8/6/2021
Kelly Oubre Jr. has signed a two-year, $26M deal with the Charlotte Hornets.
We talked all year long about his questionable fit in Golden State, but did things improve in Charlotte? Charlotte has a lot of talent with LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward all taking on a big offensive role, not to mentioned Miles Bridges and PJ Washington who are skilled offensively in their own right.
Fantasy Implications: After a great 2019-'20, last year was not a great campaign. There's no denying that. He should see plenty of time in Charlotte, but I don't love the fit when everyone is healthy. Oubre should once again be a double-digit scorer and will contribute on the glass but if he shoots 31% from three again? Yikes.
I personally don't think he starts here unless Charlotte plays a small-ball starting five. I could see him approaching 30 minutes/game, but nowhere close to what he played in Phoenix in ‘19. He’s nothing more than a late-round flyer until we have a more definitive idea of what his role will be.
8/4/2021
Spencer Dinwiddie has signed a three-year, $62M contract with the Washington Wizards in a sign-and-trade in a a five team trade.
Dinwiddie missed a lot of time in 2020, playing in just three games overall. There was going to be much room for Dinwiddie to thrive in Brooklyn with the likes of Durant, Harden and Irving in town, so this is best case scenario for him on the statistical front.
Fantasy Implications: I actually love the fit for fantasy basketball and Dinwiddie could very well be one of my sleepers heading into the 2021 season. In 2019-'20, he scored 20.6 points/game while averaging 6.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
With the departure of Russell Westbrook and his 30% plus usage rate, Dinwiddie has a chance to be second fiddle to Bradley Beal and that's IF Beal stays a Wizard this season. That's a whole different discussion.
The Wizards have some very intriguing pieces and it'll be interesting to see how they mesh, but Dinwiddie's production should really skyrocket, like it did in the 2019-'20 season.
Kemba Walker has been bought out of his contract by the Oklahoma City Thunder and plans to sign with the New York Knicks.
This is an interesting one. Knicks fans have always wanted Kemba Walker considering he's one of New York's own, growing up and playing high school Basketball in NY. This does put a damper on any chance the Knicks had at acquiring Damian Lillard.
Fantasy Implications: After five straight seasons of 20+ points/game or more, Walker dipped to 19.3 in 2020-'21 and weather that's the start of something or not, we have to take into consideration he was playing alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston. The Knicks don't have that type of talent on their roster and Walker should be thrusted into a primary scoring role once again.
This feels like a situation where Walker is playing at an all-time high, a situation similar to his Charlotte days but with better teammates around him. He'll be in a ton of pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop situations with Julius Randle and with Randle's improved three-point shooting, Walker could see an uptick in his 4.9 assists/game last year, the second lowest mark since his rookie season.
Walker isn't a priority for fantasy purposes considering how DEEP the point-guard position is, but he's definitely a solid PG2 to have on your roster.
John Collins has signed a five-year, $125M deal to stay with the Atlanta Hawks.
This had to be done if the Hawks wanted to remain a top-five team in the Eastern Conference. Collins has averaged 21.6 and 17.6 points/game over the last two seasons and has shot 50/40/80 over that span.
Fantasy Implications: We saw his production dip playing alongside Clint Capela last year, especially on the glass where he averaged nearly three rebounds less per game. Both his scoring and rebounding was impacted, but Collins is a solid mid-round pick regardless.
He gives you production in a lot of different places, including the three-point line where he has stroked it at a 40% clip the last two seasons and he's blocked at least one shot per game in three of his four NBA campaigns. He really contributed across the board and is sort of a glue guy for your fantasy rosters.
8/3/2021
DeMar DeRozan has signed a three-year, $85M deal with the Chicago Bulls in a sign-and-trade sending Thaddeus Young, Al-Farouq Aminu, a future first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick.
Wow. What a couple of days for the Bulls. First, they sign Lonzo Ball and complete a sign-and-trade with New Orleans. Second they put a bow on the day signing Alex Caruso. Finally, they sign DeMar DeRozan, giving them an extremely deep team.
