Final Word | NBA Supercoach week 4, trades, skippers, strategy

Supercoach veteran Stephen Defries reveals his trades, captains and point of difference players to consider for Supercoach NBA week four.

NBA

Was this The Joker Week?

Those who didn’t own have probably already deleted the app, while those who didn’t captain him may have done the same.

Much like experiencing Oasis live at Accor Stadium on Saturday night, watching Jokic score 208 SuperCoach points was biblical.

Fortunately, I was able to bring in the Serbian demigod and captain him without breaking apart my team.

This meant also trading in Rollins and Kuminga, who were solid enough.

Last week I struck gold, bringing in both Maxey and Markkannen, but unfortunately, my aspirations of a high-scoring Kawhi Leonard disappeared faster than his knee cartilage.

I went against one of my core SuperCoach principles in bringing in an injury-prone player and paid the price.

Lesson learned.

Tyrese Maxey continued his stellar start to the season and now enters a two-game week.

The cash generated by choosing him over SGA will allow me to go straight to Doncic this week.

Happy days!  

Once again, the injuries and restings were prevalent to key players with Kawhi, Steph, Butler, Harden, Reaves, and Zion all missing time while Wemby underwhelmed in his 3 games.

More on that below.  

GUN’s 

The Joker delivered with an average of 52pts over his 4-game week.

Those who traded Wemby to Joker and planned to swap back this week are now faced with a dilemma.

Does Joker score more points this week in 3 games than Wemby in 4 games?

With Giannis and Doncic also on 4 game weeks, bringing Wemby back may prove difficult whilst keeping Jokic, which I’d probably do.

Giannis is an easy hold and probably a buy if you don’t own.

I avoided due to concerns around his knee soreness heading into some back-to-backs, but it appears he’s fine.

Luka magic has 4 games this week, then 2 the following week, so trading him in is a one-week play.

I think we have to.

He could score 200 this week.

A swap with SGA for a week will be a popular play as he has a 3-game week. 

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Midrange

As I have preached all season.

Selecting the right midrange player will be your quickest ticket to the big dogs, and this week we have some tantalising options.

Whilst the Clippers remain relevant with 2 weeks of 4 games still to come, I’m wary after getting burned last week.

Harden would be the pick here, however, with potential restings at any time, I’m going to avoid. 

I’m kicking myself, I sold Donovan Mitchell last week.

The hamstring concern spooked me; however, now that Cleveland has 2 weeks of 4 games coming up, I’ll need to find a way to bring him back.

Deni Avdija becomes relevant with his schedule finally opening up.

In his final 13 games last season, he averaged 35 SuperCoach points last week and dropped 33 points in his last game.

Straight in for me.

Paolo Banchero has put his early struggles behind him with 2 weeks of great production.

This could be the week to strike.

Trey Murphy is the other big option this week.

No Zion for 2 more weeks, and with a great schedule, he looks ripe for the picking. 

Cheapies

Ryan Rollins and Josh Minot were the pick of the cheapies last week and will continue to do a job for owners.

Derik Queen and Neemias Queta are my picks this week, while there is still plenty of value in Ryan Kalkbrenner. 

PODs

Stephon Castle SAS – 6.9% owned

I may have gotten this one wrong in the offseason.

I didn’t see a world where he improves his SuperCoach output, but he has.

Fox being back might limit his usage, but that may mean more quality possessions.

Evan Mobley CLE – 4.1% owned

With a healthy average of 26.7, Mobley could explode at any moment.

The return of Darius Garland should help.

Super POD’s

Jalen Johnson ATL – 2.3% owned

An absolute gun on a team that is largely centred around his production with Trae Young out.

With a near 30 average he’s capable of pushing that to 35.

There is an injury concern though so monitor injury reports.

Shaedon Sharpe POR – 1.5% owned

Hasn’t hit his straps this season yet, but he’s too good of a talent to not turn it around soon.

When he does, you will wish you owned.

Need to catch him at the right time.

Trey Murphy NOP – 0.7% owned

Oh boy.

211 coaches currently own Trey.

That may be too good to pass up.

As mentioned above, he is seeing a lot of usage with the minutes to match and plays an important role.

The pick of the PODs this week.

Schedule 

Best (4 and 4 games over next 2 weeks)

ATL, CHA, CLE, DAL, LAC, NOP, ORL, POR 

Good (4 games this week)

GSW, LAL, MIL, PHO, SAC, SAS, UTA

Bad (2 games this week)

PHI

Trade & Skipper Plans

I will be dropping Kawhi at the airport myself this week with a one way ticket.

Never again!

I will be bringing in Deni Avdija.

It’s time to move Buzelis on for a cheapie, likely Derik Queen.

With Maxey now on a 2-game week, my final trade will be an easy move to Luka Doncic.

There may be another boost for Mitchell or Murphy, but I’m keen to hold onto those.

Good luck all, and remember, stay patient.

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