NBA Waiver Wire: Change of Scenery

Well, wasn't THAT exciting?

Yesterday's trade deadline raised more questions than it answered, but, as always, it left behind some sneaky-good fantasy options.

It's important to note that it is notoriously difficult to truly integrate new players in the middle of a season. NBA teams simply don't have much time to practice. The real, immediate values this week are probably the guys left behind; players who will get a significant increase in minutes or responsibility because someone else was dealt.

With that in mind...

Markieff Morris (72 percent) - Will the change-of-scenery help the talented-but-troubled forward get back on track? Quite possibly. And he seems a good fit playing off the uber-talented John Wall.

Aaron Gordon (65 percent) and Evan Fournier (67 percent) and Mario Hezonja (5 percent) - The trades of Tobias Harris and Channing Frye eliminate a bit of a log jam at the forward positions, which Gordon and Fournier are more than capable of filling - unless Scott Skiles does something silly like give Ersan Ilyasova 35-plus minutes per game, which is totally the sort of thing Skiles would do. Speaking of which, early reports indicate that Skiles will stick with Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo as his starting guards, which I suppose leaves Brandon Jennings as backup to both. As I've been saying all season, there's not much evidence to suggest that players coming back from Achilles' injury can play at their previously-established levels; I remain highly skeptical about Jennings as a fantasy play.

Jeff Green (56 percent) - In recent weeks we've taken fliers on both Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson, hoping they'd step into the void created by Blake Griffin's absence. And those moves worked about as well for us as they did for the Clippers. Doc Rivers' deadline deal for his old pal Jeff Green is sending us back to the well one more time - and with a lot more confidence. Green fits both as a small-ball power forward and, once Griffin returns, a legit small forward; he should be a viable play even after the Clips are back at full strength.

Jon Leuer (9 percent) and Mirza Teletovic (13 percent) - One or the other will step into the Suns' starting lineup after the Morris trade, both should get a bump in playing time. The short-term outlook on Alex Len (30 percent) is also positive.

Channing Frye (2 percent) - Theoretically, Frye is the stretch four Cleveland needed to match up with Golden State and Draymond Green in the Finals. (But… isn't Kevin Love the stretch four they needed? Eh, forget I asked.) I suspect this means we'll be seeing a lot of Love/Frye and Tristan Thompson as Cleveland's big man rotation down the stretch.

Donatas Motiejunas (2 percent) - Stan Van Gundy was confident enough in Motiejunas' health to give Houston a first-round pick; if healthy, he should fit very nicely into Detroit's inside-out offense. (So should fellow new arrival Tobias Harris, but at 94 percent owned, you're unlikely to find him on the wire.)

Cameron Payne (1 percent) - Rookie guard has been impressive in limited minutes; his role should expand now that DJ Augustin is out of the mix.

Some other options, unrelated to trade deadline deals:

J.R. Smith (78 percent) - Iman Shumpert sprained a shoulder during last night's win over the Bulls, so Smith should get some additional run for a little while.

Julius Randle (72 percent) - Reportedly has the starting job "for the remainder of the season."

Bobby Portis (21 percent) - Rookie seems to have solidified his spot in the rotation, has posted double-doubles in his last two games.

Jimmer Fredette (0 percent) - The Knicks will reportedly add Fredette to the mix this week. It's unclear how much playing time he'll get (if any), but Jimmer has been lighting things up for New York's D-League affiliate, and he's almost certainly better than Sasha Vujacic. (Talk about faint praise…)