The Magic’s Tobias Harris was a big winner at the NBA Trade Deadline (Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
Just like last year’s NBA Trade Deadline, this year proved to be another bust. The Philadelphia 76ers moved a couple of their big pieces – Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner – but other than that, it was just another day at the office.
While there may have not been any huge blockbuster deals, it’s important for fantasy basketball owners to know which players across the league will have their minutes and roles affected by the deals that went down.
The Orlando Magic’s Tobias Harris is one of the big winners at the NBA Trade Deadline, while the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Anderson Varejao stands to lose a chunk of value.
Winners:
Tobias Harris, Orlando Magic: He wasn’t directly involved in any trades, nor were the Magic, but buying out Glen Davis was significant in terms of Harris’ fantasy value for the rest of the season.
Davis wasn’t part of Orlando’s rebuilding efforts, and the move will give the 21-year-old Harris plenty of minutes down the stretch.
Harris is averaging 13.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in 35 games this season after missing 21 of the Magic’s first 22 games with a sprained ankle, but has improved of late, scoring 14.8 points and grabbing 8.0 boards since Jan. 2.
After Harris came over from the Milwaukee Bucks in one of last year’s trade deadline moves, he averaged 17.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 0.9 steals, 1.4 blocks, and 1.0 3-pointer per game.
The 1.4 shots he was swatting last year is probably a little out of his range — although he’s picked it up a little in the block department (0.8 in last five games) of late — but owners can expect similar scoring and rebounding production from Harris, if not better.
Byron Mullens, Philadelphia 76ers: Mullens’ 2012-13 season with the Charlotte Bobcats was interesting, for lack of a better word.
Last year in Charlotte, Mullens averaged 10.6 points, with 30 percent of his total coming via the 3-point shot. Not the typical numbers you’d expect to come from a 7-foot center. His 38.5 field goal percentage, 6.4 boards, and 0.6 blocks per game would have you think he was a rookie shooting guard.
The Clippers took a chance on him this off-season, signing him to a two-year, $2 million contract, but he played just 6.2 minutes over 27 games in Los Angeles.
Trading him to Philly works for both teams, but it also improves Mullens’ fantasy value (I mean, it couldn’t get much worse).
After the Sixers traded Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen, it left Mullens and Arnett Moultrie as the lone big men in their offense.
Mullens is one of just nine players on the active roster signed through next season, so it is in the Sixers’ best interest to play their 25-year-old 3-point-shooting big man. The Sixers’ league-leading pace (102.5) bodes well for Mullens’ chances the rest of the season, and it’s possible he could average 12-14 points and 1.5-2.0 3-pointers the rest of the way.
Other Trade Deadline winners: Ramon Sessions (Bucks), Gary Neal (Bobcats), Tony Wroten and James Anderson (Sixers), Kendall Marshall (Lakers), Andre Miller (Wizards), Aaron Brooks – as long as Ty Lawson remains out (Nuggets)
Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Losers:
Cleveland Cavaliers frontcourt: The trade to acquire Spencer Hawes was a little questionable from the Cavs’ standpoint. By adding Hawes to the likes of Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller, new GM David Griffin has created a log jam down low – and fantasy owners aren’t going to be pleased with the results.
The Cavs are in the playoff hunt — and granted it’s in the Eastern Conference — but they’re still in the playoff hunt. As of Friday, Cleveland occupies the 10th seed in the East, three games back of No. 8 Charlotte.
The Cavs are no strangers to making moves this season – as you’ll recall, they were early arrivals to the trading party, acquiring Luol Deng from the Chicago Bulls back on Jan. 7.
On paper, this improves their team, but giving up two second round picks is probably not going to help their cause in the long run. Re-signing Hawes in the off-season would almost be necessary at this point, but no one really knows what direction they’ll go in.
As for fantasy value, each one of these big men takes a hit.
Hawes was playing on a Sixers’ team constantly coming from behind, allowing him to jack up 3.8 treys per game, but in Mike Brown’s slowed-down offense (97.1 points per game), Hawes won’t be getting as many opportunities from 3-point land. With Kyrie Irving (4.8), C.J Miles (4.2), Dion Waiters (3.2), and Deng (3.0) attempting a good amount of threes per game, Hawes may find it difficult to reproduce the numbers he was putting up from behind the arc while in Philly.
In the “Captain Obvious” news of the day, Anderson Varejao is hurt. Although the team doesn’t think it’s serious, Anderson is still set to lose a bunch of minutes. Healthy or not, Cavs’ beat writer Bob Finnan believes Varejao will move to a bench role — allowing Hawes to start — and in the process putting a huge dent in his fantasy value.
The 6-foot-11 Brazilian is averaging 30.2 minutes on the season, but played 43 in his last game vs. Memphis on Feb. 9, something that probably led to his recent back issues. When he does return, expect Varejao to play a more toned down role, especially if the Cavs want their brittle big man healthy for a potential playoff run.
Tristan Thompson will keep his starting power forward role, but fantasy owners should remain cautious. The third-year pro has been playing well lately, averaging 17.3 points and 13.0 rebounds over his last four games, but that will surely take a hit in some way. Owners need to be aware of how inconsistent the former Texas Longhorn can be and that his fantasy value is entirely tied to his rebounding. If he doesn’t have a solid game on the glass, his 0.9 steals, 0.4 blocks, and 66.2 percent free throw shooting make him borderline waiver-wire fodder. Because of those deficiencies, Thompson is 191st on Basketball Monster.com’s player rankings for the season.
Tyler Zeller will find himself on the bench very often for the remainder of the season. Zeller has played well with the extra minutes allotted to him while Varejao has been out (10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.0 block in 24.0 minutes), but any fantasy relevance he had will be shot to dust with Hawes’ arrival. Unless Varejao has an extending absence, expect under 12 minutes per game the rest of the year for Zeller.
Other Trade Deadline losers: Evan Turner (Pacers), Steve Blake (Warriors), Earl Clark (FA), Jordan Crawford (Warriors), Omri Casspi and Francisco Garcia (Rockets)