Posts Tagged Amir Johnson

Get ready for one of the most important weeks of the fantasy basketball season.  The days leading up to the trade deadline (February 18) can make or break fantasy squads.  Since there are no more games this week, you should be filling your ‘dead’ roster spots with guys who would benefit from possible trades, if you haven’t already.  (See: Francisco Garcia, 2009 or Drew Gooden, 2008.)

If you've got a dead roster spot, it might be worth it to stash someone like Blatche for the next 6 days. (Getty)

For example, one of the most popular pieces of trade bait is Troy Murphy.  Nobody knows where he will go (or if he will go), but the biggest winner from a Murphy trade would be Roy Hibbert.  Since Hibbert’s probably already taken, you’d want to keep an eye on Tyler Hansbrough.  He’s currently injured but would be a safe bet to get 25-30 mpg once he returns.  And lastly, the biggest loser of this deal would probably be Murphy himself (especially if he winds up in CLE, but maybe not if he winds up in SAC).

Got it?  Since there are so many rumored scenarios, I’m just going to run through the most popular trade targets and the ripple effect that would happen if they were moved.  Of course, this is imperfect because I’m (mainly) looking at one side of the deal, so just consider this a general set of guidelines before the actual deals start getting announced next week.

ANTAWN JAMISON

Biggest winner: Andray Blatche

Biggest loser: Probably Jamison (the most likely destination for him is CLE, which is already stacked with bigs)

CARON BUTLER

Biggest winner: Mike Miller (in store for a bigger role)

Keep an eye on: Nick Young (Miller might shift to the SF spot, freeing up the starting SG spot)

Biggest loser: I would’ve said Butler, but this might actually jumpstart him.

ELTON BRAND

Biggest winner: Marreese Speights

Keep an eye on: Thaddeus Young

Biggest loser: The PF on whatever team Brand is headed to.

ANDRE IGUODALA

Biggest winner: Lou Williams (if Willie Green plays more minutes at the SF spot, it could finally relieve that backcourt traffic jam)

Keep an eye on: Willie Green and Thaddeus Young

Biggest loser: The SF on whatever team Iggy is headed to.

KIRK HINRICH

Biggest winner: John Salmons

Keep an eye on: Hinrich (he’s already useful now, and his value could rise even more if he’s moved into a starting PG role)

Biggest loser: The PG on whatever team Hinrich is headed to.

CHRIS BOSH

Biggest winner: Andrea Bargnani

Keep an eye on: Amir Johnson

Biggest loser: You got it: the big men on whatever team Bosh is headed to.  (Okay, I’ll stop mentioning the biggest loser if there’s no clear one yet.)

NATE ROBINSON

Biggest winner: Chris Duhon (he needs anything to happen to jumpstart himself) and Larry Hughes

Keep an eye on: Nate, as he might move to a situation with more playing time, but not necessarily more responsibility.

DEVIN HARRIS

Biggest winner: Keyon Dooling

Biggest loser: Probably Harris, as he’s currently The Man in New Jersey.  At least when he’s healthy.

TYRUS THOMAS

Biggest winner: Probably Thomas himself, as he can only crack about 20 mpg right now, and Taj Gibson

Keep an eye on: Brad Miller

Okay, hope that’s enough to get the juices flowing for now.  Watch out for my Western Conference edition sometime this weekend, and feel free to point out any pieces of trade bait I missed.