Fantasy Friday (Dec. 11)

This week instead of having our players of the week, we will look the people that you must trade for and the players you must trade off.

Trade For:

• Jonas Valanciunas: This guy has very low trade value right now and once he comes back, he will do really well. Valanciunas will be a buy low kind of guy. He will give you a lot of rebounds and play wonderful defense not to mention that he will also give you a great shooting percentage.
• John Wall: I think that if you can get John Wall right now, that would be great. Some owners will look at his shooting and PPG and automatically think that he isn't doing good at all. In reality, yeah, he isn't doing great but he is give you multiple assists, steals, and blocks. John Wall is a great low value kind of guy.
• Kevin Love: Kevin Love really doesn't look the best of late and is really being overlooked. People don't look at Love and think all-star, even though he is averaging all-star numbers. You can get this guy at low value.
• Blake Griffin: This guy is one of the best to have on your fantasy team. I would try to trade off James Harden for him, or even a guy like LeBron James would be a great trade-off. Why do I say this? Because I believe that Griffin is the second best guy to have in fantasy this year. He is averaging 25 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and nearly 1 block and steal per game while only averaging about 2 turnovers per game. Not to mention he is shooting 33% from beyond the arc, 73% from the FT line, and 52% from the field.
• Isaiah Thomas: This guy is a top PG in the league. He is averaging great numbers very quietly. This is a guy that you can get lower trade value for and your team will be very prosperous having this guy on your team.

Trade Away: 

• Markieff Morris: This guy isn't doing good at all right now, you either need to trade him or stash him for when he is traded. I say that now is the best time to trade him before it gets too bad for teams to even have him.
• Robert Covington: Covington has been playing really great of late but do not expect him to keep it up with Noel, Okafor, and Wroten coming back. His trade value is through the roof right now so you need to trade him fast.
• James Harden: If you are in a categories league, you are going to have a hard time winning with him. His turnovers and bad shooting is just too much and you could probably find someone who has a more positive value when trading.
• Chris Paul: He has had low numbers and has been injured quite a bit for the Clippers. People might look at Paul and might just make the trade. You have to make sure you get good value out of Paul though.
• Kristaps Porzingis: His trade value is going to be really high considering all of the hype about him. You can get a really solid fantasy player and you might be able to get a guy like John Wall out of him. You never know with Porzingis.

Well, anyways, I hope you guys like this week's post. We will have the regular weekly players next week. Thanks for reading and see you next week here on NBA Inside The Play Nation!

What Will Super Mario Bring To Memphis?

"Chalmers Wizards" by Keith Allison - originally posted to Flickr as 00060983. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

As you have probably heard, there has been a trade in the NBA. Take a look at the players that were involved below:

Memphis Traded: Beno Udrih, Jarnell Stokes, a future second round pick
Miami Traded: Mario Chalmers, James Ennis

This is a big trade for both teams, especially for the Grizzlies, who are currently 4-6. With the Grizzlies struggling with defense and offense right now, Mario Chalmers should be able to help improve it for sure.

Mario Chalmers has such a big impact when he is on the floor. The team's defensive rating is so much better with Chalmers on the court. In fact, the Miami Heat's defensive rating was 81.7 with Chalmers on the court, and 98.1 when Chalmers isn't on the court. Big difference right.

He also will bring shooting and passing. When Mario is on the court, the Miami Heat shoot 42.9% from 3-point range, and when he is off the court, the Heat shoot only 27.8% from 3-point range. However, this isn't because of Chalmers shooting the ball well. He has only shot 15.4% from deep this season. I think the main reason why is that Chalmers knows how to move the ball. When Chalmers is on the court, the Heat average 22 APG, but when he isn't, they only average 17.8.

One of the best things that the Grizzlies are going to get from Chalmers is offense. The Memphis Grizzlies are 29th in the league in offense, which is pretty bad considering there are 30 teams. They have an offensive rating of 94.8. Chalmers will really help on the floor and here is why. Chalmers had the best offensive rating on the Heat. It was 107.8. When he wasn't on the floor, the Miami Heat had an offensive rating of 99.7. Big difference! If he brought the Miami offense up like that, he can hopefully do the same to the Grizzlies offense.

The other main players involved in the trade is Beno Udrih. Now, I honestly don't see why the Miami Heat made this trade because Mario Chalmers had such a big impact offensively and defensively on this Miami Heat team. I don't see what Beno Udrih brings to this team that Chalmers didn't. Beno Udrih is a good overall defensive player, but he hardly affects his team on the offensive end like Chalmers does. He improves the Memphis offense by only 1.5. The assisting isn't affected that much when Beno is on the floor. There is not drastic change in the 3-point% when Beno is on the floor. I don't see why you would make a trade for Beno when you are giving up someone who is worth more. Then Jarnell Stokes has done nothing in his career. Last season he averaged 3 PPG, and he has done nothing this season but grab 2 rebounds. James Ennis on the other hand has actually done somethings, such as show off his athleticism with some amazing dunks, show us he could play defense, and gave us some points off the bench last season as he averaged 5. The Heat also received a second round pick, but how often do those turnout to actually be worth something. I don't know what the Miami Heat were thinking, but the Grizzlies clearly won this trade.

