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Buy, Sell, or Hold: Lou Williams and Eric Bledsoe?

Milos Zvekic's buy low, sell high trade advice for Week 17 of fantasy NBA. His buy/hold/sell recommendations for Lou Williams and Eric Bledsoe in fantasy basketball leagues.

Picking the right moments to buy, hold or sell your fantasy players can prove to be the difference come the end of a fantasy season. If you managed to sell your guy who was on fire just before he went cold again and get someone back who was slumping at the time, but is now back to his old valuable self, that could give you a significant advantage when fantasy playoffs start. And with the Trade Deadline looming, this is the right time to try and get away with some of those moves.

The Clippers made it clear that they are not looking to compete this year with them trading away their best player in Blake Griffin. It is quite possible that the Blake trade is just a gateway to more trades. And the players that are featured in almost all the Clippers' rumors are DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams. And while DJ should keep his value wherever he goes, as he does not need ball in his hands to be productive, and he will be utilized by any team that is willing to trade for him, it could prove difficult for Lou to hold on to this usage and therefore fantasy value on most other teams. More on what to do with Lou is coming up shortly.

The Bucks have just had two of their point guards fall victim to injury. Would you believe it, not one of them is Eric Bledsoe!? If you're interested in the probable outlook for Bledsoe for the rest of the season and my take on his value going forward, keep reading. Welcome to our Week 17, Buy Low/Sell High column right here at Rotoballer.

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Buy Low, Sell High Advice for Week 17

Are You for Real, Lou Williams?

The former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award winner Lou Williams found himself traded to the LA Clippers in a deal for Chriss Paul last offseason and, with Patrick Beverley, Austin Rivers and Milos Teodosic all in the team's backcourt, figured to once again be the offensive force coming off the bench, but not much more than that.

But all three of his aforementioned teammates have been having trouble with injuries. Beverley is out for the season, Rivers hasn't played yet in 2018 and Teo is healthy now, but has missed over half of the Clippers' games so far. All this has Lou riding the biggest usage % of his career at 30.1%. The increased opportunity translated very well into fantasy output with Lou averaging 23.3 PTS with 2.8 3PM on 43.9 FG% and 90.0 FT%, 2.5 REB, 5.3 AST, 1.1 STL, 0.2 BLK and 2.9 TO in 33 minutes a night. He is a top-35 fantasy asset in most formats with this contribution.

So what's to keep Sweet Lou from keeping up this magnificent form?

Well, the rumors are heating up that the Clippers are looking to get younger and are shopping their older, valuable players to accomplish their goal of competing in a few years instead of right away. Lou fits exactly into what teams that want to win now want, and what the Clippers are looking to sell. With Griffin's deal going through, it seems like there's no time like the present for Clippers to pull the trigger on a deal for Lou. And there aren't any spots where Lou can land where he can keep getting the kind of run he's been getting so far. Likely suitors for his services are quality competing teams who already have strong rosters, and who need Lou mostly as a strong bench player, not the leader of their offense, which is his role on the Clippers at the moment. So any trade away from LA would have him lose at least some of his fantasy appeal.

What if Lou stays? Even if the Clippers are unable to find a satisfying deal for Lou Will, it is still unlikely that he will be able to keep it up at this level. Griffin is out of town, but in that deal, the Clippers received a guard, Avery Bradley, who can eat up some of Lou's minutes, and a high usage guy in Tobias Harris. In the two games with them in the lineup, Lou's usage is down to 28.2. So even if Williams was to stay a Clipper, he wouldn't be guaranteed the minutes or usage to keep producing at a top-35 pace.

If you own Lou and have an owner in your league with faith in him to stay in LA, or to keep up this sort of production, it could prove a wise move to try and sell at a high price. Most players from the top-50 have safer ROS value than Lou and I would probably take a guy like Khris MiddletonDeMar DeRozan or Robert Covington if I was offered one of them.

Baller Move: Sell high

 

Time to Panic on Eric Bledsoe?

Apart from his career high 2.1 steals per game and a somewhat decent (for a guy who takes almost five threes a game) 44.3% from the field, all other fantasy-relevant stats are down from his previous years. This is expected since he's been playing "just" 30 minutes a night, which is a three-to-four minute drop off from his previous years in Phoenix. But with his biggest competitors for minutes out for a couple of weeks (Malcolm Brogdon 6-8 and Matthew Dellavedova 3-4), Bledsoe should get all the run he can handle.

Expect his 16.8 points, 1.5 threes, 3.5 boards, 4.1 dimes and also his 2.9 turnovers per game, all to rise with the increased opportunity he is bound to get. Giannis AntetokounmpoKhris Middleton, and Bledsoe will be running the offense so it's difficult to imagine that he will still be limited to 13.5 field goals per game with almost 14.5 shots being up for grabs from the injuries of Brogdon and Delly.

Do be careful though, Bledsoe is quite an injury risk. He has missed less than 15 games in just three of his seven NBA seasons so far. And with the burden of injuries to his peers falling mostly on his shoulders, and Bucks in the midst of the battle for NBA playoff seeding, Bledsoe probably won't get rested enough and his body might not endure the effort.

