The biggest fantasy winner of trading season so far has been Portland's Anfernee Simons. The Trail Blazers spent the past several days shipping off core veterans, mostly in exchange for draft picks and cap relief. As a result, Simons ended up scoring 29 points as the team's unquestioned offensive leader in last night's upset of the Los Angeles Lakers.
With the trade deadline arriving on Thursday afternoon, fantasy managers will need to deftly adapt to new-look rosters and rotations around the league. Although it's not always so clear in some cases, it was already somewhat obvious that Simons would benefit from the Trail Blazers' thinning out of their roster.
Case in point, with Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Norman Powell all off the court this season, Simons has produced 24.4 points, 6.4 assists, and four made 3-pointers per 36 minutes. In other words, Simons already seems to be capable of posting third-round fantasy production, even while floating in free agency in nearly 50% of ESPN leagues.
Wednesday recap
Highlights
D'Angelo Russell, Minnesota Timberwolves: 29 points (10-20 FG), 4 rebounds, 10 assists
Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors: 27 points (13-17 FG), 16 rebounds, 5 assists
Lowlights
Malik Beasley, Minnesota Timberwolves: 6 points (2-9 FG), 1 rebound, 1 assist
Wednesday takeaways
Domantas Sabonis enjoyed a successful debut with Sacramento in a comeback win over Minnesota, while Harrison Barnes posted his second 30-point performance of the season. The real story, however, was rookie Davion Mitchell serving an important role as the Kings' sixth man. Mitchell scored 18 points and compiled 14 combined assists and rebounds, suggesting he's a valuable addition to fantasy rosters now that Tyrese Haliburton is in Indiana.
Caris LeVert came off the bench in his debut for Cleveland last night and was relatively quiet in 28 minutes of action. It's a one-game sample, but LeVert's 19.1% usage rate was a fairly massive departure from the 30.4% clip he posted in his final week with the Pacers. This said, I'd give LeVert some time acclimate to this new role on a contending Cleveland team in need of his scoring and creation from the wing.
Even as they were blown out by the Raptors, the Thunder got a big line from young forward Aleksej Pokusevski. "Poku" has been quiet for much of the season, but posted six combined blocks and steals while scoring a season-high 18 points. I don't think it's time to trust him as a regular contributor just yet, but there's at least some momentum building.
I'm also not sure I buy Dennis Smith Jr.'s line against the Lakers last night, but it's worth noting that he somehow compiled 11 assists and six steals in just 22 minutes. Such a performance doesn't appear repeatable, but let's see if this outing earns him more playing time from Chauncey Billups.
Injuries of note
The Brooklyn Nets won't have either Kevin Durant or James Harden in the lineup tonight due to injury. Harden's absence is clearly of note, given the trade buzz around Brooklyn. Since the game is in Washington, Kyrie Irving is eligible to play and is in a good position go over on his scoring props going up against Washington's porous perimeter defense.
Analytics advantage for Thursday
New York's RJ Barrett is listed as doubtful to play against the Warriors this evening. With Barrett off the floor this season, Alec Burks has enjoyed notable leaps in both usage rate and fantasy points per minute. Found as a free agent in more than 88% of leagues and listed at a reasonable price on DraftKings, Burks enters the slate with a viable path to 30 minutes against his former team.
DFS discussion
Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat: On a night that features some superstar names such as Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Butler is an interesting pivot. He's produced at least 30 DraftKings points in all but four of his complete games this season, making him one of the safest building blocks. Butler posted a monster triple-double against the Pelicans earlier this season, and it's possible New Orleans has actually gotten worse on defense it the wake of their trade with Portland.
Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets: The team has finally turned to this talented center, as he's started the last two games and brings a nice blend of blocks and boards to the floor. The Raptors lack a true center, setting up Sengun with some advantages down low in this contest.
