The first big move ahead of the trade deadline rocked the NBA on Monday, when Blake Griffin was traded to the Pistons. Luckily for fantasy basketball owners, it shouldn't do much to the primary names involved. Griffin will still be the main option in Detroit, and Tobias Harris should continue to get the looks he became accustomed to while with the Pistons.
This won't be the only trade, so fantasy owners should pucker up. Having said that, trades aren't the only thing that has the fantasy world on notice. On Tuesday it was announced that John Wall and Kevin Love will miss significant time. What players should you target? What players should you add?
As a reminder, for standard (10-12 team) league adds, we use a general rule of thumb of an ownership rate of under 50% on Yahoo. All position eligibility based on Yahoo leagues. Last week, Jeremy Lamb, Kelly Oubre and Milos Teodosic did not have optimal numbers. Fantasy leagues aren't won in a week's time, however, and all three players should still be owned.
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Standard League Adds for Week 16
Tomas Satoransky, PG – Washington Wizards
Ownership: 16%
5.0 PPG / 2.2 REB / 2.6 AST / . 507 FG%
Wall is expected to miss six to eight weeks because of ongoing issues with his left knee and will undergo an arthroscopic debridement procedure this week. While the injury is a heartbreaker for Washington and its fan base, it could be a boon for Satoransky. Wall held the highest usage rate of any player on the Wizards, and while Satoransky will come nowhere near to mimicking his production, he has already started to dole out assists at a noteworthy level. Satoransky has averaged 6.5 assists in 25 minutes of action in the last two games.
When trying to predict what a bench replacement could do in situations like this, the easiest statistic to examine is his per 36 numbers. Satoransky is averaging 10.9 points, 5.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds per 36 minutes. All that points to a very positive outlook for Satoransky.
Al-Farouq Aminu, SF/PF – Portland Trail Blazers
Ownership 47%
9.9 PPG / 2.0 3PT / 6.9 REB / .397 3PT%
After a poor November and December, Aminu has been a consistent fantasy basketball producer. His value has been hurt by injuries, but his average in games that he's played ranks him in the top-90 for the season. In January, Aminu is averaging 11.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.1 threes per game. Good enough to be ranked 84 in 9-cat leagues. In fact, his averages for the season, the month and the week all fall in the 80-to-85 range.
Aminu is averaging 30 minutes per game and has proven to be invaluable for the Trail Blazers. Aminu ranks fourth on the team in value over replacement, box plus/minus and defense box plus/minus. Those numbers indicate Aminu is no threat to lose minutes despite how well other players may perform. The fact that he qualifies at both small and power forward positions is an added bonus for a player who continues to trend in the right direction.
Terry Rozier, PG/SG – Boston Celtics
Ownership 22%
9.1 PPG / 5.4 AST / 4.4 REB / 1.0 STL
Rozier has flirted with wavier wire worthy numbers before, but his production on the court combined with Marcus Smart's (hand) recent injury sidelining him for a couple of weeks, Rozier is almost a must add for those in need of immediate support.
Leading up to Smart's injury, Rozier has averaged 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 threes per game. In the Celtics' first game without Smart, Rozier poured in a healthy stat line of eight points, nine rebounds and six assists. Boston has seven games in the month of February before the All-Star game. More than enough time for Rozier to get some run and possibly secure a more established position in the rotation, and value on your fantasy basketball team.
More Fantasy Basketball Analysis
By popular demand, RotoBaller has aggregated all of our fantasy basketball NBA waiver wire pickups into a running list of NBA waiver options, so bookmark the page and check back often for updates.