SuperCoach NBL experts reveal their trades for round 8

Perth Wildcats guns and value picks about to skyrocket in price are on the hit list in SuperCoach NBL this week. See all our experts’ moves here.

Heading into round 8, the priorities in SuperCoach NBL are Perth Wildcats and making money.

The Wildcats have the bets schedule of any team with doubles in the next four rounds, and injuries to key players have created opportunities for players like Elijah Pepper and Ben Henshall to step up – recording premium numbers at bargain price tags.

Meanwhile, money-making machine Karim Lopez is set for another huge price jump after round 8 following his monster $70,200 increase last round.

Who are our experts targeting? Scroll down to see all their moves for this week.

MICHAEL RANDALL

IN: I don’t know.

OUT: Matt Mooney, Tyler Robertson

PETER HOOLEY

IN: Milton Doyle, Jordan Hunter

OUT: Jaylen Adams, Rocco Zikarsky

I have had two shockers back to back, but you never know when things can flick back into the positive.

I’m giving Doyle another chance here, he usually loves playing Perth so we will see.

MATT HICKEY

IN: Karim Lopez, Tyrell Harrison

OUT: Xavier Cooks, Sam Mennenga

Bringing in two single gamers normally goes against my SuperCoach NBL ethos, however, the cash gen of Karim Lopez and Tyrell Harrison’s future schedule (nine doubles in 10 rounds after this week) have me very excited. I don’t love bidding adieu to a player with a Break Even of -5, but Mennenga’s looking at a $45k projected price jump over the next two weeks, whereas Lopez’s projection is around $70k over the same period. We love money and we love future doubles.

BUY, HOLD, SELL — Round 8 with @mhickey23 🫡🏀#SuperCoach#[e-mail]/XusN281aIH

— SuperCoach NBL (@supercoachnbl) November 5, 2024

JAYMZ CLEMENTS (NBA Straya + ‘The Panel’ official NBL SuperCoach Show

IN: Karim Lopez, Fabijan Krslovic

OUT: Casey Prather, Rocco Zikarsky

You know those roller-coasters at theme parks where they legit just hoist you up in the air like a million metres then just make you sit and wait until suddenly you drop straight down? That’s what this SuperCoach season has felt like almost every week for me when I’ve hit the “complete trades” button.

I’d be OK if it were more like one of those old rambling roller-coasters at Luna Park – a few thrilling descents and corners where it feels like the entire thing is about to go off the rails, but generally manageable.

This week I’m stuck looking at moving on from Casey Prather – who has made almost $100k, but now has a Break Even of 33 just before his Bullets hit their amazing run of double game weeks – or another mid-price Cash Cow in Karim Lopez, who I’d kicked the tires on last week, but instead moved on Sean Bairstow to save money.

It’s not ideal to be moving on from any Bullet right now, but Prather has done his job and if he sheds any more money, it makes it harder to keep upgrading while making cash.

Karim Lopez of the Breakers scored 51 points against Melbourne United. Picture: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Anyway, I’ll hold onto PJC (and his lowest single game score of 33) as I have Ben Henshall as bench cover, while I hope that Lopez can build on last week’s form and make another $60-$80k over the next two weeks of Breakers singles and readjust from there.

I’ll also kick the tires on a move on from another Bullet – again, it feels way out of pocket before their run of double – in Rocco Zikarsky, with Fabijan Krslovic coming in (Mennenga goes to the back-up centre) as another pure money-making move. Rocco has stalled out and there aren’t any other decent cheapies out there to replace him, while Krslovic and the Jackies have another double this week, so hopefully the big man help us out with 20-plus mins in each game and a bit more cash gen.

And hope that this week’s rollercoaster isn’t one of those plummet-y ones.

JAMIE HUGHES (Usage Rate podcast)

Relatively simple again for me this week as we work into the next part of the schedule. I say it every week, but continuing to make money is the priority through the first part of the season.

OUT

Xavier Cooks: Very serviceable and a nice captain option last week. The definition of sell high which his upcoming schedule allows for. Bye for now, X Man.

Kyle Adnam: The experiment was never really worth it, but at least he didn’t lose cash (Up $16k) in my time of owning.

Matthew Dellavedova: Brought in to be a solid piece and average 20 for their triple double game weeks. In the two weeks I’ve owned him he’s gone: DNP, 14, 23, 8, and lost $49k. Genuine stitch-up from a typically reliable guy.

IN

Kristian Doolittle: Has a nice run coming up – quadruple double game weeks. Although he has the occasional down game, the timing of one coming last week led to a $29k drop. Perfect time to buy.

Elijah Pepper: Taking advantage of Bryce Cotton out for what is expected to be a couple more weeks. A Break Even of 2 and average of 18 sounds juicy enough to me.

Karim Lopez: At the end of round 6 I thought ‘0, 15, 9, 37 – there’s an outlier there’. The 37 seemed a genuine one-off for me. When the news came through of King and Darling being out again, I thought, ‘All good, he may get to 35 for the week’. WRONG! The kid dominated with scores of 27 and 51 to go along with a price rise of $70k. Can’t be missing out on the benefits of that for the next couple weeks. Time to boost!

AL PATON

IN: Elijah Pepper, Jack White

OUT: Xavier Cooks, Alex Toohey

After using a Trade Boost to ditch Matthew Dellavedova and grab Kristian Doolittle last week, this week’s trades came down to a cash grab versus points on court.

The big temptation is Karim Lopez, which would be all about building the bank – he’s projected to make $70k over the next two rounds.

But I’m going for the highest score this round, bringing Jack White back in and hoping for 80-plus points from outings against Brisbane and Perth. White scored only 19 against the Breakers last weekend but last time he put up a 19 he followed it up with scores of 49, 40 and 41 in his next three games.

Kristian Doolittle is a prime target at the Wildcats. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

TIM MICHELL (Going backwards faster than Milton Doyle and Tasmania)

IN: Kristian Doolittle, Karim Lopez, Alex Higgins-Titsha

OUT: Xavier Cooks, Kyle Adnam, Tyler Robertson

What a disaster round 7 was. Planned on getting three Wildcats including Elijah Pepper, then decided it was smarter to hold onto my last boost and missed out on about 60 points. I’m not wasting time sitting around waiting to use it, and although I have to pay more for Higgins-Titsha and Lopez than many did last week, I’m not willing to miss out on the cash they still have to make. Lopez is a freakish talent and I was spewing I couldn’t swing Robertson or Ben Henshall into my guards last week to trade Adnam to Higgins-Titsha because they were both locked out. Cooks to Doolittle is an easy move. He should be much cheaper come Sydney’s round 10 double considering his Break Even is 67 this round.

MAX STAINKAMPH

OUT: Xavier Cooks, Tim Robertson, Matt Mooney

IN: Keanu Pinder, Karim Lopez, Elijah Pepper

Third boost for the season is being spent this week to ensure I’ve got some cash coming in. Karim Lopez looks like a superstar in the making and the Breakers will come back into some doubles soon, so cash and points are incoming. Expert Matt Hickey nearly talked me into going for Tyrell Harrison early, but I want to get another DGW player in, and Mooney to Pepper gives me $265k to play with next week to squeeze plenty of Bullets into my side. Pepper is a painful miss from last week and one I’m rectifying this week with the news Bryce Cotton is still expected to miss plenty of games. These moves give me seven DGW players for this week, plus three Breakers – Lopez and Mennenga to make cash and PJC for bulk points (hopefully).

Originally published as SuperCoach NBL experts reveal their trades for round 8