You can't forget the Mario Chalmers won 2 NBA championships as a starting point guard. This man is going to be a big impact on this Grizzlies team and I expect him to solve some of their problems. 

Chicago Bulls Should Trade for Rudy Gay

"Rudy Gay Kings" by Mike - Flickr: (2013-12-21) Kings at Magic 21. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

Rudy Gay is an offensive beast on a team that can't win. I'm pretty sure that Rudy wants to win. Everybody hates losing, unless you are Carmelo Anthony, but he just likes money. And we all know that Carmelo still doesn't prefer to lose, he just doesn't mind it. But Rudy has been on a losing team for a long time now. In fact, the only time Rudy Gay went to the playoffs, it was back in the 2011-2012 season and the Memphis Grizzlies lost in the first round. So my assumption is that Rudy Gay would probably love to be traded to the best scenario where he can win, and in my mind, that place is Chicago.

Mike Dunleavy has been sidelined for 8-10 weeks with a back injury, and now the Chicago Bulls need a starting SF. Who would be better to fill that role than none other than Rudy Gay. To me Rudy would fit perfectly in this role and would help the Bulls be a championship team. If they had him, their offense would have so many options, something that they struggled with last year. Imagine the lineup:

PG: Derrick Rose (starter), Aaron Brooks (bench)
SG: Jimmy Butler (starter), Kirk Hinrich (bench)

SF: Rudy Gay (starter), Doug McDermott (bench)
PF: Pau Gasol (starter), Nikola Mirotic (bench)
C: Koakim Noah (starter), Cameron Bairstow (bench)

Pretty good right. Now you are probably thinking, "Who will they trade for Rudy Gay?" Now this is the part where I tell you, The Sacramento Kings are pretty much giving players away. (ex. Nik Stauskas). But they won't just give away Rudy Gay. And the Bulls have to be smart about this. The Bulls have not that many players on huge contracts. And Rudy Gay really isn't on a big contract. They would be able to afford him easily. And here is the trade.

Bulls trade: Tony Snell, Mike Dunleavy, Taj Gibson, E'Twaun Moore, and a 1st round draft pick

Kings Trade: Rudy Gay, Kosta Kufos

C'mon, this is a great trade. The Bulls haven't really been able to put together Tony Snell, and I think the Kings would love to have him. These guys would be great for the Kings to look through. And Kosta Kufos would be great down low for the Bulls as he is known for his solid defense.

I really think that this would be a great trade for both the Kings and the Bulls. The Kings know they won't win this season, so why not bring in some people to develop. The Bulls offense would improve a lot with Gay in the mix. Imagine how much stress it would take off Rose, Butler, and aging Gasol. This would really help them gather some wins and help them reach the finals.

J.R. Smith: The Wild Card

"JR Smith Cavs - 2015" by Erik Drost from United States - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons.

As you might have heard, J.R. Smith has just signed a new deal with the Cavaliers. What does this mean for the team? What does this mean for J.R.? All questions will be revealed.

What Impact will J.R. Smith Have on the Team? J.R. Smith really isn't your best 3 point shooter on the team. He shot 426 three pointers while only shooting 38% from 3 point range but that isn't bad knowing that Lou Williams shot 447 three pointers while only shooting just 34% from long range. J.R. Smith will be a help with just taking some ease off LeBron James and others. J.R. to me will have to some off the bench next season as Kyrie and Shumpert start at the Guard position. I think he will be at the SG position next to Mo Williams and you will see Smith's numbers go down to him being more of a team player next to Mo Williams.

What's Cavaliers Next Move? If the Cavaliers do sign Tristan Thompson, they will trade off someone. It could be Varejao or Mozgov, but one of those bigs will go and will be traded for a much better role player like Corey Brewer or Mike Dunleavey. Matthew Dellavadova (I'm sorry Cleveland fans but he) should not be in the lineup and should not play bench as he should be inserted in if someone gets injured. Other than that, I think he shouldn't really get much playing time due to the fact that there are plenty of much better guards than him on that team. I think that the team this year is going to have a much stronger bench and that they will be ready for another Finals run.

What about a J.R. trade? It is unlikely and I think that J.R. is going to be their support guy. I mean, c'mon, you never know if you will get a 2-22 night or an 8-8 night from 3 point range. But that is alright if he is a bench player. He will be their some nights, and the nights he isn't, the other guys will do great. I think J.R. is one the perfect team this year because the Cavs are not going to need him to score all the time if he does come off the bench. If he were to get traded just because something went wrong, I would assume him to be traded in a deal for a guy like Jamal Crawford or Gerald Henderson and he and Mozgov or Varejao would be sent away. That would be my assumption.

Does J.R. get more flagrant fouls? Yes, this guy has a very big temper, of course he does. That is something that J.R. will always have and it's not really a good thing. The last thing you would want is DeMarcus Cousins and J.R. Smith on the same team. Bad things would happen. You think George Carl and DeMarc are bad, think about them.

Did the Cavs make a good move? Yes, I think they made a wonderful more. J.R. Smith would be great off the bench and he will be an important piece for the Cavaliers to make the Finals. I think the Cavs made a great decision that they won't regret. Good luck to the Cavs and J.R.