Perhaps the Brooklyn Nets have a Big Three sans Kyrie Irving after all! Veteran PF/C LaMarcus Aldridge moved into the starting lineup recently and continued his surprising play this season, and fantasy managers have noticed.
Aldridge, a potential future Hall of Famer averaging 14.4 PPG and 6.4 RPG in November, has been even better in the past week, and he hit the most added list in ESPN standard leagues. He remains available in well more than 50%, however, and may actually be a decent trade candidate.
After all, the Nets boast Kevin Durant and James Harden, expert scorers and passers, and Aldridge has melded nicely with them, giving them a nice jump shooter in the paint, a willing offensive rebounder and interested defender.
We worried about Aldridge a season ago when he abruptly retired with an irregular heartbeat, but doctors cleared him and Nets coach Steve Nash clearly feels comfortable pushing his minutes into the 30s. Aldridge, 36, is helpful in points, rebounds, blocks and, especially, shooting.
Why would a fantasy manager trade for a 36-year-old player with obvious medical concerns? Well, nobody is saying you move Nikola Jokic for him, but if Aldridge can stay on the court and offer 25 minutes, we can assume he will be productive in those minutes and perhaps offer top-100 production for four more months.
Durant and Harden certainly produce, and defenses generally focus attention there. Patty Mills gets all the 3-point chances he desires, especially now that Joe Harris needs ankle surgery, and the Nets will find someone to replace him. Blake Griffin looks awful so here comes Aldridge as the third option, and he looks great.
Meanwhile, December is nearly here and Irving remains rostered in 67% of leagues. I get that he is a terrific basketball player but really, there seems no resolution on the way for him to play basketball anytime soon.
Aldridge over Irving for the rest of the season is a tough trade to make, but one of them could still offer 40-plus games with, say, 15 PPG and 7 RPG, and the other may not play at all. Life is full of risks.
OK, here is the latest episode of the Trade Index! Hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving!
Trade for
Bobby Portis, PF/C, Milwaukee Bucks: He missed most of the first two weeks of the season with a hamstring injury, and so many fantasy basketball managers that drafted him simply moved on. Bad judgment! The Bucks planned to start Brook Lopez at center and Portis averaged only 11.4 PPG last season but now, things changed. Lopez still has yet to play this season due to a back injury, and it may be a while longer. Portis is scoring and rebounding like a champion and as with the Nets, defenders have others to deal with. One more Bucks note: DeMarcus Cousins just signed on, perhaps a sign that Lopez will not return anytime soon, but I doubt the move has any effect on Portis or in fantasy hoops at all.
Dillon Brooks, SG/SF, Memphis Grizzlies: I am hardly the first in the ESPN Fantasy department to recommend him in the wake of the Ja Morant injury, but I see Brooks being the go-to scorer for this young team. That could mean something like 22 PPG for the next month or so. No, really, that could happen! Jaren Jackson Jr. can score in the teens but is not assertive enough for much more. Brooks is. He is also quite better than a 32% shooter on 3-pointers, so invest now.
Trade away
Al Horford, PF/C, Boston Celtics: I wrote about him a month ago when he got off to such a nice start, being rather skeptical, and now there is more reason to be this way. Horford grabbed double-digit rebounds in each of his first six games this season. Then he went eight games without doing it again. Now 35, Horford can average 12 PPG and 7 RPG with a block and steal the next four months, but as with Aldridge, there is inherent risk due to age. Should their value be that different? If someone in your league views Horford as a safe, top-75 player, see what you can get.
Buddy Hield, SG/SF, Sacramento Kings: What did he do wrong? Well, nothing really. Only the MVP Stephen Curry has made more 3-pointers this season, but Hield, as always, does little else for a fantasy team in roto formats. He also cares little about defense -- same as his teammates -- and the Kings could easily trade him in the next two months to an actual contender, one that would not let him score 17 PPG. The Kings need to do more than dump their coach.
More information needed
Alec Burks, PG/SG, New York Knicks: Someone has to start at point guard and it apparently will no longer be Kemba Walker, suddenly out of the Tom Thibodeau rotation. Hey, we told you not to draft Walker! Could not have been clearer on that one! Burks, however, is not a traditional point guard and Julius Randle still gets all the assists here. Burks is a 3-point shooter, currently rolling along at 45%, which may not be sustainable. Still, if he averages 15 PPG, we take it. At 10 PPG, not so much.