Five Guys to Trade and Trade for This Fantasy Season

Published: 13^th Jan 12 2:47 pm

by Adam McGill
adammcgill

RANT It!

By Adam McGill

With the fantasy basketball season underway, it is always important to know what guys to hold on to or what guys to ditch. Below are my top five guys to trade and trade for:

5 Guys to Trade the House For:

1. PF LaMarcus Aldridge, POR – The 26-year old has taken some serious steps forward in the last two years and has become a top-ten power forward in the game. He is averaging over 22 points this season and has outshined everyone else on the Portland roster. He will continue to score as the Trail Blazers’ have one of the worst teams in the game, so expect Aldridge to consistently take 20 shots a game.

2. C Andrew Bynum, LAL – After a couple of injury riddled seasons in the City of Angels; it appears Bynum is finally living up to his potential. He is averaging 13.8 points with 12 boards and the former first round pick will dominate this fantasy year.

3. PG Kyrie Irving, CLE – The rookie has led the Cavs’ to a 4-5 record through the first nine games, which is almost as many wins as they had all of last year. He is hitting contested jump shots and hasn’t looked rusty after missing the majority of last season at Duke with turf toe. He has scored over 20 points in each of the last three games and has become a fantasy star in his first year.

4. C Greg Monroe, DET – In just three weeks, Monroe has become the new face of the Detroit Pistons’. He is averaging an impressive 16.4 points and 9.2 boards per game, but this week’s game with 32 points and 16 boards shows his ability to completely dominant from the center position.

5. PG Mario Chalmers, MIA – The youngster stepped up huge in the three overtime thriller last week against Atlanta. Chalmers’ had 29 points in the game with Dwayne Wade and LeBron James on the bench and the former Kansas star has become one of the top free agent pickups of the year.

5 Guys to Show the Door:

1. PF Tim Duncan, SA – Duncan is posting decent numbers in his 14th NBA season, but he is only averaging 26 minutes per game. He is currently averaging a meager 12 points and 6 boards, numbers that will only get worse as the 35-year old keeps playing every day. After all, it is hard to collect rebounds and knock down shots of the glass on the bench.

2. PF Glen Davis, ORL – “Big Baby” has severely struggled with the transition to Orlando. He averaged a career high 11.7 points a game last year off the bench in Boston, but his point total has fallen to 8.3 points this year in the same role.

3. C Emeka Okafor, NO – The signing of Chris Kaman in the off-season severely hurt Okafor’s value, as his minutes have dropped from 31.8 in 2010 to only 28.4 in 2011. He is still shooting a disappointing 51% from the line, and the decrease in minutes is also causing his rebounds to suffer as well.

4. SF Metta World Peace, LAL – MWP has had problems adjusting to coming off the bench, as he has only scored 15 points combined in the last six games. He is a fantasy afterthought at this point, and he should start focusing on knocking down jumpers instead of striving for “World Peace.”

5. SF Nicolas Batum, POR – The “Frenchman” has not played as well as most fantasy owners expected heading into the year, and he is only averaging 10.6 points a game.