2015 NBA Draft: How the Lottery Could Impact the Fantasy Scene
Kevin Roberts
2015 NBA Draft: How the Lottery Could Impact the Fantasy Scene
The 2015 NBA playoffs are in full swing and before you know it, NBA teams will be adding fresh new faces to their rosters via the 2015 NBA Draft. What you might be wondering, considering your favorite NBA team isn’t in the playoffs or may be slowly inching toward being eliminated, is what the draft will mean for the 2015-16 Fantasy Basketball season. You’re not alone. Not only is the draft fun to track for rumors, trades and eventual landing spots, but it’s also fun to consider what will happen when certain teams make their picks.
We’re thinking about the fantasy impact, and we’re taking a look inside the lottery to see how things could shake up. This is all hypothetical for various reasons, the most important being we still have no clue what the final draft order will be. Still, it’s fun to consider what could happen based on team needs. Let’s take a look at some likely/possible scenarios that could play out on draft day and what they could mean for the fantasy basketball scene as we know it:
Note: To avoid going insane from countless speculation over every spot, we’ll roll with the current order, pre-lottery.
1. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves are in a weird spot, considering they have guys seemingly locked into a bunch of positions for next year, but they’re still not a very good team. The most logical move would be to trade away aging veteran shooting guard Kevin Martin and find a replacement for him in this draft. If they do that, D’Angelo Russell could be a good fit as an outside scorer. Of course, landing at the #1 spot would give them an opportunity to get either Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor and they’d most certainly take one of them and start them from day one. Naturally, either of them would make for excellent picks in fantasy basketball.
2. New York Knicks
The Knicks are in a little bit of a different spot, as they can upgrade at any position and not think twice. It’s highly likely they’ll take the big man the #1 team doesn’t take if they indeed end up picking at the two spot. That player would obviously be in line for big minutes right away on a Knicks team that still probably won’t be all that great.
3. Philadelphia 76ers
Philly is an odd situation, as they have two really talented big men already, so landing the #1 spot to get another one wouldn’t make much sense. I think their best play is either point guard Emmanuel Mudiay or small forward Justise Winslow. They lack any real talent outside of their two bigs, so whoever they draft is going to play a ton and offer up solid fantasy production.
4. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers need talent everywhere, so it’s going to be very interesting to see what they do in free agency. At least for now they may feel set at point guard and shooting guard with Jordan Clarkson and Kobe Bryant, but they’re going to need help at small forward and center. Julius Randle should lock down the four spot when he returns next year, but those other two spots should be wide open. Landing the #1 pick would be great so they can land a stud big man like Okafor for the present and future, but if they’re stuck with the fourth pick they might settle for someone like Stanley Johnson. He’s a versatile swing man they can slide in at small forward for now and groom to be their next big scorer.
5. Orlando Magic
Orlando is another young team, much like the Timberwolves, that appears to have answers at just about every position. One that is shaky is power forward, though, as Aaron Gordon remains raw and may never meet expectations. That could have them taking a shot at Trey Lyles, or they could prepare for Tobias Harris potentially leaving by nabbing Stanley Johnson.
6. Sacramento Kings
The Kings may not be settled on point guard, shooting guard or power forward when they enter the 2015 NBA Draft. How they intend on using Rudy Gay is probably key, and how much they like Darren Collison could be big, as well. For now, let’s just assume they will address shooting guard yet again. If they do that, Devin Booker could creep up into the top half of the lottery, or they could try out a big man like Bobby Portis. Neither is likely to make a big impact for them in the fantasy realm, but they’d be interesting talents to groom for the future.
7. Denver Nuggets
What Denver does is going to depend on who their next head coach is. They’ve been at their best when they get out and run on offense, so the assumption is whoever comes in will work with a similar system. I think they’re set at center and they have money tied up at the four spot, but shooting guard and small forward could be shaken up a bit. If they’re picking from the seven spot, that leaves guys like Stanley Johnson, Justise Winslow and Sam Dekker as solid options. None would be locks to crush it as rookies, but if the system operates as it has been, they’d have potential worth tracking.