While I would advise caution, I still believe that Bledsoe can be a decent fantasy, and can really up his value from his current top-75 form. If you can obtain his services for a player in that same range but with less opportunity or a worse outlook for the rest of the season I would certainly advise you do so. Jonas ValanciunasHarrison Barnes, and Evan Fournier have all outperformed Bledsoe fantasy-wise this season, but all have lower ceilings and, barring any injury, should have less value the rest of the way. So if you own one of these players and Bledsoe's owner doesn't trust him, it would be a mid-risk high-reward move for you to make the swap.

Baller Move: Hold or buy low

 

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REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Kris Murray

Will Play Against the Clippers
Robert Williams III

Available on Friday Night
Austin Reaves

Facing Multiweek Absence With Calf Issue
Anthony Edwards

Listed as Questionable Against Brooklyn
Keegan Murray

Out at Least One Week With Calf Strain
Jock Landale

to Miss Bucks Game With Calf Issue
Jordan Poole

Cleared to Play Friday vs. Suns
Joel Embiid

Set to Suit Up Against Bulls
George Kittle

Questionable to Face the Bears in Week 17
Cedric Coward

Active On Friday Against Milwaukee
Ja Morant

Available On Friday Night Against Milwaukee
Maxx Crosby

Done for the Season
VJ Edgecombe

Available on Friday
Dominick Barlow

Will Suit Up Against Chicago
Collin Murray-Boyles

Good to Go Versus Washington
Scottie Barnes

Upgraded to Available Against Washington
Nikola Jović

Nikola Jovic Cleared to Play on Friday
Jordan Goodwin

Available For Friday Night Against New Orleans
Pelle Larsson

Back on Friday Night
Gary Trent Jr.

Ruled Out For Friday Night Against Memphis
Bam Adebayo

Will Miss Friday's Game Versus Atlanta
Justin Champagnie

Downgraded To Questionable For Friday Night
Scottie Barnes

Now Downgraded To Questionable For Friday
Calvin Austin III

Ruled Out with Hamstring Injury for Week 17
Harold Fannin Jr.

Expected to Play on Sunday
Jordan Love

Ruled Out with Concussion for Saturday's Contest
George Kittle

"Likely a Game-Time Decision" on Sunday Night
A.J. Brown

Returns to Practice on Friday
Josh Allen

Trending Toward Playing Vs. Philly
CFB

Michigan Targeting Kyle Whittingham as Next Head Coach
CFB

Texas Leading Rusher Quintrevion Wisner Set to Transfer
George Kittle

Remains Sidelined During Thursday's Practice
Malik Willis

Carrying Questionable Tag for Week 17 Tilt
Jordan Love

Questionable for Saturday's Contest
Lamar Jackson

Listed as Doubtful for Week 17
Amon-Ra St. Brown

to Suit Up on Christmas Day
Rome Odunze

"Increasing Unlikely to Play" in Week 17
Chris Rodriguez Jr.

Carries Questionable Tag on Thursday
David Montgomery

Expected to Play on Christmas Day
David Montgomery

Questionable to Play With Illness
Amon-Ra St. Brown

Questionable, Expected to Play on Thursday
Rashee Rice

Chiefs Place Rashee Rice on Injured Reserve
T.J. Hockenson

Ruled Out for Week 17
Pete Fairbanks

Marlins Agree on One-Year Deal
Josh Johnson

to Start at QB on Thursday Against Dallas
Brooks Koepka

Leaving LIV Golf
Connor McDavid

Finishes Battle of Alberta With Five Assists
Karel Vejmelka

Battling Upper-Body Injury
Alexandre Texier

Suffers Upper-Body Injury Against Bruins
Alexander Nikishin

Dealing With Apparent Ankle Injury
Denver Barkey

Exits Early Tuesday
Travis Sanheim

Pulled by Concussion Spotter Tuesday
Ryan O'Hearn

Pirates Agree on Two-Year Deal
Viktor Arvidsson

a Game-Time Decision Tuesday
Ryan Leonard

Available Tuesday
Tom Wilson

in Danger of Missing First Game of the Season
Phillip Danault

Makes Second Canadiens Debut Tuesday
Collin Graf

Available Against Golden Knights
Jack Eichel

Misses Fourth Straight Game
Vince Dunn

Won't Play Tuesday
CFB

Jeff Brohm, Eli Drinkwitz "Names of Interest" for Michigan Head Coach
Timothy Liljegren

to Miss Second Straight Game Tuesday
Will Smith

Out Week-to-Week
Jaccob Slavin

Placed on Injured Reserve, Out Week-to-Week
Seth Jarvis

Considered Week-to-Week
Darren Raddysh

Totals Three Points in Monday's Win
Mason Marchment

Scores Twice Monday
Vince Dunn

Injured in Monday's Win
Ilya Sorokin

to Miss Tuesday's Game
CFB

Byrum Brown Entering Transfer Portal
CFB

Bobby Petrino Joining Bill Belichick as North Carolina's Offensive Coordinator
Willson Contreras

Shipped to the Red Sox

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