NBA Roundtable: Roundtable: Change of Scenery
Opportunity is crucial in fantasy basketball, and sometimes all it takes is a fresh start in a new city for a player to thrive. With that said, I asked the Rotoworld hoops crew to discuss which players could benefit from a change of scenery this coming season via free agency or even a trade. I’ll start us off…
Jonas Nader (@JonasNader)
Mike Conley– He will be a beast wherever he goes as a free agent this summer, but a move away from Memphis could do wonders for his fantasy value. The Memphis offense ranked in the bottom five during the regular season in pace, so I’d like to see what Conley could do in an up-tempo system. Considering Conley’s had some tough luck with injuries the past couple seasons, he could be available at a nice discount as well.
Harrison Barnes– The Warriors obviously don’t want to break up their core, but they will if they decide to go after Kevin Durant this summer. A potential sign-and-trade deal that sends Barnes to OKC would be a lot of fun, and he could be the No. 2 option on offense behind Russell Westbrook as opposed to the No. 4 option in Golden State behind Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Barnes is still only 23 years old and there’s plenty of room for him to grow as a player.
Terrence Jones– Yes, he’s still alive. Jones had a nightmare season in Houston after being thrown into J.B. Bickerstaff’s doghouse, and he was even demoted to the fourth string power forward. It’s hard to imagine Houston matching opposing offers when he hits restricted free agency this summer, especially since they are apparently pretty high on Donatas Motiejunas. Jones is only 24 years and has plenty of upside, so I won’t give up on him just yet if he can find a way out of Houston. To be clear, he still has serious durability concerns.
Steve Alexander (@docktora)
Dwight Howard – Houston, we had a problem.
LeBron James – If they don’t win it all, he could be on the move.
Al Horford – Will probably leave my Hawks and be given a true power forward slot, where he’ll emerge into an NBA superstar.
Hassan Whiteside – Dude is about to get PAID and he’ll follow the money, take care of his family and their family, and their families and so on and so forth, and then he’ll block a ton of shots.
Jeff Green – Guy has skills, has come a long way back from heart surgery, and needs to find a spot that he can start and utilize his skills in shooting threes, stealing the ball, blocking shots, scoring and rebounding.
Matt Stroup (@MattStroup)
Dennis Schroder – His erratic play so far this postseason has only underscored the fact that he’s a risky bet as the Hawks PG of the future. As a result, it wouldn’t be a shock at all to see Schroder get dealt this offseason. Or, if the Hawks do decide to deal Jeff Teague (a bad idea in my opinion), Schroder would take over as the top PG in ATL. Either way, something presumably has to give with this PG situation, and there’s a pretty good chance that results in a starting job for #17 (see gold letters on back of head).
Brandon Jennings – A starting caliber PG who’s headed for free agency even further removed from his Achilles injury. Could be in line for big numbers if he lands in the right situation.
Ethan Norof (@Ethan_Norof)
Nicolas Batum: Charlotte will do everything to keep him, but there will be a number of teams waiting to call him on his cell phone, offering him a boatload of money and a primetime role.
Pau Gasol: Chicago became a toxic atmosphere for Gasol, who still managed to put up monster numbers on a very disappointing team. So long as he doesn’t go to a franchise like the Spurs—which is a distinct possibility—Gasol should expect to receive a raise while continuing to play a very real role on fantasy teams.
Kenneth Faried: Denver’s future frontcourt should be built around Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic. If Faried lands with a club that can offer him consistent minutes and a starting role—something some would argue he deserves—he would become a lot more attractive in every fantasy format.
Blake Griffin: For the first time since BG joined the franchise, the Clippers need to seriously consider trade offers for their once untouchable superstar who has just one year remaining on his current contract. If Griffin landed on a team that was committed to building around him and playing through him, a rise back through the rankings becomes a more projectable scenario.
Mike Conley: He’d have a much more appealing fantasy ceiling if on a team that was committed to putting the proper talent around him. Thus far, Memphis hasn’t shown that willingness. Maybe that changes this summer.
Greg Monroe: It’s hard to believe Monroe would have made the same decision in free agency if he received a re-do in 2016. The Bucks are committed to featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker on both ends of the floor.
Ryan Anderson: Whatever team (over)pays for Anderson in free agency is going to do so with the intention of giving him a larger, more consistent role than he’s enjoyed in New Orleans.
Jahlil Okafor: The pairing with Nerlens Noel is awkward at best, and the situation is only going to be further complicated with Dario Saric‘s expected arrival as well as Joel Embiid (foot) finally expected to get on the floor.
Brandon Knight: The Suns are about to do the three-guard thing again with Knight, Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker. Just like we’ve already seen prior, I’m projecting at least one of them is dissatisfied with the arrangement. For what it’s worth, Knight has already resisted a potential change in his role when asked about Phoenix’s delicate balance for next year.
Ryan Knaus (@Knaus_RW)
I’ll stick to a handful of players who’ve yet to be mentioned…
Jared Sullinger will be a restricted free agent this summer and a change of scenery would serve him well after averaging a mere 23.6 minutes per game this season. He’s not without his flaws — shooting 43.5% from the field and 28.2% from deep precludes him from being viewed as a stretch-four — but whichever team pays up for him should be willing to establish him as a bigger and more reliable part of their frontcourt rotation. It’s worth noting that Sully acknowledged his shortcomings this year, saying, “I’ve got to do a lot of things better, but it was OK. My window is getting smaller and smaller of constantly talking about I need to improve.”
Nikola Mirotic failed to take a big step forward in his second season with the Bulls, seeing modest increases in scoring (11.8 ppg), 3-pointers (2.0), rebounds (5.5) and assists (1.5) while getting 4.7 more minutes per game. His minutes fluctuated wildly and Fred Hoiberg never seemed to have a clear-cut idea of how to use Mirotic, whose frequent defensive lapses didn’t help matters. If he were dealt to a less-competitive team willing to unleash him despite inconsistency and defensive gaffes, he has all the tools to be a mid-round fantasy player with upside.
There’s no reason to think Ty Lawson will reclaim the level of play we saw from 2011-2015, and his 2015-16 was a predictable disappointment. That said, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer and a move out of Indiana can only help his fantasy prospects, as he averaged just 18.1 minutes as George Hill‘s backup during the regular season. There are a handful of teams around the league that might be desperate enough to roll the dice on him as an upgrade at PG.
Mike Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher)
Harrison Barnes – This one is a no-brainer. However, Harry B has been terrible since he sprained his ankle back in November.
Mike Conley – We got a taste of what a small-ball Conley would look like this season and it looks pretty delicious. For whatever reason, he hasn’t quite been as good in fantasy with coach Dave Joerger as he was with Lionel Hollins.
Dennis Schroder – I’m not so sure teams would actually pursue Schroder in a trade, but he can fill it up. If you saw the postseason, you saw a mistake-prone, bull-in-a-china-shop guard. If Philly sends him a max deal after his contract runs out, that would be, ummm, not smart.
Jeff Green – We saw Green shine a bit before the trade to the Clippers. If a weak team pays up for him to be their No. 2-3 scorer, he should be effective, especially in points leagues.
Brandon Jennings – It’s probably too late for him to be a starter, but maybe someone still believes.
Dwight Howard – He’s been a letdown ever since he left Orlando.
