Just like that, we have another two trades go down - one with no significance, but the other, with the chance to possibly impact the NBA title race as well as the fates of many fantasy teams. Oh, and the Pistons have now won seven straight, catapulting them into NBA title favoritism. (Please read that with dripping sarcasm)

GM LEBRON JAMES WHEELIN' AND DEALIN'

So, the rumors of Timofey Mozgov's Denver demise were true, with the big Russian shipped to the Cavaliers in exchange for two future first-round draft picks. The effects of this are two-fold.

Mozgov should now become the starting center over Tristan Thompson, who has been averaging 39 minutes a game since he became a starter. He has been fantasy relevant in that time as well, averaging 13.2 points, 11.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks, but his minutes will drop to somewhere close to what he was getting before Anderson Varejao got himself injured again. The upshoot of this is that Thompson's fantasy viability is likely done, but I wouldn't be dropping him JUST yet, until we see exactly how David Blatt uses his big men. I am highly doubtful that Thompson retains any sort of standard league value.

Now, with Mozgov in Cleveland, I not as excited about his prospects as some. In Denver, albeit with consistency killer Brian Shaw running the rotation, Mozgov averaged only 26 minutes a game with 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 50 percent shooting from the field and 73 percent from the line with a much lower talent level surrounding him, including a point guard, who actually passes the ball, unlike Kyrie Irving. Mozgov should see more consistency, but I see him playing a Varejao type role along with Thompson, meaning his value ceiling will be capped. One thing I am 100 percent certain about is that grabbing Mozgov off the waiver-wire will not be a tsunami throughout your league, but for now, he should be owned.

Jusuf Nurkic is, hopefully, about to be unleashed. In the first game post-Mozgov, Nurkic only played 22 minutes, thanks Brian Shaw, but there is a ton of hope for the rookie. Shaw played him as the starter and has been using him as the primary backup and he has been very, very impressive. In his last four games, in just 22 minutes, Nurkic is averaging 10.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 3.5 blocks, and like Mozgov, is a solid free throw shooter to boot. I prefer Nurkic over Mozgov because the ceiling is much higher. The biggest obstacle he has to overcome is his own coach, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a new man running the rotation by season's end.

M.I.A.

These guys all sat out Wednesday's action, for one reason or another.

• Pelicans
  • Luke Babbitt (DNP-CD)
  • Austin Rivers (DNP-CD)
• Hornets
  • Al Jefferson (groin)
  • Lance Stephenson (pelvis)
• Knicks
  • Andrea Bargnani (calf)
  • Amar'e Stoudemire (knee)
  • Carmelo Anthony (knee)
• Wizards
  • Paul Pierce (rest)
• Rockets
  • Terrence Jones (leg)
• Cavaliers
  • Iman Shumpert (shoulder)
  • LeBron James (knee)
  • Timofey Mozgov (traded)
• Bucks
  • Kendall Marshall (DNP-CD)
  • Larry Sanders (personal)
  • Ersan Ilyasova (concussion)
• Sixers
  • Hollis Thompson (illness)
  • Luc Mbah a Moute (toe)
• Celtics
  • Jameer Nelson (DNP-CD)
  • Brandan Wright (DNP-CD)
• Grizzlies
  • Zach Randolph (knee)
• Jazz
  • Rodney Hood (foot)
  • Enes Kanter (ankle)
• Bulls
  • Mike Dunleavy (ankle)
• Mavericks
  • Raymond Felton (DNP-CD)
• Magic
  • Aaron Gordon (foot)
• Nuggets
  • Danilo Gallinari (knee)
  • Randy Foye (quad)
• Timberwolves
  • Ricky Rubio (ankle)
  • Nikola Pekovic (ankle)
  • Kevin Martin (wrist)
• Kings
  • Ramon Sessions (back)
  • Omri Casspi (knee)
• Pacers
  • Ian Mahinmi (foot)
  • Rodney Stuckey (groin)
  • George Hill (groin)
• Lakers
  • Ronnie Price (nose)
  • Wes Johnson (hip)

FANTASY LINE OF THE NIGHT

Klay Thompson dropped his second 40 point game of the season, this time on banged up Pacers, adding four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block, hitting six of his 11 three-point attempts. Amazingly, well, to me anyway, Thompson has scored in the 40's twice, but hasn't scored in the 30's all season. He is a surprise name in the top 20 of fantasy rankings and is a key cog in the Warriors' and your fantasy team's, championship push.

