Fantasy Basketball Impact of the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline
The Early-Bird Specials
Deal #1
Detroit Pistons receive: F Blake Griffin, F Brice Johnson, F Willie Reed
Los Angeles Clippers receive: G Avery Bradley, F Tobias Harris, C Boban Marjanovic, 2018 first-round draft pick
Deal #2
New Orleans Pelicans receive: F Nikola Mirotic, 2021 second-round pick
Chicago Bulls receive: C Omer Asik, G Tony Allen, G Jameer Nelson, 2018 first-round draft pick
Fantasy Winners
Blake Griffin
He was the 46th-ranked player in nine-category leagues through 33 games with the Clippers this year and has been comfortably in that 40 to 50 range for a few years now. Through four games with the Pistons, Blake is the 43rd-ranked player, averaging his usual 21.5 points, 1.5 threes, 7.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.5 blocks, and 2.0 turnovers in 33.8 minutes per contest, while shooting 42.9% from the field and 83.3% from the line. His value doesn't look like it'll take even the slightest bit of a hit in changing teams, his assist average could grow even higher now that he's playing with non-elite point guards, and his overall ranking will only rise when his shooting mark from the field stabilizes closer to his career average of 51.1%.
Tobias Harris
He's been having the best fantasy season of his career, ranking 50th in nine-category leagues through his first 50 games of the season. It looks as though he's in line for the same minutes and touches in Los Angeles as what he was getting in Detroit, so he can keep the good times rolling for his fantasy owners. If he had been traded to a title contender, he might've fallen off a cliff, so crisis averted.
Nikola Mirotic
He was already having the best fantasy season of his career, ranking 42nd in nine-category leagues through 25 games off the bench for the Chicago Bulls. Now, he's playing on a Pelicans team that desperately needs his production to supplement Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, he's already been named a starter, the Pels have shipped out the guy he replaced (Dante Cunningham), and he's played a healthy 34.1 minutes per contest over his first two games with the team. He's a true nine-category threat with early-round upside the rest of the way.
Reggie Bullock
He's emerged as a consistent starter and minute-gobbler for the Pistons since Avery Bradley's departure. He's the 64th-ranked player in nine-category leagues over the last two weeks (seven games), averaging 13.9 points, 2.9 triples, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.1 blocks, and 0.7 turnovers in 33.3 minutes per contest, while shooting 51.5% from the field and 70.0% from the free throw line. He looks like he's becoming the reliable mid-round fantasy asset that Bradley was supposed to be but never was this season.
Fantasy Losers
Avery Bradley
He's the 204th-ranked player in nine-category leagues on the season and 142nd over his two games since joining the Clippers. There's a decent chance that he could turn his season around with the change of scenery, but a lot of his value last year came from the 6.1 rebounds per contest he was able to grab for a Celtics team that was challenged on the boards. Playing alongside DeAndre Jordan in Los Angeles, there won't be many loose rebounds to go his way. He'll have to start shooting better than 41.3% from the field if he wants to find his way back into the standard-league conversation.
Fantasy Neutral
Brice Johnson, Willie Reed, Boban Marjanovic, Omer Asik, Tony Allen, Jameer Nelson
None of these guys belonged on a standard-league roster before the deadline, and they don't now either. Boban could've flirted with it had DeAndre Jordan been dealt, but with DJ sticking around, he remains just as irrelevant as the other guys he's listed with here.