Fantasy Implications: It's hard to see how this will play out, but the Bulls are stockpiling talent. DeRozan is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 6.9 assists to go along with his 21 points/game. Will DeRozan be the primary ball-handler and playmaker? That remains to be seen, but we know he can get to his spot whenever he wants and proved last year he is a threat distributing the ball.
The entire Bulls lineup around DeRozan can shoot the three-ball, so maybe we see ANOTHER step in the right direction in terms of assists. I think DeRozan takes a hit scoring the basketball, but it's hard not to love the playmaking ability on this Bulls team. He's an extremely viable fantasy asset in 2021-'22.
Andre Drummond has signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.
This is, well, quite the fall from grace. This is now the third team Drummond will play for in the last two seasons and he's going to be a backup here.
Fantasy Implications: I mean, if Joel Embiid is playing 30+ minutes a night once again, how much time does that leave Drummond on a nightly basis? I can't see an Embiid-Drummond lineup working out too well, but I'm sure it'll be experimented with.
THESE TWO ARE NOW TEAMMATES!
In a 20 minute per night role, Drummond still has some upside, but it's obviously capped. We know Embiid has been unable to stay healthy throughout his career, so having someone of Drummond's caliber to step in IF Embiid were to get hurt again is a luxury to have. That said, Drummond is nothing more than a late-round flyer as long as Embiid's healthy. Boy how the mighty has fallen.
8/2/2021
Lonzo Ball signs four-year, $85M deal with the Chicago Bulls in a sign-and-trade deal with New Orleans. The Pelicans will receive Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple & a second-round pick.
Wow. What a deal for Chicago. They get their point-guard of the future and truthfully didn't give up much. Satoranksy is a solid player, but we're talking about Lonzo Ball here. The Bulls core trio now includes Ball, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic.
Fantasy Implications: 2020 was Ball's best year offensively, pouring in a career-high in points (14.2) and once again improving his three-point shooting, finishing a smidge below 39%. We know he stuffs the box score, averaging 4.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Ball has a chance to take the next step here. He was the 22nd ranked point-guard in fantasy last season and could easily vault into the top-15 with this new squad.
Ball likely takes another step shooting with all of the kick outs from Vucevic inside and could truly dominate with Vucevic in pick-and-roll situations as well. Career marks in points, assists and three-point makes are likely once again in the cards here.
Alec Burks & Nerlens Noel have re-signed with the New York Knicks. Burks got a three-year, $30M deal while Noel got three years for $32M.
Both Burks and Noel were solid pieces for a Knicks team that finished four the Eastern Conference last season. Noel was a starter for most of the year while Burks played off the bench.
Fantasy Implications: Burks averaged north of 25 minutes/game last year and poured in 12.7 PPG. He set a career-high mark in three-point percentage at 41.5%. He only started five games, so don't expect any different in 2020-'21. If you need three-pointers late in your drafts, Burks is a good candidate.
When looking at Noel, you have to factor in that Mitchell Robinson is going to be healthy for training camp. He's a very productive player, especially in the blocks and rebounds department, but with Robinson returning, how much time will he see? He likely plays no more than 20 minutes per game and carries low-end fantasy value unless Robinson were to get hurt again.
Jarrett Allen has re-signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers for five-years, $100M.
I guess Cleveland views Evan Mobley as a power-forward? The third overall pick is 7'0" tall. Allen is a very solid player, a double-double type, but that's a lot of money to be paying someone after taking Mobley in the draft.
Fantasy Implications: With the amount of money, I'm hard pressed to think Mobley and Allen aren't sharing the floor a lot, with Allen playing a lot each and every night for the Cavs. He finished with 9.9 rebounds/game in '20, which was .1 away from his second straight campaign averaging a double-double.
With the Cavs current roster, Allen has a chance to play 30 minutes/game – like he did for them after being traded there – while approaching double-double type numbers once again. After finishing 16th in FP/game at the center position last year, I think Allen finishes once again in that 15-20 range.
Kyle Lowry has signed a three-year deal worth $90M with the Miami Heat.
