Week 17 was all about the trades.  It saw the emergence of a perennial sleeper candidate (or two), the triumphant (at least for now) return of a former first rounder, and the early deaths of some promising fantasy seasons… all the result of big-time trades.  The Recap:

Not to rain on T-Mac's parade, but another former Magic/Rocket, Steve Francis, also had a solid Knick debut with 16, 5, and 4. Just saying... (Getty)

Cavs lose!  Cavs lose!  Cavs lose!

That’s right, the new-look Cavs are 0-3 after acquiring Antawn Jamison.  Is it the curse of Big Z?  Or is it a hex of fantasy owners of Jamison, Ilgauskas, J.J. Hickson, and Anderson Varejao?  Of course, the trade had obvious fantasy ramifications (basically, it sucked for all the guys mentioned above), but why is the losing streak so important?  Because it means the Cavs and Lakers are in a near-dead heat for the top record in the NBA… which is great news if you own guys like LeBron or Kobe, who probably can’t afford to rest late into the season as the race for home court advantage comes down to the wire.

(Meanwhile, Jamison put up a dud in his first game but bounced back on Sunday.  All those other bigs in CLE?  I’m not sure they’ll ever bounce back.)

T-Mac + D’Antoni = WTF

If you look at my rankings of the biggest trade deadline winners (and losers), I had Tracy McGrady ranked near the top of the second tier (although of course qualified that by saying he had the biggest upside of anyone on the list).  Well, he made his case for being ranked near the top of the first tier in his first game as a Knick, going off for 26, 4, and 5 with great percentages.  Hell, he even shocked himself, as he didn’t expect to play more than 20 min and was admittedly exhausted by the end of the OT game.

I’ve always said the main reason I would own McGrady would be to sell high on him after a hot streak.  Well, this might be the right time if you can get a good bounty in return.  However, Mike D’Antoni has said the Knicks are going to run the rest of the way (See: Wilson Chandler starting at PF instead of SG, where he has started all year).  And with T-Mac playing nice and saying he’s willing to come back to NY at a discount next year, D’Antoni just might keep running him out there for 30+ mpg to build chemistry.  Because of his injury risk, I’d be inclined to sell high, but don’t sell yourself short.

Fantasy ROY Race

First it was Tyreke Evans vs. Brandon Jennings.  Then it was Evans vs. Stephen Curry.  Now is it Curry vs. Darren Collison?  Okay, that’s an overstatement.  But over the last three weeks, it’s been pretty close:

Of course, when Chris Paul returns, this race ends, but it just goes to show how valuable both have been over the last three weeks, and how valuable Curry will be the rest of the year.

WEEK 18 PICKUPS

I’m going to steal from myself and just reiterate some of the biggest trade deadline winners, with some slight adjustments given 3 days-worth of new info.

First of all, trade deadline winners like Andray Blatche (62%) , Tyrus Thomas (63%), T-Mac (74%), and Josh Howard (76%) have already cleared the 50% ownership mark in Yahoo leagues and will thus be excluded.  (I like them in that order by the way.)  The rest:

Casspi & Butler. Ambiguously gay photo, unambiguously solid fantasy pickups. (Getty)

Omri Casspi (33%)

Casspi posted 15, 5, and 3 with 3 steals in his first game with the new-look Kings.  Nothing flashy, but he should get relatively consistent minutes in SAC the rest of the way, as he and Evans are the clear building blocks of that team’s future.

JaVale McGee (17%)

It’s tough to find 11 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 2.7 bpg off the FA list, but that’s exactly what McGee has delivered in 3 post-trade starts… and all while playing with a sprained wrist.

Rasual Butler (31%)

He can be streaky, but right now he’s streaking the right direction with 17 treys in his last 5 games.  It might take some time, but with Al Thornton out of the way and Travis Outlaw’s indefinite return, Butler could slowly make his was off this list by clearing the 50% hurdle.

C.J. Watson (18%)

Watson has reemerged with Monta Ellis starting to burn out.  Don Nelson recently stated he would not be running guys out for 40+ mpg sometime soon, which means Watson should/might start getting consistent playing time again.  So while I wouldn’t expect the 27, 4, and 4 with great percentages and ~2 treys/stl per game that Watson posted last week, I’d still expect useful fantasy stats.

DeAndre Jordan (5%)

Jordan had a mixed bag of results in the Clips’ first 3 games without Marcus Camby, averaging 8 and 8 with 2.3 bpg.  Those numbers might not be worth taking on his atrocious FT%, but if you’ve already punted that category, he’s a nice pickup.  If not, approach with caution.  (Also keep in mind that Drew Gooden has decided not to take a buy-out and will stay with the Clips.  Obviously Gooden cares about winning and not living in sunny southern California…)

Sergio Rodriguez (9%) and Eddie House (13%)

Rodriguez was the hot pickup after whispers that he might start in New York.  And even though he had a lackluster debut, he’d still be a big catch running the Knicks’ new old up-tempo offense.  Meanwhile, House — who has played and excelled for D’Antoni before — stepped right in and had a huge first game as the Knicks’ super-6th man.  Looks like they both have a chance to make a splash in NY, but just remember that Rodriguez has a real chance to average 8+ apg if/when he steps into that starter’s role before you give up on him.

Keep an eye on… everyone from my trade deadline post, with some tweaks:

Taj Gibson (24% — I’m slightly downgrading him from my previous list because Joakim Noah has already returned; check Noah’s status and think about selling high on Gibson if Noah’s foot starts feeling better), Nate Robinson (52% — been dropped so much he might actually be available; keep an eye on his new role in BOS), Al Thornton and Hakim Warrick (45% and 14% — slight upgrades after debuts on new squads), Jonas Jerebko (9%), Shannon Brown (6% — check Kobe’s status), Mario Chalmers (33% — check Rafer Alston’s status), and last but not least, Anthony Tolliver (6%)

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