Stephen Defries
NBA Fantasy expert, Supercoach veteran
Final Word | NBA Supercoach week 8, trades, skippers, strategy
Supercoach veteran Stephen Defries reveals his trades, captains and point of difference players to consider for Supercoach NBA week 8
NBA
December 9, 2025
Week 7 of NBA SuperCoach once again questioned the patience of coaches.
At this point, we need to accept that players are likely to be rested or injury-managed across busy schedules.
I believe risk mitigation will be the key moving forward.
Players playing back to backs or 4 games in 6/7 days may be worth fading.
For ‘The Closers’, it was another solid week with a score of 1,163; however, we dropped 44 spots to 597 overall.
With his team value sitting at 194 mil, I’m confident of some big moves in the coming weeks.
Captain Joker continues to destroy worlds, while Deni Avdija, Cade Cunningham, and Scottie Barnes were among the best scorers this week.
Despite missing a game, Jalen Johnson was immense, averaging 43.
I’m not sure he leaves my team this season.
Doncic missed 2 games with the birth of his daughter, leaving those who brought him in using Chat GPT to find out what other WAGS are expecting.
Bottom-dollar cheapie Ryan Nembhard produced a monster week and will be the most purchased player next week.
Kevin Porter Jr should also be mass purchased next week after producing 134 points.
Priced at 9mil with a breakeven of -42, he’s a must purchase.
The production should continue with Giannis out for an extended period.
Derik Queen burnt those who sold him with a massive 51 points in the final game of the week.
I was one of those after his minutes dropped the previous week. Dam.
There was a lot of love for Knicks players this week, with Hart, Towns, and Bridges all providing solid returns.
Unfortunately, Towns missed the final game of the week.
Sengun was looking like the play of the week until he went down with illness and missed his final two games of the week.
Despite this, I still think he’s a strong buy this week.
Tyler Herro was another popular purchase, but once again the injury gods played their part with the sharp shooter missing the final 2 games of the week.
Josh Giddey started the week well with scores of 29 and 40, but then stunk it up with scores of 12 and 17.
A reminder that SuperCoach now takes a break for NBA Cup action.
Week 8 will commence Thursday, the 18th, and conclude on Monday the 22nd.
Guns
In week 8, the max number of games a player plays is 3, with the lowest being 2.
Aside from Jalen Johnson, who is the latest to graduate to gun status and a must own this week, the rest of our premium options are on a 2 game week.
So who do we keep?
Joker, SGA, and Cade have 4 games the following week and are easy holds.
Doncic and Maxey, who have 3 games the following week, are tradeable to 3-game players this week.
There are no players with 3 games this week and 4 next week.
This means prioritising 3 game players for this week, knowing they may be immediate trade-outs the following week, so make sure you plan accordingly.
Midrange
Getting your midrange players right will likely be the difference maker this week.
We have a plethora of options, so let’s dive in.
Scottie Barnes, Josh Giddey, Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Josh Hart have all been popular trade-ins over the last couple of weeks and remain strong buys.
Alperen Sengun had scores of 55 and 36 before going down with illness.
Tied for the most usage on the team at 27% with Durant, he is initiating the offense and therefore producing high scores. Welcome aboard.
Strong consideration will need to be given to Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Tyler Herro, Mikal Bridges, and Julius Randle; however, I’ve got eyes for one man.
Bam Adebayo. Averaging a modest 22.7 for the season, Bam returned scores of 44, 21, 37, and 13.
The final score was in reduced minutes due to a blowout.
Great price and breakeven.
Worth a look.
Alex Sarr is worth noting here.
He’s having the season we all thought he could.
He’s averaging 25.6 SuperCoach points; however, he has been out with a toe injury.
If named, he’s a strong buy.
Cheapies
As mentioned earlier, Ryan Nembhard and Kevin Porter Jr are your best bets this week.
Derik Queen should also be high on the agenda, with a low break-even and no Zion for a few weeks.
Spencer Jones, Jordan Walsh, and Jaylon Tyson are also solid options.
I’d be wary of Pat Spencer, who copped the “for the foreseeable future” tag from Steve Kerr.
Typically, this means 2 games.
POD’s
Amen Thompson HOU – 5.2% owned
The player voted by GMs as the most likely to have a breakout season hasn’t quite achieved that yet, but it could be a matter of time.
Kevin Durant HOU – 4.1% owned
KD has looked sharp and, most importantly, happy in Houston.
Averaging 30 across his last 5 games, that could easily be 40 at any moment.
Super POD’s
Keegan Murray SAC – 2.4% owned
I hate the team and the way they play.
However, they seem to be prioritising Murray.
Averaging 38 minutes per night, this can only mean SuperCoach points.
Not for me, but if you want to take a punt, I don’t mind it.
Onyeka Okongwu ATL – 0.5% owned
Although he comes off the bench, Okongwu is averaging 33 minutes per game.
Add the lack of availability of Porzingis, this is a bold play that could pay off big time.
Averaging 15/8/4 with 3 stocks, he looks both under-owned and under-valued.
Schedule
Best (3 games)
ATL, MIA, MIN, NYK, SAS, CHI, WSH, TOR, HOU, SAC
Trade & Skipper Plans
Doncic to Sengun
Mathurin to Kevin Porter Jr
Rollins to Bam
C Jalen Johnson
VC Sengun
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