CASUALTY WARD

Deron Williams re-injured his side after just four minutes and will likely miss more time, making Jarrett Jack a nice short-term play in 12 team leagues and a must-play in daily fantasy on most nights.

Roy Hibbert sprained his ankle again, although he says it's not as bad as the last one, which caused him to miss four games. If you want a short-term add, Lavoy Allen will likely start and get boards and blocks, but his long-term value is nil.

ROTATION NOTES AND QUIRKS

Tyreke Evans rejoined the Pelicans' starting lineup, forcing Luke Babbitt completely out of the rotation. Nothing changes in Evans' value and his will be a real drain in rotisserie leagues with his shooting.

Cody Zeller played more minutes than Marvin Williams for the second consecutive game, a great sign, and was low-end productive with three steals and a block to go with eight points.

Pablo Prigioni replaced Shane Larkin in the starting five, but Larkin played 28 minutes to Prigioni's 20 minutes. For steals, Larkin is a decent add and he looks to be getting some regular minutes of late. I wouldn't be doing it in standard leagues though. Cleanthony Early lost minutes to Travis Wear, playing only 18 minutes, while Tim Hardaway played just 24 minutes. Hardaway is still a nice option for points, but offers nothing else.

Otto Porter started with Paul Pierce resting, but did very little in 24 minutes, scoring six points. He shouldn't be owned in most leagues, even when Pierce sits.

Kyrie Irving returned and played 41 minutes, scoring 38 minutes with three assists. He's going to carry this team while LeBron is out, but there's nothing you can do with that info in fantasy leagues.

Jason Kidd inexplicably benched Giannis Antetokounmpo, playing him just 15 minutes in a blowout victory. He's still a must-own player, despite his coach's tinkering. John Henson played just 16 minutes to Zaza Pachulia's 32. If I had to own any of the Bucks' big men, I'd be going Pachulia as his minutes, for a Kidd coached team, are more consistent. Pachulia also almost triple-doubled with 11 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Jared Sullinger was reduced to just 24 minutes, because, Brad Stevens. At the moment, there is no-one who is a must own on this Celtics' roster, even guys who were thriving to begin the season like Jeff Green are struggling immensely. Sell all your Celtics and avoid the headache.

Kevin Garnett returned, and replaced Brook Lopez, who went back to the bench. Lopez, off a 22 point, 13 rebound game, was limited to just 17 minutes, scoring six points with five rebounds and two blocks. You have to hold both Lopez and Mason Plumlee, but the situation is incredibly frustrating.

Trey Burke returned to the starting lineup for the Jazz, missing just the one game with an illness. Burke had 17 points with four assists, and now he is a must-own player in nearly all leagues.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played just 18 minutes in another start, further showing that the Detroit shooting guard position is one that will be hard to predict all season. Neither KCP nor Jodie Meeks has shown enough to be considered a must-own in standard leagues.

In a good sign for Alex Len owners, the bg Ukrainian played 27 minutes, while Miles Plumlee played just 12. This is how the Suns should be aiming on most nights, and Len blocked another five shots to go with nine points and eight rebounds. He's a solid upside pick in 12 team leagues as well.

Mo Williams replaced Zach LaVine as the starting point guard, but did roll his ankle at the end of the game and did not return. At this point, the severity is unknown, but while Williams is starting, he has value if you need assists for a few weeks.

Dion Waiters played 22 minutes in his debut for the Thunder, limiting Andre Roberson to only eight minutes. Waiters missed eight of his nine shots for only four points, but the minutes were encouraging. I'm not adding him anywhere for the time being as there are too many mouths to feed on the wings.

Jordan Clarkson played 20 minutes with Ronnie Price out, scoring 14 points. It's not unfeasible that Clarkson becomes the starter in the season's final month, so deep leagues will want to take notice.

BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS AND ODDITIES

Eric Gordon played 39 minutes in his second game back from his shoulder injury, scored 14 points with four assists and two blocks, but I'm not sold on grabbing him in 12 team leagues. We saw Gordon, healthy, be useless to start the season. He'll need to do this a few more times before I buy back in.

Michael KIdd-Gilchrist grabbed his third double-double in the last four games, thriving without Lance Stephenson and Al Jefferson, but when those guys return, MKG isn't a solid enough option to rely upon.

Marcin Gortat had his best game in quite a while, double doubling with 12 points, 11 rebounds and one block. I think he can be a great buy-low option of the season's second half.

Josh Smith played again of the bench, scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, adding in two blocks and must be owned in head-to-head leagues. He is more comfortable in Houston now and still has very good fantasy value.

