NBA Midweek Report: Week 8.

You gotta find the value where you can.

And you gotta move fast.

Thomas Robinson had a huge game Wednesday night against the Bucks. I tried to grab him in 8 leagues Thursday morning, and he was basically scooped up everywhere as of 9am. (More on him later.)

If your squad needs some improvements, you gotta look for those high upside options. And you gotta move at the speed of light...

Let's begin.

Rondo trade:

As I wrote about here, NBA trades are about to go down. I mentioned Marcus Smart as a speculative add in last week's compendium, and if you didn't listen, it's probably too late now.

Not surprisingly, the Celtics finally pulled the trigger on a Rajon Rondo trade - and Marcus Smart is the major beneficiary. The next big gainer: Brandan Wright.

I wrote about Brandan a couple weeks ago here, and pointed out that he has some of the best advanced stats in the league. He could really make some Fantasy noise on the evolving Celtics. With Rondo gone, the rotations could change wildly... Jae Crowder could have some value in deep leagues too, and is certainly worth adding to your Watch List.

As for the Mavs, the value of their starters doesn't change much, but usage is available on their bench now. More touches for Al-Farouq Aminu?

You gotta move quickly when trades go down, and sometimes making the moves BEFORE they happen is the smarter way to go. There's obviously risk with that strategy, but big risks have big rewards...

Injuries:

Jabari Parker

The leading candidate for ROY is out for the year. Not sure how this affects the usage landscape in Milwaukee, but everyone is grabbing Khris Middleton and Ersan Ilyasova. I remain less convinced by those 2, and feel that the minutes could be more spread out.

But it could also mean The Greek Freak finally becomes a star...

Adds:

Thomas Robinson, POR, PF (8% owned in Yahoo leagues)

While everybody grabbed Chris Kaman when news of Robin Lopez' injury came down, Thomas Robinson surprised everybody in the Fantasy world - going 15 & 16 in the starting 5.

Not sure I buy the hype, but he's worth a short-term add. Thomas has a spotty track record of producing, and consistent minutes won't change the fact that he's competing against the best starters in the NBA for touches.

Still, a steady job as the healthier Lopez twin's sub could provide injury replacement value in the big man stat department for the next 6-7 weeks...

Losing mojo:

Lou Williams

While the Raptors keep winning, they're not necessarily doing it because of Sweet Lou. Some nights he scores 29, some nights he scores 9. He's inconsistent, and DeMar DeRozan is coming back soonish...

Lou Williams looks like a sell-high candidate to me, but not a drop. He's more Gerald Green than Jamal Crawford, and could lose major usage when DeMar returns...

Drop:

Bojan Bogdanovic

I had Bojan ranked as the #3 rookie in the NBA all season until recently.

Inconsistent performances lost the other Bogdanovic his starting job.

Even with minutes available, Bojan can be safely dropped in all formats. He does have star potential, but needs minutes/touches to prove it.

View him as a prospect, and nothing more...

So I'm getting a little ruthless, all.

It's that time of year when you really have to consider cutting someone who's not producing.

Wait too long, you'll be that guy complaining that you "just need a bit more time for Pekovic to come around".

If you can't see him, perhaps he doesn't exist.

Pretty deep thought for a Friday afternoon.

That's how I roll.

Bobman