De'Aaron Fox for Zach Lavine trade review and fantasy basketball insight
In recent days, a huge trade has happened between the Lakers, Mavericks and the Jazz. We've all seen it: Luka Doncic and Markieff Morris for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first round pick while the Jazz get Jalen Hood-Schifino and two seconds. We are not here to talk about that trade, but instead to talk about the trade that has been flying under people's radars. The trade was Zach Lavine, Sidy Cissoko and three first round picks to the Kings while the Bulls get Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 first-round pick from Spurs, and the Spurs get De'Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin. In this article we are going to be breaking down the trade and going over how this affects fantasy basketball moving forward.
De'Aaron Fox is averaging 25/5/6 this season with about 1.5 steals per game. Many think that Fox has gotten snubbed from the All Star game the last two seasons, as he has averaged over 25 points per game and shooting really efficiently. Now that he is playing with the face of the league Victor Wembanyama, who is averaging about 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, his stats should increase as well. Fox is currently the fifth ranked point guard in fantasy basketball, and with being the starting point guard next to Wemby, expect both his points and assists to go up as well.
Zach Lavine is another player that could have made the All Star team if he would've played on a bigger market team or just a better team in general. He's averaging 24/5/4.5 this season, but almost all of this has gone unnoticed by fans because he's on a struggling Bulls team. The 2x All Star will be a surprise to the league when he is on the Kings and still averaging 25 points per game. But fortunately for fantasy owners, the only thing that matters are your statistics. Zach Lavine is still ranked the fourth best shooting guard in fantasy basketball despite missing a couple of games this season. We actually are recommending fantasy owners to trade for Lavine as there is no buzz around him right now, before he makes his debut with the Kings.
As for the other players in the trade, we wouldn't worry about them unless you're in a league that has more than 12 players. If you are, we would say to think about picking up Kevin Huerter who is averaging about eight points and three rebounds a game. He is a good pickup for leagues that value three point shooting, since he is making about two threes a game.