Buy Low-Sell High "Captain Canada's Demise?"

We have already passed the midway point in the season, but who knows what will happen after the all-star break?! There is still time to rise to the top of your fantasy league. There are some players that you need to sell now while they have high value and some that you need to buy low that are poised to explode in the 2nd half. Lets see who's stock is about to rise or fall.

Buy Low

Dwight Howard-f/c-Orlando Magic

Howard has slipped in the past month. His points are down, he turns the ball over like a mad man, and after leading the league in rebounding for most of the season, he has fallen behind Garnett and Camby. This guy just has too much talent to continue to fall and his value right now is the lowest it will be all season. The Magic don't have much else so Howard will have to pick up his scoring and we have seen from last year his rebounding domincance which he displayed earlier in the year. You may have to act fast if you still want to buy low on Howard because he has had two huge games in a row.

Steve Nash-pg-Phoenix Suns

Nash has a "frozen" shoulder and has missed the past 2.5 games. He says he is fine but there are speculators who think this injury could linger for the remainder of the season. Let me be the first to tell you that Nash is fine and he will be back on the court this weekend. So again, you better act quickly to pry this fantasy stud from an unsuspecting owner that is scared of his injury.

T.J. Ford-pg-Toronto Raptors
Ford has been hurt and it seems right now like he will be splitting time with Jose Calderon, who has been playing at a very high level with Ford sidelined. But I think once Ford is healthy, which shouldn't be a long time because he is already playing again, he will be get the bulk of the minutes at pg and has 20pt 10ast potential.

Lebron James-f-Cleveland Cavs
I know what you're thinking, how can you buy low on one of the best players in the league? Here's why...Lebron is having a down year and he has a badly sprained big toe. I think all he needs is a little rest(maybe he should skip the all-star game?) and a couple days in the gym working on his freethrows. His FT% is at a ridiculous .686 down from last year's 74%. You have to believe his FT shooting will improve in the 2nd half and if it does, his scoring average will rise 2-4 points. I honestly think you can get Lebron right now for a rather low price.

Luke Ridnour-pg-Seattle Supersonics
Ridnour will be recieving many more minutes with the return of Lewis on saturday, and Lewis' return should actually benefit Ridnour's points, 3's, and assists.

Allen Iverson-g-Denver Nuggets
Iverson is currently injured with a sprained ankle, but I think he's going to be fine going forward and maintain scoring about 25ppg the rest of the way. If his owner thinks he is seriously hurt and scared of him losing shots to Melo, then you might be able to steal one of the NBA's top scorers.


Buy Low/Sell High???

Luol Deng-g/f-Chicago Bulls
Deng is a buy low-sell high tweener. Although Deng is not a household name, he is quietly having an excellent season and even with his stellar play of late, I think owners will be quick to deal him as they don't recognise him as a top 40 fantasy player, but that's exactly what he is. He shoots a very high FG%, won't kill your FT%, is averaging 20-10 in his past 5 games, assists a little, steals a little, blocks a little, low turnovers. Deng is just a very efficient player and if you can get him cheap by all means go for it. By the same token, however, if you can use him to acquire a true stud then you gotta sell high on him.

Sell High

Smush Parker
Parker has been on fire lately going for at least 18 and averaging two 3's per game in 4 out of his last 6. Parker has also been an excellent source of steals with 2 games of 6 steals in his past 4 and averaging over 3 per game in that stretch. It's hard for me to believe that parker will continue this for the rest of the season. Especially when Kobe starts taking more and more shots down the stretch and with Odom getting healthier and healthier and Walton coming back soon, there just won't be enough shots to go around for parker to hold onto the value that he has right now.

Tracy McGrady-g/f-Houston Rockets
I'll give you two reasons to sell high on T-Mac. One: His back is gonna start spasming again or he is gonna go down with some kind of injury. Two: When Yao comes back, T-Mac will not score as much. So if you want, you can hold on to him til Yao comes back, but if T-Mac goes down again(which is very likely) you're gonna kick yourself for not dealing him. FYI: Luther Head's value will sky-rocket if McGrady goes down.

Marcus Camby-c-Denver Nuggets
I can't imagine Camby playing even 80% of the games left on the schedule.

Carlos Boozer-f/c-Utah Jazz
Obviously Boozer's value isn't high as he is injured, but do your best to deal him for basically anything because a hairline fracture is usually an injury that lingers until the offseason when a player has ample time to rest it.

Matt Carol, Jason Kapono, Luther Head
I group these guys together because I would've said the same thing about each of them anyway. Although Carol and Kapono start, with other scorers on their teams, they don't get many shot attempts and with Luther Head coming off the bench, he obviously doen't get enough shots per game. Either way, all three of these guys hit about two 3's per game, but thats about all they can offer you. So if you don't need 3's and you have the opportunity to sell them to an owner that does need 3's you may be able to get a player with much higher value. Luther Head could be considered a buy low candidate if you believe T-Mac will go down again, because if he does and Head starts, he will nail around 4 3's per game.

~Brian Melnick
contact at bigmel2k5@yahoo.com