Get to the Points: Last-minute fantasy basketball trade targets
Yahoo Fantasy basketball analyst Dan Titus and contributor Justin Henry offer up several players to deal for ahead of the fantasy trade deadline.
Video Transcript
DAN TITUS: Who are you targeting if you're trying to trade for somebody at the deadline right now?
JUSTIN HENRY: Right now, I'm looking for players that are either heating up coming into the playoff picture in real basketball, or I'm looking for players who have opportunities, maybe on a lesser team, that are going to start to get more minutes.
So one player specifically that's starting to heat up, we all know him-- Himmy Butler. Jimmy Butler for the Miami Heat is starting to-- now, we're seeing that Playoff Jimmy, right? Almost 25 points per game over the last 30.
And this is a player who once we know he heats up, we know what kind of special player he is. He's been a top 20 player over the last 30 games. And I don't really see a reason why it's going to taper off at any point.
Another player that I'm looking at, Dan, before I get it back to you, Trey Murphy. This is a guy who was dealing with an injury early on in the season. And now, Trey Murphy has the opportunity. He's had his minutes increase. This Pelicans team is-- is really going to be a scary team heading into-- into the playoffs.
Trey Murphy is an undervalued name that you can trade for. You don't have to pay the Jimmy Butler price. But you can get top 30 production on a per-game basis over the last 30 for Trey Murphy since his minutes have increased.
10 3's a game-- he hit 10 3's in a game a couple days ago. He's averaging over three 3's a game. Trey Murphy, man, I like-- I like his play.
DAN TITUS: So you literally-- we didn't talk about this beforehand. Like, I don't know who was on Jay's list. But Trey Murphy was literally on mine, man.
Like, I feel like early on in the season, he was still trying to get back to form. But to hit 10 3's in a game, man, like, this man is definitely on the way up. And this is the right time to buy him.
I was actually going to pick another Pelicans player, Brandon Ingram. He's been playing on a top 40 level over the last month or so. And I think he's heating up. The Pelicans in general are just heating up. So I think that's definitely a team you'll want to target.
I'm going to go a different way, though. I like the Warriors. If you look at their schedule over the course of the next two weeks, whether your playoffs start on week 20 or week 21, the Warriors play the most games over that span.
So I'd be looking at someone like Draymond Green. And what better time to buy after that blowout loss against the Boston Celtics, where he barely played? People are going to look at the box score and be like, yo, Draymond's a bum. I don't want him. That's when you got to strike. Make sure you buy low on a situation like that.
The other team that I like is the Cavaliers, man. They play-- similar to the Warriors, they play the most games over week 20 to week 21. And if you're looking at Donovan Mitchell, he's hurt right now. So who's going to pick up some of that slack? And Evan Mobley's hurt. Jarrett Allen looks like a great buy for me right now, and a player that I would definitely want to have on my roster if you're looking for a center that can do a lot.
And then lastly, I'll just throw out a couple of names. Malik Monk, I think is a player that's ascending. He's the leader for Sixth Man of the Year right now. He's somebody that you can get on the Kings that's fairly cheap. You won't have to pay that De'Aaron Fox price or Sabonis price to get somebody that can help you down the stretch because the Kings also play a lot of games over the final several weeks of the season.
JUSTIN HENRY: Yeah, one other name that I want to point out, Jordan Poole. And this is a guy who we've all kind of harped on. He was supposed to be leading the charge in Washington. Didn't play very well early in the year, has since been moved to the bench, but actually been playing really well in that role, creeping back into the top 100 on a per-game basis.
Jordan Poole, I think you could get him for a little bit low because everybody's knocking him, making fun of him on social media. He's a player that might be able to help you down the stretch.
DAN TITUS: I don't disagree with that, man. He's been on fire. It's crazy, though, because Washington is so bad. You would have thought that they would have thought to put him on the bench at some point before the final, like, month and change of the season, right? He's been on fire lately.
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