The NBA trade deadline altered rosters throughout the league on Thursday. You can read André Snellings' fantasy spin concerning the most prominent players who changed jerseys. Past that key tiers of players, we find lesser-known beneficiaries, such as Robert Williams III of the Boston Celtics.
Boston dealt starting center Daniel Theis and backup guard Jeff Teague on Thursday to get back under the luxury tax after acquiring scoring wing Evan Fournier earlier in the day. This chain of transactions leaves Williams as the primary and premier center for the Celtics. Even when Tristan Thompson is back in the rotation, Williams -- a free agent in roughly 43% of ESPN leagues -- is due for a larger role with Theis out of the rotation.
The young rim protector is ninth in the league in total blocks and has averaged 13.4 rebounds per 36 minutes this season. Big minutes might never truly be there for Williams this season, but if he's regularly topping 20 per game for Boston in the weeks ahead, we're talking about a league-winning source of blocks and rebounds.
Thursday recap
Highlights
De'Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings: 44 points (16-22 FG), 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals
Reggie Jackson, LA Clippers: 28 points (8-16 FG), 4 rebounds, 4 assists
Lowlights
Harrison Barnes, Sacramento Kings: 2 points (1-9 FG), 6 rebounds, 5 assists
Frank Ntilikina, New York Knicks: 0 points (0-2 FG), 4 rebounds, 0 assists
Thursday takeaways
Jackson started in place of Patrick Beverley for the Clippers last night and turned in 16 of his 28 points on perfect shooting from the floor in the decisive final frame. Rajon Rondo is joining the rotation, so Jackson's fantasy stock could prove limited once the team has three veteran options at point guard.
Sacramento's Fox scored a career-high 44 that marked the most by a Kings player since DeMarcus Cousins in January of 2017. Fox's 72.7% shooting clip in the outing is the highest field goal percentage in a 40-point game by a Kings player since Wayman Tisdale in March of 1993. The Kings sold off some depth at the deadline, which should mostly serve to consolidate minutes and touches to the starters, Fox obviously included.
The Miami Heat have some reserves on the way with Victor Oladipo and Nemanja Bjelica joining the roster yesterday. The team has suffered five straight losses but will soon have a relatively new lineup to unleash. Last night, Trevor Ariza became the seventh player to start a game for nine different franchises.
Washington's Rui Hachimura scored 21 points and pulled nine rebounds in a loss to the Knicks last night. With very little competition for frontcourt minutes and touches, Hachimura has averaged 17.3 points and 8.7 rebounds for Washington this past week.
In the win over Washington, it was New York's reserve guard Alec Burks putting up big numbers again. Burks produced a game-high 27 points on 18 shots in beating the Wizards and is in a stronger spot in the rotation now that Austin Rivers is off the roster.
Injuries of note
Brooklyn's James Harden is questionable to play against the Pistons in Detroit tonight. Harden missed the team's recent loss in Utah with a neck ailment but is likely to play tonight. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving won't suit up, affording Joe Harris a nice scoring ceiling.
Lonzo Ball of the Pelicans is still listed as questionable due to a hip injury, but the most notable angle is that he's still on the roster after the deadline.
Analytics advantage for Friday
Terrence Ross is questionable to play for the Magic tonight due to a knee injury. If the scoring guard can play, he'll have plenty of touches and shots, given the team's massive exodus of talent on Thursday. Whenever Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, and the team's starting guards aren't on the floor this season, Ross has averaged 28 points per 36 minutes and has seen his usage rate leap by a team-high 16.8% in such scenarios.
If Ross can't play due to injury, maybe streaming shares of Dwayne Bacon and Michael Carter-Williams make sense given what should be sizable roles.
Top players to watch on Friday
Denver's acquisition of Aaron Gordon from Orlando could provide the team with needed defensive and scoring versatility from the power forward position. We'll likely see Gordon make his debut with the Nuggets against the Pelicans this evening in a matchup with dynamic forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
