Happy Luka-versary! It was on this day exactly a year ago that we all checked our phones at some point in the morning, saw a Shams report that the Mavs had traded Luka Doncic, and initially went “Haha, Shams got hacked… right? RIGHT?” And then it gradually sank in that it was real and whatever sense of gravity we’d subscribed to about what can and can’t happen in the NBA forever fell away. And while the odds of something that crazy happening this week aren’t likely (although who knows what’s going to do happen with Giannis Antetokounmpo), it’s nonetheless trade deadline week and that means it’s good to keep a roster spot or two open just in case someone on the waiver wire becomes valuable thanks to a deal.
We did have a pair of trades this weekend, though neither was exactly earth-shattering.
The Blazers dealt Duop Reath and picks to the Hawks for Vit Krejci; Reath had a pretty solid rookie season two years ago and was even fantasy relevant in starts that year, but he’s been pretty irrelevant since then and is only averaging 2.9 points per game this season. Krejci has shown he’s an excellent shooter, but he’s purely a role player and isn’t likely to be worth nabbing unless a glut of injuries occurs.
The slightly more worthwhile trade is the Kings acquiring De’Andre Hunter, the Bulls acquiring Dario Saric, and the Cavs acquiring Dennis Schroder, Keon Ellis and Emanuel Miller in a three-team trade. You know what you’re going to get with Schroder at this point and Saric, Ellis and Miller don’t matter in fantasy, but Hunter has a chance to be interesting in Sacramento, depending on how much the Kings go on a fire sale over the next few days. If it’s not a lot, then Hunter will continue to be like Schroder and dip in and out of fantasy relevance, but if it is a lot, then it’s not impossible he could push to be a 17-point scorer again like he was in 2025. That might not happen, of course, but it’s worth keeping Hunter on your radar anyway this week.
Other notes from this weekend:
Paul George got suspended for 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug program. It’s a pretty depressing blow for his fantasy owners, as George had been playing well lately and had even hit 9 threes in a game only a few games ago. The suspension also has the boomerang effect of making it more likely that someone like Kelly Oubre Jr. gets traded too, because the Sixers are now tantalizingly close to being under the luxury tax and will no doubt pursue dipping under it in the following days. So long as he’s still on the Sixers, Oubre should get a nice boost from this, as should VJ Edgecombe and possibly Jared McCain, who’s beginning to crawl back into a regular rotation slot for the Sixers.
Day’Ron Sharpe was solid in the Nets’ abominable 53-point loss to the Pistons on Sunday, producing 8 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. If Nic Claxton gets traded this week, Sharpe has a chance to be a fantastic contributor the rest of the way.
Egor Demin had only 3 points in 15 minutes against Detroit, but his 25-point, 10-rebound game on Friday hints at better times ahead in the event that either Michael Porter Jr., Cam Thomas or the aforementioned Claxton get dealt this week.
Jalen Smith missed both games this weekend with a calf injury. The talent is there but health issues have been a drag on his value. He could potentially benefit from the Bulls trading Nikola Vucevic, but who knows if the Bulls have the gumption to finally do that.
Pelle Larsson continued his solid play of late, getting 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block against the Bulls. Larsson’s been pretty mediocre from a fantasy perspective this season, but that makes back-to-back 20-4-4 games and he appears pretty glued in the Heat’s starting lineup at this point. There’s not a ton of upside here but he’s worth adding while he’s playing this well.
Jarrett Allen had a historically-great game on Sunday, accumulating 40 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks in just under 30 minutes – the first time anyone has ever put up a line like that in under 30 minutes. To say this came out of nowhere would be an understatement because Allen had been having a pretty pedestrian season relative to what he’s capable of. In fact, this was the first time he’d scored more than 19 points since the calendar flipped to 2026. That Evan Mobley was out obviously helped, but hopefully this will be a catalyst to Allen playing more consistently from here on out.
Peyton Watson scored 29 points in 37 minutes on Sunday. The smorgasbord of Nuggets injuries have opened up his game in a massive way, to the point that it’s hard to see him vacating the starting lineup even when the struggling Cam Johnson eventually returns along with Aaron Gordon.
Jarace Walker put up 11 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists on Saturday. While his upside isn’t that exciting, he should get hefty playing time in Indiana the rest of the way and has been a solid source of points and threes, with a decent array of secondary stats. You’re not going to get great lines from him often, but there are way worse people to own in fantasy leagues.
Saddiq Bey put up 34 points on Saturday and is averaging a silly 22.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals over his last 8 games. No one could’ve imagined coming into the season that Bey would be a must-own player in fantasy leagues while Jordan Poole would be completely knocked from the Pelicans rotation, but here we are.
Ty Jerome made his season debut for the Grizzlies on Saturday, collecting 20 points and 6 assists in 20 minutes. That he immediately entered the starting lineup is a good sign for his value, as is the prospect of Ja Morant potentially getting traded this week. Even if that doesn’t happen, Jerome should be a good source of points, threes and assists in the interim, which makes him a worthy player to scoop up.
Cooper Flagg had 34 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists on Saturday – an excellent follow-up to his 49-10 outburst two days earlier. Drafting rookies in fantasy basketball can be a crap shoot sometimes and Flagg had shaky moments earlier in the year, but he’s looking more and more like a steal relative to where he was consistently drafted in fantasy leagues this year. He’s going to be an extremely high pick in fantasy basketball next year.
You cursed my Bey!