CJ McCollum a buy-low target?

Special to Yahoo Sports

With Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaching, there’s no better time to swing fantasy trades with your friends and family. Never let your guard down. Capitalize on their gluttony or giving spirit.

Jokes aside, let’s examine some hoopers on interesting trends that are viable trade options.

Buy Low: CJ McCollum, Pelicans

McCollum’s contributions and fantasy dividends thus far have been underwhelming, but he’s beginning to turn the corner. Despite shooting just 41.0% overall and 34.2% from beyond the arc through 17 contests, McCollum has knocked down three-plus triples in four straight games.

His shooting performance is down across the board. While replicating his 2021-22 volume in New Orleans was always unlikely given the return of Zion Williamson, Williamson’s presence in the lineup — often alongside Jonas Valanciunas — could be increasing the difficulty of McCollum’s spot-up looks through less spacing.

Last season, McCollum ranked in the 97th percentile for knocking down his spot-up attempts with New Orleans. With Portland, he ranked in the 88th percentile. He currently sits in the 25th percentile. That’s simply too large of a gap for such a polished veteran. Progression to the mean will occur and has likely already begun. McCollum is easily leading the Pelicans with 34.9 minutes per game, his usage rate is in line with his career average and his career shooting of 45.4/39.4/81.0 is a realistic rest-of-season expectation.

Buy Low: Larry Nance, Pelicans

Staying in New Orleans, Nance’s emergence would be a beneficial factor for McCollum, as the bouncy, more spacing-oriented big man allows the Pelicans a lot of creativity. Nance yields an excellent plus-10.4 point differential when on the court — second highest on the Pelicans behind Jose Alvarado and ranking in the 83rd percentile league-wide positionally.

Nance is dominating and versatility is underrated. Grading as an above-average rebounder, passer and steal/block collector…