Wade

Baldwin IV

Wade Baldwin, along with Nik Stauskas, has been traded three times within the past week, as teams had to make salaries match in various deals. Baldwin appeared in 16 games for the Blazers over the first half of the season.

Baldwin is expected to be waived by the Pacers, so there are no fantasy implications to this move.

As a defense-first guard, maybe coach Mike D’Antoni gives him a shot as the last rotation guy. However, there’s really no reason to add him in fantasy.

Baldwin was included in the Rodney Hood deal to make the numbers work, but he probably won’t have a very large role in Cleveland. Leave him on the wire.

Baldwin has only played in 16 games for the Blazers this season, so he stands to gain a chance at minutes for the rebuilding Cavs. Cam Payne was posting decent fantasy value for deep leaguers while on a couple 10-days with the Cavs in January, so it’s possible Baldwin could, too. Deep-league owners should monitor his situation early in his Cleveland tenure.

Lillard skipped Saturday’s game against the Hawks with some soreness in his right knee, but his absence was precautionary more than anything else, and it looks like he’ll be back in action on Wednesday night. That will shift Seth Curry back to the second unit and Wade Baldwin could be destined for a DNP-CD.

Baldwin has been used very sparingly by the Blazers this season with their guards mostly healthy. None of Baldwin, Simons or Trent Jr. should be owned outside of dynasty formats.

No fantasy impact to note here, as Baldwin has scored a total of 26 points in 72 minutes over the entirety of the 2018-19 season.

Baldwin played well for the Blazers summer league entry, averaging 13.3 points, 7.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals over their first six contests. However, with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum on the roster, and Seth Curry signed this offseason as well, Baldwin is not expected to receive consistent minutes and can be ignored in standard fantasy formats.

With the Kings likely to lose Rajon Rondo and possibly Seth Curry, the Kings are really going to need a guard at No. 8 in the draft. They reportedly want to see Buddy Hield slide, but that seems doubtful. Baldwin put up decent stats last year, scoring 14.1 points with 4.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 treys. He is likely to go in the lottery.