James Harden traded! Immediate Fantasy Analysis

James Harden has been traded per Woj!

Trade summary: Clippers get - James Harden, PJ Tucker, Filip Petrusev Sixers get - Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin, multiple draft picks, pick swap

Here are my very early thoughts on this:

Fantasy value winners: Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, De’Anthony Melton

Maxey is the clear winner here, congratulations to those who got him outside the top 50 in drafts, he should return top 25 value moving forward with a major bump in usage and playmaking.

Embiid gets a minor uptick, as Harden’s usage is no longer there and some of that usage will come to him. To me, he is very clearly the second-best player after Jokić in standard 9cat fantasy.

Harris now goes from the fourth option to the clear third option offensively in this team and therefore benefits.

Melton should start at the SG spot now and return top 100 value as a floor with his ability to get assists, threes, and defensive stats.

Fantasy value losers: James Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard

These 3 are not big fantasy losers after this trade under any stretch of the imagination. Also, a lot of the chatter for Harden coming to LA was baked in where people took Leonard, George, and Harden in fantasy drafts. However, they all take very minor hits in their fantasy value moving forward.

Harden in my projections is a top 25-30 player in LA as he has shown the ability to be a third option in Philly and Brooklyn before and still showcase elite fantasy value. I would say his ceiling is not as high in LA as it was in Philly where he could have easily returned top 15 value, since Russell Westbrook is also there to take some playmaking duties along with both Leonard and George who can too.

George and Leonard take minor dips as well with Harden there, especially with their secondary playmaking duties potentially taking a back seat. They will be relied upon to score and defend at an elite level and should maintain top 15 (Leonard) and top 25 (George) moving forward.

Fantasy value questions: Oubre, all the power forwards in Philly, who stands out?

Covington has the most fantasy-friendly skill set out of Morris, Batum, and Martin and if he starts and Nick Nurse gives him 25 minutes he would be a back-end standard league guy. Oubre’s value will be interesting as well, seeing how many minutes he plays at the SF spot once rotations become clearer in Philly. I’m okay with taking a flier on Oubre and Covington in 12-team leagues, but I would temper my expectations.

Good to get clarity on Harden’s situation! Hope this quick piece helps you in how you’re thinking about your leagues.

Let me know via comments or replying back to this email what your thoughts are on this trade and what kind of content you would like to see next week!

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