This article is part of our Rebound & Rant series.
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 23, but if you wait until then to make free agent moves based on new player roles, the cost will be high. Instead, if you have room on your bench, you could make some speculative moves now on the cheap. Then, come late February, your league-mates will congratulate you.
Michael Carter-Williams
OK, I admit this isn't speculative. Rajon Rondo, who may or may not demand a trade, has already lost the starting role to Carter-Williams. Heck, Rondo's hoping to get back to the second unit after being benched for six quarters. Did ANYONE think it was a good idea for Chicago to sign him?
Rondo told reporters he'd keep working, which is what meeting centered on. Hoiberg hasn't ruled out using him w/ 2nd unit at some point.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 1, 2017
The dilemma here is that Carter-Williams is almost as bad a shooter as Rondo, as the former has shot 41 percent over his three-plus seasons in the NBA. That's better than the 37 percent Rondo has been shooting this year, though slow pace and lackadaisical defense seem to really have Rondo in trouble. For MCW, a return to last year's Milwaukee numbers seems possible: 11.5 points, 5.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. I know Jerian Grant is the backup point guard, but the real bench winner could be rookie Denzel Valentine, assuming his ankle injury is minor. Valentine is the deeper league
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 23, but if you wait until then to make free agent moves based on new player roles, the cost will be high. Instead, if you have room on your bench, you could make some speculative moves now on the cheap. Then, come late February, your league-mates will congratulate you.
Michael Carter-Williams
OK, I admit this isn't speculative. Rajon Rondo, who may or may not demand a trade, has already lost the starting role to Carter-Williams. Heck, Rondo's hoping to get back to the second unit after being benched for six quarters. Did ANYONE think it was a good idea for Chicago to sign him?
Rondo told reporters he'd keep working, which is what meeting centered on. Hoiberg hasn't ruled out using him w/ 2nd unit at some point.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 1, 2017
The dilemma here is that Carter-Williams is almost as bad a shooter as Rondo, as the former has shot 41 percent over his three-plus seasons in the NBA. That's better than the 37 percent Rondo has been shooting this year, though slow pace and lackadaisical defense seem to really have Rondo in trouble. For MCW, a return to last year's Milwaukee numbers seems possible: 11.5 points, 5.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. I know Jerian Grant is the backup point guard, but the real bench winner could be rookie Denzel Valentine, assuming his ankle injury is minor. Valentine is the deeper league play. I'll be shocked if the Bulls can deal Rondo's ugly two year, $28 million contract.
Paul Millsap
The trade rumors are really heating up for the soon-to-be-free-agent Millsap. That makes sense, considering Atlanta was forced to watch Al Horford leave for Boston while getting nothing in return. I can't imagine they will make the same mistake twice. The hard part is figuring out who on the Atlanta bench might benefit. Mike Muscala's ability to hit threes (1.1 per 36 minutes) might earn the 25-year-old a promotion, but he is already playing 21 minutes per game and ranks only 151st on Yahoo. Given an additional five minutes per game, I'm still not sure he cracks the top 100. Insert cranky old man noise here – I'm struggling to find an early play to prep for this deal.
Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart
The Celtics have to make a trade sooner or later, right? How long must we hear about their war chest of draft picks and cheap contracts? I don't understand why we don't hear more about Millsap going to Boston – he and Horford sure seemed to play well together in Atlanta.
I'm confident that if Boston makes a deal, it will include one of their three similar combo guards: Avery Bradley, Terry Rozier or Marcus Smart. Those three all play great defense. A deal would likely result in more minutes for Rozier and Smart, wherever they are playing. Smart's ferocious defense is particularly entertaining. It's too bad he hasn't improved on his 36 percent career shooting.
By the way, I was at the GAHDEN Tuesday night to see the Celtics beat Utah. The crowd was being VERY friendly to Gordon Hayward, clearly thinking his Butler link with Brad Stevens could help bring him to Boston. Celtics small forward Jae Crowder was NOT happy about it, with this Twitter post leading to cranky on-going Twitter replies:
HOME TEAM FANS CHEERING FOR THE OPPOSING PLAYERS NOW.. AW MAN OK... SMH BUT GOOD WIN FELLAS ONTO THE NEXT ONE.!!
— Jae Crowder (@CJC9BOSS) January 4, 2017
Anthony Tolliver
I know everyone wants to talk about DeMarcus Cousins being dealt, but it's Rudy Gay who has already informed the Kings he is leaving this summer as a free agent. That's a not-so-subtle way of screaming "trade me!" Tolliver is already getting major minutes, which will only increase when Gay leaves. Over his last 10, he's averaged 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 made threes in 29 minutes per game. Those made threes can be useful in deep leagues. (By the way, if you need threes, as Alex Rikleen has pointed out, take a look at Troy Daniels.)
Jahlil Okafor
As Andre' Snellings pointed out in his last TYT Sports video, Joel Embiid appeared to go out of his way to point out that Nerlens Noel is Embiid's best friend on the team. If Philly management wants to keep its star happy, that means they'll need to deal Okafor and not Noel. There are plenty of center-starved teams out there. Okafor would look good in Charlotte, Dallas or how about the Lakers? Any destination will improve his current 22 minutes per game (plus six DNPs). Remember the 17.5 points, 7.0 boards and 1.2 blocks per game he averaged last year? Try dealing for him now, before the big trade occurs.
This whacky fantasy train has hit the END OF THE LINE! We'll see if RotoWire trades me for a burrito lunch and a bag of balls. CHOO-CHOO!!!
