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Fantasy Basketball Trade Advice: Bam Adebayo, Jonas Valanciunas, Kelly Oubre Jr.

Fantasy Basketball Trade Advice: Bam Adebayo, Jonas Valanciunas, Kelly Oubre Jr.

We’re just over two weeks into the NBA season and injuries are already running rampant. Stars like Tyrese Maxey, CJ McCollum, Scottie Barnes, Jamal Murray and Jaylen Brown have all caught the injury bug in various forms. Managing the absences on your fantasy squad and monitoring those on your league-mates’ teams are keys to staying competitive all season long.

Week 2 trade advice, let’s dive in.

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Fantasy Basketball Trade Advice (Week 2)

Trade For

Bam Adebayo (C – MIA)

Aside from his three-point shooting, Bam Adebayo is solid-to-exceptional in every facet of the game. Though, the big man hasn’t opened the season shooting the ball well. In his first seven games, Adebayo is shooting just 39.8% from the field and 67.6% from the charity stripe, both career lows.

Trading for Adebayo is making a bet that those figures will rebound to his career averages of 54.5% and 75.4%. Few players bring such high levels of playmaking, rebounding, interior scoring and defense all at once. Capitalizing on Adebayo’s slow offensive start could net you one of the league’s most unique fantasy assets.

Players to Trade Him for Who Are Ranked Higher: Nikola Vucevic (C – CHI)

Trade Away

Jonas Valanciunas (C – WAS)

The Wizards made the puzzling signing of Jonas Valanciunas in June. While the early returns aren’t poor, his fit on the young Washington squad is a questionable one. Through six games, the center has started just one game and tallied at least 25 minutes only once.

Alex Sarr, the second overall pick in June, has been outperformed by Valanciunas on the offensive end (Sarr has much stronger defensive numbers) but has seen four more minutes per game. A non-competitive team, Washington has little incentive to play Valanciunas extended minutes. If the Wizards don’t prioritize the big man, you shouldn’t either.

Players to Trade Him for Who Are Ranked Lower: Walker Kessler (C – UTA), Onyeka Okongwu (C – ATL)

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Trade For

Kelly Oubre Jr. (SF, SG – PHI)

The Sixers are a complete mess. Tyrese Maxey is set to miss a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury and Joel Embiid is serving a three-game suspension. Both he and Paul George are unlikely to play in back-to-backs all season.

With the three of them being either absent or untrustworthy for the foreseeable future, Kelly Oubre Jr. slides in as one of Philly’s leading shot-takers. The 10th-year forward is far from a perfect fantasy player, but his high offensive volume makes him valuable.

Players to Trade Him for Who Are Ranked Higher: Gary Trent Jr. (G – MIL), Amen Thompson (G – HOU)

Trade Away

Jabari Smith Jr. (PF, C – HOU)

The Rockets have too many promising young players for their own good and Jabari Smith Jr. is bearing the brunt of the issue. While Smith Jr. is a consistent starter and a 30-minute-per-game guy, he isn’t a focal point in the Houston offense that’s 0.2 Amen Thompson points per game away from having seven double-digit scorers.

Fellow 2022 draftee Tari Eason has yet to start this season and plays nine fewer minutes per game and still outperforms Smith Jr. in fantasy. Finding a way to swing a Smith Jr. for Eason deal would certainly make sense.

Players to Trade Him for Who Are Ranked Lower: Ivica Zubac (C – LAC), Naz Reid (C – MIN), Tari Eason (F – HOU)

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