8. Detroit Pistons
Greg Monroe might be out the door and the Pistons don’t have concrete answers at shooting guard or small forward, so they could be busy in the draft and free agency. If they don’t feel good about keeping Moose, they could try to snag Trey Lyles for the four spot, or grab Dekker for the two or three.
9. Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte needs offense pretty badly. It looks like they’re set with Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson at the one and five spots, but pretty much every other position has to be wide open. Outside shooting and scoring has to be the main target here, though, making guys like Devin Booker and Jerian Grant interesting options. Grant can shoot well from outside and should be able to play both the one and two spots, while Booker is a lights out shooter who can play the two or three. Booker is the ideal fit, as he also can defend well.
10. Miami Heat
Miami should have been in the playoffs this year but they got crushed by injuries. If Dwyane Wade opts back in or re-signs a bigger deal to stay in town, they might be able to turn it around. That would probably keep them from falling off and forcing a rookie into major action. However, both Goran Dragic and Luol Deng are both able to leave if they want, so the Heat could be totally carved out by next season if things go badly. That could make this pick huge for fantasy owners, since Miami could be targeting anyone from Emmanuel Mudiay at the point to Kelly Oubre at small forward. The odds are the Heat’s big stars all come back together to try to make it work, though.
11. Indiana Pacers
Indiana seems to be ready to cut ties with ineffective center Roy Hibbert and they’ve had major inconsistency at shooting guard. Power forward also could be a position for them to target with David West being near the end at 34 years old. Due to their needs, the Pacers are in a good spot and could express interest in guys like Trey Lyles, Stanley Johnson or Willie Cauley-Stein around the 11 spot. Lyles is a really underrated guy they could groom to take over once West leaves, while Johnson is a versatile scorer that could work alongside Paul George immediately. Cauley-Stein would be a nice replacement for Hibbert, as he’d rebound and block shots and Indy wouldn’t expect much more from him. None of these guys would hurt anyone in Indy too much, but Johnson would undoubtedly carry the highest upside of the three if he went to Indiana and carved out a big role right away.
12. Utah Jazz
The Jazz seem to be mostly set with their starting five, but point guard and shooting guard remain mild question marks thanks to injury and inconsistency from the position this past season. The Jazz seem to have too much invested in both positions to go grab more talent for either spot just yet, though, so the odds are they instead beef up the four or five spot in case Trevor Booker leaves in free agency. That could makes someone like Myles Turner out of Texas an attractive option. That’s great for their depth, but all of the usual suspects in Utah probably wouldn’t see their fantasy value impacted much. That’s a good thing, too, as this current bunch just started coming together this past year and could be ready for a playoff push next year.
13. Phoenix Suns
Phoenix is a very interesting situation, for numerous reasons. One big one is that Brandon Knight is going to be a restricted free agent and could easily bounce, while the Morris twins are in some major trouble with the law. The Suns probably weren’t planning on it, but they could suddenly need some help down low, a stretch four or a starting shooting guard. That means whoever they lock onto in the lottery could end up being a key player for them as a rookie next year. For now we’ll stick with their need at guard, as re-signing Knight is no lock. That puts them in the market for guys like Devin Booker or if they get high enough they could hope Justise Winslow falls into their hands (he won’t).
14. Oklahoma City Thunder
OKC is the funniest team in here because they should never have been in this situation. A legit title contender when healthy, they now can add another key talent with the 14th pick (or higher). I doubt they’ll get anyone that can crack a veteran rotation and play huge minutes, but there still seems to be room for an impact scorer off the bench. That could make someone like Sam Dekker fairly appealing if his stock has him rise this high. He’s an athletic, long wing that can hit the outside shot and isn’t afraid to take it inside. His defense would need a little work, but he’s not really being drafted to defend. His presence doesn’t really hurt the Thunder’s current top options, as he’d really only help round out their offensive depth.
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