Thursday's trade deadline changed the landscape of the league in serious ways, and as the dust starts to settle, we can begin to see where all of the new pieces fit. In the immediate aftermath Thursday, I looked at the six point guard situations changed by all of the trades, and Friday I made my first major post-deadline ranking changes in both H2H and category-based formats.
The guard rankings were the most impacted, which is no surprise. One player who ended up moving up significantly is Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, even though he wasn't included in a deal. He moved up to the No. 1 spot at guard in H2H points leagues; between his incredible individual play this season and continued issues with Kevin Durant's foot, Westbrook belongs there.
Westbrook's former teammate Reggie Jackson saw one of the largest bumps, naturally. He jumped to 24th in H2H leagues and 31st in category-based formats; his lack of shooting and only so-so passing ability limits his ceiling in Roto at least a bit. However, he has shown he can be a high-volume stud in the past, and should get every opportunity to be so again in Detroit. The player he is replacing, new Thunder guard D.J. Augustin might have lost the most value of anyone at the deadline, falling from a top-30 spot at guard to 61st in Roto and 67th in H2H; even that might be generous, frankly.
Brandon Knight gets the opposite in his move from Milwaukee to Phoenix, though he mostly remains unmoved in the rankings (15th in H2H; 18th in Roto). However, though he doesn't lose any games total, the Suns' schedule for the playoffs is pretty terrible. They played just three times in Weeks 21, 22 and 23, which means their four-game Week 24 might not matter for you.
Goran Dragic's Heat only play three times in Week 24, but they have just one three-game week between then and now, a nice consolation prize that could help you get to your championship. He jumps to 25th in H2H and 21st in Roto, though he also showed last season that might just be his floor; he was a legitimate top-10 option at guard in 2013-14, whether Eric Bledsoe was healthy or not. He could coexist beautifully with Dwyane Wade.
The irony of Thursday's deadline was that Dragic and Isaiah Thomas seemingly couldn't fit together with Bledsoe in Phoenix, and yet all three might end up coming out ahead. Thomas landed in Boston, where the competition for minutes at point guard is the unproven Marcus Smart and the underwhelming Evan Turner. He moves into the top-35 in both rankings, and that might be selling him short as well; like Dragic, he was a top-10 guard last season.
Michael Carter-Williams has a worse situation ahead of him after moving from Philadelphia to Milwaukee, but the Bucks' upcoming schedule might ease the sting for his Fantasy owners. The Sixers play two fewer games than the Bucks from Weeks 18 through 24, including two fewer in Week 24; if you play in a league with a Week 24 championship, Carter-Williams' spots in the rankings (28th in H2H; 27th in Roto) might be underselling his actual value for you.
In the wake of Carter-Williams' departure from Philadelphia, the 76ers are left with little in the way of proven replacements. However, Tim Frazier and Isaiah Canaan both have a chance to jump from the D-League to Fantasy relevance if they take advantage of the opportunities ahead of them. Canaan has the much more intriguing skill set, and winds up just outside of the top-50 in both rankings. It wouldn't surprise me if he slid 20 spots either way, but it is well worth taking a shot on him if you lost Augustin.
Beyond the guards, we saw Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony fall out of the rankings entirely today. Anthony's season ended expectedly with knee surgery this week, and the reports about Chris Bosh make his Fantasy value an afterthought here. Let's just hope he can get healthy before worrying about whether he can help your team. That doesn't matter.
Thaddeus Young's trade value hardly changes as a result of his move to Brooklyn, while the Trail Blazers' acquisition of Arron Afflalo adversely impacts Nicolas Batum. He falls to 38th in Roto and 42nd in H2H, and both might be overly optimistic.
At center, Hassan Whiteside moves into the top-12 in both formats, and is now officially a No. 1 center. Rudy Gobert might join him before long in H2H, and is already 11th in Roto. Those are the only players to average more than 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per-36 minutes this season, and both have easily cleared 60 percent shooting from the field. It wouldn't shock me if either or both was knocking on the door of the top-5 in category-based leagues by March.