With Lowry signing in Miami, it gives them a great nucleus of Lowry, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo. Lowry, despite the Raptors having a very forgettable campaign, had a great individual campaign from a statistical standpoint.
Fantasy Implications: Like I mentioned, Lowry's stats were not impacted at all by the team playing poorly. Lowry averaged more FP/game (35.8) last year than the likes of Jamal Murray, LaMelo Ball, and Jrue Holiday. Washed? I think not. Playing with guys like Butler and Adebayo who defer on offense at times bodes well for Lowry's ability to once again put up 17+ PPG, like he's done in each of the last two seasons.
After a top-15 season in 2020, Lowry once again should project to be a top-15 point-guard in Miami. He's going to have plenty of opportunity offensively and he can build on his best shooting percentages since the 2016-'17 season, he COULD compete for a spot in the top-10 at PG.
Chris Paul has re-signed with the Phoenix Suns for four-years, and could be worth up to $120M.
I mean, yeah, this was a no-brainer here. The Suns could not afford to let him go after making the NBA Finals during the 2020-'21 campaign.
Fantasy Implications: The 36-year old Paul averaged 38.1 FP/game last season, which ranked him ninth at the position last year. He was third in the league in assists/game while pouring in 16.4 points and 4.5 rebounds/game. There's no questioning CP3's durability after he played 70 games last year, which was tied for the most amongst ALL point-guards in the league. Lets not ignore the fact that he contributes over a steal per game on a yearly basis.
He fits perfectly alongside Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton and could once be right at the top of the league in assists once again. Chris Paul is a top-12 fantasy option at the position, but with all of the talent at the position, that gap is shrinking.
Evan Fournier has signed a four-year deal with the New York Knicks, worth $85M. It includes a team option for the fourth year.
The veteran Fournier will play for his third team since the start of the 2019-'20 season and Fournier has really contributed wherever he's gone throughout his career. Since the start of the 2015 season, Fournier has scored 15+ points/game in each season and for his career, shoots 45% from the floor.
Fantasy Implications: The Knicks have a lot of wings and a lot of guards that we could see contributing. They didn't give this money to Fournier to be a bench player and I could see him playing 30 minutes a night. As the roster is constructed now, he's likely their second or third scorer, dependent on the improvements RJ Barrett makes this offseason.
I think we can safely project Fournier to be a bucket once again, averaging 15+ points/game once again for this Knicks team. He shot 41% from three last year while also notching 3.4 assists. Those are the categories that he makes his mark and where he'll contribute from a fantasy perspective. He's a decent late-round option if you need some scoring.
Daniel Theis has agreed to a four-year, $36M deal with the Rockets. It will be a sign-and-trade with the Chicago Bulls.
Theis is a very solid piece for a rebuilding Rockets team and he should get plenty of run each and every night. We saw what the extended role did for Kelly Olynyk. Insert Theis into that role.
Fantasy Implications: Look, Theis has played 25 minutes a night the last two seasons for the Celtics and Bulls and was a solid rotation player. On this Houston team, Theis could very well be their starting power-forward AND their backup center. He should be in line for 30 minutes a night which could give him career marks across the board. I don't love Theis in fantasy, but I'm not against him in the latter stages of drafts – deeper leagues only truthfully – due to his expanded role on a rebuilding team.
Norman Powell agreed to a five-year, $90M deal with the Portland Trailblazers.
This was a smart move to prove to Damian Lillard you're trying to win now and worry about the rest later. Bringing Powell back gives Lillard the allure that's what Portland is trying to do.
Fantasy Implications: Powell didn't look as good in Portland as he did in Toronto, but he was still effective as a scorer. He poured in 17 point/game in Portland, but really didn't do much else, which has really been an indictment on his career. He's a very good scorer and he doesn't contribute in many other places.
Powell has greatly improved his three-point shooting, putting up three-year marks of 41%, 39.9%, and 40%, which is a bonus if you're seeking him out in drafts. He's also improved defensively, averaging over a steal/game over the last three seasons. Powell is solid bench depth for your fantasy rosters.