has three years and more than $90M on his deal, so he's stuck. Drummond coming to town to eat up all the big man stats without really changing the trajectory of the team is bad news for both of their fantasy values moving forward. Meanwhile, Nance was a popular stash candidate on the idea that maybe Love and Thompson would be moved. With them staying and Drummond coming to dominate the middle, Nance's upside has fallen back to below where it was.
Marcus Morris Sr.: Morris was having a career-best season with the Knicks, in large part because he was playing a bigger offensive role than he ever had. By joining the mega-deep Clippers, he'll be giving up quite a bit of volume. He should continue to get great looks for the Clippers, but his 3-point efficiency was already seemingly maximized before the move.
Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III: Burks and Robinson were both getting regular, starter-level minutes and shots on the injury-depleted Warriors. Now they move to bench roles for a deeper 76ers squad. They could be a boon to the playoff aspirations of the 76ers, who needed their shooting ability, but their volumes should drop quite a bit in their new home, capping their fantasy value.