Last Updated on February 7, 2025 8:42 pm by Mike Passador | Published: February 7, 2025

The trade deadline is over and now it’s on to the All-Star break, silly season and your fantasy championship before the real playoffs start. Here are some buy-low and sell-high options to consider before the NBA takes a break a week from now.

Buy Low

Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks

Irving has been given the keys to the car in Dallas now that Luka is gone and he’s got a shiny new toy to play with in the form of Anthony Davis. With Davis and Daniel Gafford protecting the rim and with Irving, Davis, Klay Thompson and P.J. Washington taking care of things offensively, the Mavs look primed to make a strong playoff push the rest of the way. In fact, they might just have the pieces to win the West, if they can get by the Thunder. Irving will need to play at an incredibly high level and he’s motivated to win another championship. Irving is going to be out there every night lighting up box scores the rest of the way and Dallas finishes up the season with 4-4-2-4-4 games weeks 20-24, which is nice (fantasy playoffs). Just beware of that two-gamer starting on March 17.

Mark Williams, Los Angeles Lakers

Williams showed flashes of brilliance in Charlotte while playing meaningless games, but now every game will count for something in L.A. J.J. Redick has his team rolling right now, sitting at 30-19 and they’ve gone 8-2 over their last 10. They’ll desperately need Williams to stay healthy as their only real rim protector going forward, and he’ll be playing with two of the best ball distributors of all time in Luka and LeBron. The Lakers are banking on him being healthy and fantasy managers can probably get Williams without having to give up too much. Get him before he starts putting up nightly double-doubles in L.A.

Matas Buzelis, Chicago Bulls

Zach LaVine is gone and Pat Williams hasn’t been getting it done for Chicago, while Buzelis has now scored in double figures in five straight games while playing 29 mpg over his last three. I’d like him a little more if Williams wasn’t around and had Nikola Vucevic been moved, but Buzelis still seems primed for a take off. Get him before he becomes a household name after the dunk contest, which I think he’ll win. He’s a big man that plays like a guard.

Nick Smith Jr., Charlotte Hornets

LaMelo Ball is on shutdown watch and Vasilije Micic is in Phoenix, possibly clearing the way for Smith to go off. He’s scored between 19 and 24 points on 58% shooting with at least four 3-pointers in each of his last three games. The Hornets are bringing Elfrid Payton in on a 10-day contract and Smith will have to deal with Dalton Knecht playing his natural position (SG), but Smith has a real chance to be a silly-season hero the rest of the way.

Dalton Knecht, Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets gave up their prized big man (Williams) for Knecht and they’ll want to fire up the new guy immediately to see what they’ve got their hands on. I think Knecht could score 20 ppg and hit four triples the rest of the way and Brandon Miller is out for the year. This could be a perfect storm for Knecht’s fantasy value and he’s a perfect pickup/buy-low candidate in a great situation. I’m pretty excited to see if he lives up to the hype.

Ty Jerome, Cleveland Cavaliers

Almost all of Jerome’s big games this season came when Caris LeVert was out and he’s now an Atlanta Hawk, with De’Andre Hunter coming over to the Cavs. Hunter plays forward and is no threat to Jerome, who should get plenty of minutes while backing up Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland going forward, without having to worry about LeVert. I expect Jerome to start going off on a regular basis and he might even get into the Sixth Man race before all is said and done. He’ll help with points, rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers and doesn’t turn the ball over much. Now’s a great time to get into Jerome.

Sell High

Autin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers

Reaves is a point guard at heart and will now have to play alongside two of the best point guards of all time, although LeBron isn’t really a PG. But Luka and LeBron are going to have the ball in their hands constantly and I’m worried that Reaves will become a designated 3-point shooter while those two run the offense. I don’t see any way his fantasy value doesn’t take a hit with the arrival of Luka.

Lauri Markkanen, Utah Jazz

Markkanen is still in Utah and is not only injury prone, but playing for a team that is tanking for Cooper Flagg. Markkanen is healthy and has played in six straight games and while he hasn’t exactly been blowing up, he’s scoring in double figures and playing big minutes. He’s been a perennial shutdown candidate for his entire career and I’ll be shocked if he actually finishes out the season. Move him while you still can.

De’Andre Hunter, Cleveland Cavaliers

Hunter is no longer the sixth man for the Hawks, where he was working his way into the running for the Sixth Man of the Year. But he’s now in Cleveland with a new team and new role, and we simply don’t know how this is going to go. But he’ll have to compete with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, along with Jarrett Allen and Max Strus, so it just feels like Hunter’s fantasy value is going to take a hit. In addition to the usage hit, he’ll have to figure out how to play with his new teammates. Sell high.

Khris Middleton, Washington Wizards

The Wizards have no reason to play Middleton big minutes with so many kids needing to be developed on a tanking team, not to mention that his ankles are made out of Pringles. He’s been an injured mess for two years, is probably depressed about being in Washington and is a huge shutdown candidate. I’m amazed that he’s still rostered in more than 70% of Yahoo! leagues. Move him while you still can.

Andrew Wiggins, Miami Heat

Wiggins was taking more shots than Stephen Curry on many nights in Oakland and was one of the few reliable weapons they actually had. Now he’s in Miami and will have to compete with Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Bam Adebayo, Nikola Jovic and Kel’el Ware for touches and shots. He’s not a player I’d drop, but I do expect Wiggins to take a bit of a hit for his new team, especially initially. Things are simply going to be more crowded for him than they were in Golden State.

Sacramento Kings

DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray start for the Kings. That’s a LOT of mouths to feed and Thursday night’s game may have raised a red flag or two. They lost to Portland and Sabonis only took six shots in that game. Meanwhile, Monk shot it 20 times, LaVine took 19 shots, DeRozan shot it 16 times and Murray had 10 of them. One of these guys is going to be left out of the mix on most nights and it was Sabonis’ turn on Thursday. There’s only one basketball to go around in Sacramento and I think Sabonis, DeRozan and LaVine are all sell-high candidates. They’ll all be good, but it’s going to be tough for any of them to be great from game to game.

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Steve Dr. A Alexander

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