Fantasy Basketball Trade Thought: Should You Trade For/Away Raptors' Scottie Barnes?

Another day, another trade scenario to discuss. I noticed Toronto Raptors’ Scottie Barnes was part of several popular trades on the FantasySP Trade Analyzer, so let’s discuss the young Toronto forward.

After taking a look at Barnes’ season so far, we’ll look into the popular trades before assessing things from each side of the deal. Let's get to it!

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Barnes’ Season

The 22-year old Barnes is enjoying a breakout season in year three of his NBA career.

Barnes is averaging 20.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals across 35.2 minutes played. He’s started all 55 games he’s played in.

Despite barely playing any more minutes than his first two seasons, Barnes is averaging nearly five points more per game. His overall shooting percentage is up 1.7%, while his 3-point percentage is up 7.2%. Barnes has 1.5 more rebounds per game and 1.2 more assists per game. He's got a case for the NBA's Most Improved Player.

Because of Barnes’ improvement, it helped the organization move on from Pascal Siakam. It now looks like Barnes will be the centerpiece that Toronto builds around for the future.

Barnes’ strong play this season has him sitting 28th currently on the FantasySP trade value charts. That’s notable given his Average Drop Position was 48th. That makes him one of the best value picks of the year, at least to this point of the season.

Popular Trades

Barnes is part of one-player swaps in the popular trade section of the FSP Trade Analyzer with Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George and Chicago Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan. Barnes is part of a multi-player deal that has Portland Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons and Memphis Grizzlies' Vince Williams Jr. being traded for him.

Barnes is also part of a larger deal with Cleveland Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen and Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro, being traded for Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard and Indiana Pacers’ Siakam.

George currently sits 47th on the trade value chart. He’s played in 50 games so far, averaging 33.7 minutes, 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.4 blocks per game.

DeRozan checks in 31st on the trade value chart. He’s played in 53 games, averaging 37.7 minutes, 22.7 points, 5.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.

Simons is 64th on the trade value chart, while Williams is 173rd.

Simons has appeared in 30 games so far, averaging 33.5 minutes, 23.3 points, 5.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 0.5 steals and 0.1 blocks per game. Williams has played in 43 games, averaging 26.4 minutes, 9.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per contest.

Allen sits 36th on the trade value chart, while Herro is 70th, Leonhard is 17th and Siakam is 23rd.

Allen has played in 48 games this season, averaging 30.7 points, 15.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.8 steals. Herro has averaged 33.7 minutes, 21 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.1 blocks across 35 games played. Leonard is averaging 34.3 minutes, 24.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocks across 48 games played, while Siakam is at 22 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks across 54 total games played.

Trade Breakdowns with Help from Analyzer

Now that all the numbers are on the table, let’s break down the trade from each team’s point of view. We’ll use the FSP Trade Analyzer for some help.

In the Barnes for George deal, the analyzer likes the Barnes’ side of things by over four points. I also like Barnes more, so if I’m offered Barnes for George, I’m taking the deal.

If I was the one that rostered Barnes and somebody offered George, I’d want that deal expanded before agreeing to a deal. It probably would take another player on each side of the deal to make things work, with a better fantasy asset being added with George. Check out our player ratings and see what players might get the job done.

The Barnes and DeRozan swap is very close, with the two players separated by less than a point. I personally like Barnes more as a fantasy player, even though he scores nearly three points a game less, so I’d accept a trade if I was getting Barnes.

I’d personally not want DeRozan straight up for Barnes, but the deal is close enough to accept as is. I’d want to expand the deal by a player on each side at least. Maybe you can get a little more well-rounded option along with DeRozan to even the trade out.

When talking about trading Barnes for Simons and Williams, the trade analyzer likes the two-player side of the deal by about 10 points. While things look lopsided, I actually think that’s a pretty fair offer.

Simons has missed a bunch of time this season, so that factors into things a bit (even though he’s played in pretty much every game outside his injured periods this season). Williams is now starting regularly for Memphis, and playing a ton of minutes, but he isn’t very consistent in his scoring production. Simons can replace the points Barnes scores, while Williams and Simons combined match a lot of the other averages Barnes posts.

If your fantasy team could use some depth, then I’d accept this trade offer for Barnes. On the flip side, the only way you should be offering this kind of deal for Barnes is if you have a stacked roster and are having problems getting everyone in your lineup. I’d see if the other owner would add a second piece along with Barnes, but I’m OK accepting this deal as is from this point of view too.

The five-player deal involving Allen, Barnes and Herro for Leonard and Siakam is an interesting one, but I agree with the analyzer in that the three-player side is getting the better end of the deal.

Leonard and Siakam are the two best players in the deal (according to our player ratings), but with Siakam and Barnes being closely rated, it really comes down to Leonard for Allen and Herro. As good as Leonard is, the combined stats of Allen and Herro are the ones I’d much rather have than what Leonard produces. Leonard also has injury concerns that scare me off of him even more.

Some might think simply taking Herro out of the deal would even things up, but then I’d prefer the Leonard and Siakam side by a good margin. I think the best way to go about making this deal work would be to add a third player to the Leonard and Siakam side.

A player with a rating around 20 should get the job done, and after quick glance, there’s a bunch of players around that rating that I’d be fine (from both points of view) adding to a deal to make things work. Some of the players even a couple points lower would suffice, and I think both owners would be on board with adding them in.

Happy trading!