Six Sell-High Fantasy Basketball Assets

Fantasy basketball is exactly like playing the stock market. You want to invest in a property before the bandwagon jumpers get a hold of it, and once it reaches peak value, you want to sell while the price is at its highest.

The following are fantasy assets that are likely at or near their peak value this season. Now would be the time to try and cash them out before they regress, get hurt or lose playing time.

»In Related: Fantasy Waiver Wire Watch

Arron Afflalo, Orlando Magic – This is the most obvious guy on the list, mostly because his production still massively outweighs his apparent ability. Yes, he’s averaging career-highs across the board, but that’s probably more due to the fact that he’s playing more minutes and being relied upon to take way more shots than he has at any other time in his NBA career. If Orlando starts looking toward the future and gives Victor Oladipo more minutes or—even worse—trades Afflalo to a team for which his role is significantly smaller, this dream waiver wire pickup will lose a good chunk of his value very quickly. Selling now for equal value won’t lose you production, but holding onto him seems like the bigger risk.

Spencer Hawes, Philadelphia 76ers – Hawes has been awesome this season, putting up great numbers in the areas you’d expect a big man to put up big numbers, but his 1.7 three-pointers a game and 3.3 APG from the center position make him a valuable and well-rounded asset. So why trade him? Because the rest of his season might not create quite so clear a path to success as the first half of the season has. For one, no one is counting out Nerlens Noel for the year just yet. He has been cleared for basketball activities now, and if he ends up playing there’s a good chance that affects Hawes’ rebounding numbers. Also, should Hawes end up getting traded, his role in the new offense might not be so prominent. There are just a number of what-ifs for Hawes that might be safer to avoid, especially if he can be cashed out for a player that seems to have a clearer path to success the rest of the way.

»In Related: Fantasy Top 100 Overall Rankings

Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs – Like he does every year, Duncan is showing that his talent is seemingly ageless, and for fantasy purposes he’s still extremely relevant in just about every category across the board. The problem with Duncan is that because of his age (37) and who he plays for (Gregg Popovich), there’s a good chance he’ll sit more toward the end of the season. Since the end of the season is when the fantasy playoffs happen, it might be a good idea to ship Duncan for a player more likely to keep putting up those numbers each and every night from now until the end of the fantasy year.

Brandon Knight, Milwaukee Bucks – The window for trading a hot Brandon Knight may have already passed, but if you can sell his monster scoring games over the course of the last month (he’s had a 37-point and 36-point game in that time and has failed to score in double digits only once), that would be a wise thing. The kid has some talent, clearly, but he most likely will not keep up the scoring binge. Try to take advantage of someone who thinks it might.

Darren Collison, L.A. Clippers/Reggie Jackson, Oklahoma City Thunder – Here are a couple of great examples of waiver pickups that cost owners nothing but can end up playing a major role in a multi-player trade that nets you a significantly better player. Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul won’t be out the whole season, obviously, but owners who need Collison’s and Jackson’s production right now may be willing to offer up a player with longer-term value, especially if you can pair one of these players with a middle-tier talent in a two-for-one for someone better.

»In Related: Six Buy-Low Fantasy Basketball Assets

What sell-high trades have you already pulled off this season? Share them with me on Twitter @joelbrigham or in the comments section, and we’ll keep the fantasy conversation going. In the meantime, good luck with the rest of your fantasy season, and may your trades be successful ones!