Khris Middleton went off for 18 points with five steals, but Jason Kidd can't be trusted to give him consistent minutes. He's more of a 14 team league player.

K.J. McDaniels scored 14 points, his second consecutive double-digit outing and with rumors of Tony Wroten leaving town, McDaniels' value could be set to rise. At the moment, he is strictly an out of position blocks guy, but that could change fast, assuming he remains in the starting five. Wroten, along with Michael Carter-Williams and Robert Covington were brutal from the field, shooting a combined 6-for-43.

Mason Plumlee played 37 minutes, scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds and two blocks and has to be owned for now while he getting these minutes. It's an odd situation in Brooklyn and things could change abruptly, but for now, he's giving good value.

Another big night from Jeff Teague led the Hawks to another win, scoring 25 points with six assists, two steals and one block. At this point, Teague is a upper-echelon fantasy, and real life, point guard.

Rudy Gobert blocked five more shots, on his way to 11 points and 14 rebounds, with two steals and is killing it with Enes Kanter out. His value looks set to drop when Kanter returns, but don't drop him until the time is right. Or, if someone in your league is convinced his production is sustainable, send him on his way in a trade.

Derrick Rose's struggles continued, scoring just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting. His fantasy value is extremely low at the moment, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to deal him. Anything you get back is a bonus. Rose is shooting 28 percent in his last four games on 18.8 shots per game, effectively destroying your field goal percentage, without offering much in other categories. If his name wasn't Derrick Rose, he'd be someone who would be dropped in nearly all standard leagues.

Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond grabbed all the rebounds, getting 18 and 19 respectively and this whole team is thriving post-Josh Smith. D.J. Augustin went off for 26 points with four three-pointers, but I'm not buying in fantasy leagues.

Ty Lawson played through a sore knee and played well, scoring 23 pints, with a low five assists. J.J. Hickson double-doubled and added two steals and a block, which is fantasy relevant and could also be owned in deeper 12 team leagues, despite the fact that Hickson is not a good basketball player.

The guard quartet in Phoenix all had big games, a rare occurrence this season. Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Isaiah Thomas and Gerald Green all scored at least 17 points, with Thomas and Bledsoe both nabbing five steals.

Andrew Wiggins scored another 25 points, his fifth straight game over 20 points and his seventh in his last eight games. He's not only scoring, though, adding 1.1 three-pointers, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals in his last seven games. He's making a push to be a top 50 fantasy player for the second half of the season.

Serge Ibaka blocked eight shots and almost got the season's first triple double with blocks. If anyone is going to do it, it's likely to be Ibaka and despite his poor start, he's a great second half trade target candidate. Russell Westbrook joined the chorus of poor shooters, going 3-for-19 for 10 points, He'll be better, naturally.

Steph Curry had 15 dimes to go with 21 points and four steals and continue to excel and lead his team. If you drafted CUrry, you have no complaints.

Andrew Bogut returned, played 15 minutes off the bench and grabbed eight rebounds. If you are desperate for rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage, Bogut was an elite source of those categories pre-injury and will be back in the starting lineup before we know it.

NIGHTLY LEADERS

Points

1. Klay Thompson, G, GSW, 40 points
2. Kyrie Irving, G, CLE, 38 points
3. Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 32 points

Rebounds

1. Dwight Howard, C, HOU, 19 rebounds
2. Andre Drummond, C, DET, 19 rebounds
3. Greg Monroe, F, DET, 16 rebounds

Assists

1. Steph Curry, G, GSW, 15 assists
2. Chris Paul, G, LAC, 11 assists
3. Mo Williams, G, MIN, 11 assists

Steals

1. Khris Middleton, F, MIL, 5 steals
2. Isaiah Thomas, G, PHX, 5 steals
3. Trevor Ariza, F, HOU, 5 steals
4. Eric Bledsoe, G, PHX, 5 steals

Blocks

1. Serge Ibaka, F, OKC, 8 blocks
2. Rudy Gobert, C, UTA, 5 blocks
3. Alex Len, C, PHX, 5 blocks

Three-Pointers

1. Klay Thompson, G, GSW, 6-11 3Pt
2. Darren Collison, G, SAC, 5-10 3Pt
3. Matt Barnes, F, LAC, 5-10 3Pt

Minutes

1. Arron Afflalo, G, DEN, 43 minutes
2. Anthony Davis, F, NOP, 42 minutes
3. Kyrie Irving, G, CLE, 41 minutes