Posted by: Andre' Snellings
The NBA regular season is extremely long, spanning six months and 82 games. Thus, the values of most players tend to fluctuate over the course of the season as they go through hot and cold periods. Even among the star players, there are generally periods of other-wordly play that contrast with periods of "just" great play. Only the mega superstars (just made that term up) can put up entire seasons of insane numbers with so few lesser games that they aren't even noticeable.
That leads me to this question: is Dwight Howard a mega superstar in the fantasy community? He played like one for the first six weeks of the season, and I definitely think that this won't even be a question by as soon as next season. But is he there yet?
I fully expect him to lead the NBA in rebounding this season, and he looks like a nightly threat to score 25 points with three blocks every night. But while he has shown that he can maintain this rebounding pace for entire seasons before, this is the first year he has put up scoring and defensive numbers like this. In real life, the Magic have built their whole team around him and are trying to ride him into championship contention...that is a lot of pressure. He showed that he could carry the load for that first six weeks, but over the last few the team and Howard have both slowed down a bit.
I put out there as food for thought that, if you can get someone to give you top-5 player in the league value for him, it might not be a bad time to deal Howard. I think he will be very good all season, but I don't know if he will be able to maintain the points and blocks at his current pace consistently for the next four months. Or, put another way, I don't believe that his value will ever be higher than it is now. It is risky to trade the best fantasy center in the league off of your roster, but if you get the right package back for him and he slows down it could be a chance worth taking.
So, I've just made an argument for trading arguably the most dominant force in the NBA. Do you agree? Disagree? Let me hear your thoughts...
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