With the trade to the Sixers, Ish Smith’s minutes (and value) are about to go up.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We’re now into Week 9, a critical time for fantasy owners as they look to make long-term improvements to their teams in order to develop a playoff-worthy team. This is also around the time when more trades begin to take place, and as a result, news came on Thursday detailing a trade between the 76ers and Pelicans, which we will cover shortly. So sit back, enjoy your eggnog and take a look at our Week 9 picks…

Ownership totals are for ESPN leagues.

Jameer Nelson – PG – Denver Nuggets – 22.7%
Nelson missed Wednesday’s game due to an illness, and in his stead Randy Foye had a heck of a game scoring 31 points in 40 minutes. Foye was quite impressive, but that shouldn’t mean much in terms of a starting role at point going forward. Foye is more of a shooter and the Nuggets really only have two point guards on their depth chart (Emmanuel Mudiay and Nelson) and Mudiay is injured (ankle) with no return expected anytime soon. That means that when Nelson gets over his illness he is likely going to return to the starting point guard role where he recently averaged 14 points, 4.2 rebounds, six assists, one steal and 2.4 three-pointers while shooting 50 percent from the field in 33.6 minutes. As long as he is seeing around 30 minutes per game, Nelson should continue to put up roughly the same numbers, which would give him mid-low end value depending on league size.

Ish Smith – PG – Philadelphia 76ers – 16.9%
Involved in one of the first trades of the season, Ish Smith, as of Thursday, will be dealt by the Pelicans to the 76ers and Philadelphia will waive Tony Wroten. It looked like Wroten wouldn’t have too much trouble eventually reclaiming starter’s minutes on a 1-30 Philadelphia team that racks up losses like it’s their job. Instead of spending more time dealing with an oft-injured and turnover prone Wroten, however, it looks like Philly will take a second look at Smith, who played for the Sixers part of last season. He should be pretty used to moving by now as he’s played on nine different teams over his 10-year career, and out of those, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that he found the most success as a 76er. It’s been said here before, but teams like the Sixers, teams whose wins you can count on one hand (or one finger), are perfect places to look for waiver wire talent and Smith should be no exception. It’s probable that most owners dropped Smith soon after the return of Jrue Holiday (hence the sub-20 percent ownership rate), so it’s best to pick Smith up before word of his relocation spreads. His value is, of course, currently unknown, but the fact that Philly waived Wroten bodes well for Smith, and let’s be honest, there are always plenty of minutes to go around on that team. If you have space on your bench Smith is worth the add across most leagues because of the boost his upside has now received thanks to the trade.

Garrett Temple – SG – Washington Wizards – 8.1%
Temple’s value is going to be directly tied to Bradley Beal and when he will return from a stress reaction in his lower right fibula that’s kept him out for the past two weeks. It looks like Beal will return within the next few weeks but may not be back to 100 percent til mid-January or later. A more official update on his status is expected to be released Saturday, Dec. 26, but for now, Temple is a nice short-term play. Temple has been on fire, like record-setting fire, over his last three games. Over that stretch, he has averaged 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 three-pointers in 39 minutes, and has become “the first player in NBA history to post three straight 20-point efforts after not recording one in 250 or more career games.” He’s a great add in deeper leagues and even a good add in standard sized leagues for owners needing a boost in scoring. It may not last because of Beal, but for now, Temple should be owned in many more leagues than is currently the case.

Matt Barnes – SF – Memphis Grizzlies – 42.9%
Over his last nine games, Barnes has averaged 11 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.3 blocks and two 3-pointers in 30 minutes. While those numbers may not be wow-worthy in points leagues, in category leagues they’re pretty darn useful. Anyone who’s averaging more than one steal, block and three-pointer a game, providing useful rebounds and points, and shooting a not so bad 45 percent from the field and 88 percent from the line, deserves to be picked up in just about all category leagues. Even in points leagues, Barnes is still doing enough to provide nice value in deeper formats. It should be noted that he did put up a dud on Wednesday, scoring just two points in 23 minutes in Memphis’ loss at Washington, but Barnes should bounce back in his next game like he did after his other forgettable performance on Dec. 16. Barnes will log some games you’d love to forget but his good games are currently doing more than enough to make up for the duds.

Bismack Biyombo – C – Toronto Raptors – 38.2%
One could easily see Biyombo’s rebounds and points totals for the past five games and get them mixed up because over that stretch the big man is averaging 15.8 rebounds and 6.6 points. He’s been a beast on the boards and the rebounds alone are enough of a reason to pick him up in deeper category leagues, but Biyombo has also averaged 2.6 blocks over that period – enough to put him well within the top-10 in blocks this past week. If you’re in need of rebounding or blocks, Biyombo is a must-add regardless of league size. But, his value will not remain this high for long because Jonas Valanciunas is nearing his return from a hand injury. As long as Valanciunas is out, Biyombo is worth an add and could also have some sneaky trade value for a limited time.

George Haw is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from George, check out his archive and follow him@georgeWarfieldH.