Fantasy Basketball Impact of the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline

The Suns Shine on Elfrid Payton

Phoenix Suns receive: G Elfrid Payton
Orlando Magic receive: 2018 second-round draft pick

Fantasy Winners

Elfrid Payton
He's the 94th-ranked player in nine-category leagues this season, but he was 58th over his last 26 games last year, right after the Magic shuffled the deck at the trade deadline. In Phoenix, he'll easily supplant Tyler Ulis as the team's starting point guard, and he should only have Devin Booker and T.J. Warren outpacing him in shots. In Orlando, he was fifth on the team in field goal attempts per contest, trailing Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, and Jonathon Simmons, so this new setting should leave him room to get his usage rate up to where it needs to be to produce mid-round value.

D.J. Augustin
Over the last two weeks, he's been the 94th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, averaging 12.1 points, 1.9 threes, 2.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.0 blocks, and 1.1 turnovers in 25.3 minutes per contest, while shooting 44.4% from the field and 84.2% from the line. As the Magic's new starting point guard, he should be able to maintain standard-league fantasy value the rest of the way. At only 25% owned in Yahoo leagues and under 2% on ESPN, Augustin will be one of the hottest waiver wire adds following the deadline.

Fantasy Losers

Tyler Ulis, Troy Daniels
You shouldn't have owned these guys anyway, but if you did, now you know what to do.

Fantasy Neutral

Devin Booker
He was dabbling in playing point guard for a bit there, and his assists were up as a result, but he'll still be an early-round stud with Payton in the fold.