RADIO
The NBA Draft is a time of rebuilding, rebirth, and gap filling for both NBA teams and the players who are moving on to the next stages of their careers. For some players, they will advance from college/international stardom to professional stardom in the NBA from the very start of their rookie years. I took a look at some guys who will have a chance to do that in my piece about rookies in good situations.
For other players, they may need to develop their skills before they are ready to compete with the best athletes on earth, or they may need the decks of their new rosters to shuffle around a bit before they are in a situation ideal for them to succeed. Not every team is the right fit for their newest additions and not every new addition is the best fit for their new team. Here are a few players drafted in the 2016 NBA Draft who should be avoided in their rookie years for one reason or another by Fantasy Basketball Managers.
High Profile NBA Rookies to Avoid in Fantasy Leagues
Kris Dunn (#5 Overall, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves)
Kris Dunn is a very talented point guard from Providence who profiles as a fantastic floor general in the NBA. In his junior and senior college seasons he averaged 16 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 2.6 steals per game. So what is keeping him from being a standout guard for the young Wolves immediately? His name is Ricky Rubio and his style of play is very similar to Dunn's. The old tandem of Rubio and Kevin Love is a thing of the past; and Minnesota is moving on to the kids of today like Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, and Andrew Wiggins.
The Wolves are planning to move past Rubio and let Ricky move on. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that move is going to materialize by the end of Dunn's rookie season. With Rubio an established floor general, guards like Tyus Jones, LaVine, and Wiggins blocking his path to playing time, and Dunn currently lacking the kind of ability to shoot from long range that would score him time on the wing, Dunn will have to wait until the Red Sea parts in the form of a Rubio scenery shift before he is handed the keys to the kingdom.
Thon Maker (#10 Overall, PF/C, Milwaukee Bucks)
Thon Maker is about as raw as raw talent comes. He is 7'1'' tall, has a 7'3'' wingspan, and has a maximum vertical leap of 36.5 inches. He can supposedly has the talent to shoot, handle the ball, and block shots. He is also 19 years old (maybe) and has yet to connect the ideal skill set to his ideal physical build. He lacks a lot of strength at his size and many scouts believe he is sub-par in terms of basketball instinct. Players like Maker tend to play out as long-term projects as they have gotten to where they are from superior size and length.
It will be especially hard for Maker to develop his game in the States given that the Bucks don't have a D-League affiliate. On the current Milwaukee roster, there is plenty blocking Maker's path to immediate playing time. Big men like Greg Monroe, John Henson, Jabari Parker, Miles Plumlee, and even Johnny O'Bryant are likely to see the floor over Maker given that he is still so raw and that the young Bucks, led by emerging stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton are looking to find the postseason in a non-competitive Eastern Conference.
Taurean Prince (#12 Overall, SF/PF Atlanta Hawks)
In a draft that saw some confusing selections, this selection by the Atlanta Hawks may take the cake. The Hawks traded away point guard Jeff Teague and may lose All-Star F/C Al Horford from a team of veterans and well put-together role players who just finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, so what is the most logical choice? Apparently it is to take a 6'7'' athletic wing who has shown a lacking ability to pass, shoot 3PT field goals with consistency, and even get along with his own teammates on the floor during the NCAA tournament. Throw in the fact that they probably could've taken him with the 21st pick that they held instead of the 12th overall pick and you have an overall terrible use of a pick.
For sure, Taurean Prince is a great athlete and showcased some solid penetration, defensive, and rebounding skills during his time as a Baylor Bear. In his senior season he averaged 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. But he also only averaged 1.78 assists in 67 games during his junior and senior years. It is clear they are grooming him to play a DeMarre Carroll type role on their team, but Carroll took years to develop, not finding a serious rotation spot in the NBA until he was 26. Even if starters Kent Bazemore and Al Horford leave, the Hawks will have players like Kyle Korver, Dennis Schroder, Paul Millsap, Kris Humphries, Tim Hardaway Jr., Thabo Sefolosha, Kirk Hinrich, and Mike Scott being able to offer equal to or more what Prince offers on the floor right now, not to mention whoever they'd bring in with the cap space opened up by the departures of Bazemore and Horford. It is unlikely that the still hopeful Hawks will find too much space for Taurean Prince to become fantasy relevant during the 2016-2017 season, and even if he does find time, don't expect his fantasy stats to look great.
Georgios Papagiannis & Skal Labissiere (#13 & #28 Overall, PF/C, Sacramento Kings)
Whenever the Sacramento Kings allow themselves to make decisions, it seems like they make wrong decisions. The 2016 NBA Draft proved to be no exception. Papagiannis is 18 years old and is a 7'1'' Center from Greece. In 2015-2016 in Europe for Panathinaikos he averaged just 10.5 minutes, 5.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 28 games. He has never averaged more than 15.8 minutes per game in a season which he did in 2012-2013 in just four games in the HEBA A1 league. In that season he averaged 2.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.0 blocks per game. He has attempted four three pointers and converted on 0% of them in 49 games since 2011. He doesn't come with the soft touch that most Euro big men do and he has next to nothing for a track record.
Meanwhile, Skal Labissiere is a 6'11'', 20-year old Haitian import who played for a season at Kentucky under lead NBA star manufacturer John Calipari. After coming into UK as the number one recruit in the nation, he averaged a disappointing 6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 15.8 minutes in his only 36 games at the college level. Labissiere at least produced in the limited amount of time he was on the floor, as he would've averaged 16.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.2 blocks per 40 minutes, even though he took a lot of criticism from Wildcat fans and the sporting community who were expecting him to be a worthy successor to Karl-Anthony Towns.
Papagiannis is the worst overall pick from this year's NBA Draft despite the previous analysis of the Hawks picking Taurean Prince. Labissiere is a great value selection, as he was lottery-level talent that the Kings were able to snag near the second round. However, there are three huge road blocks in Papagiannis's way of producing professionally for the first time and Skal seeing the floor to develop his skills. They are superstar and wildcard DeMarcus Cousins, recent draft pick and fellow Wildcat Willie Cauley-Stein, and time tested backup center Kosta Koufos. All who stand at 6'11'', 7'0'', and 7'0''. Skal needs to develop a lot before taking time away from any of those three and Papagiannis needs to prove that he can play professionally at all.
Second Rounder With Potential...Just not this Year
Demetrius Jackson (#45 Overall, PG, Boston Celtics)
On one hand, it seems like the Celtics nailed the 45th overall pick when they took point guard Demetrius Jackson out of Notre Dame. In his last year at Notre Dame he averaged 15.8 points, 4.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game in 35.9 average minutes. With a three-quarter sprint time of 3.25 seconds he has shown great ability to be the quarterback of an offense, and even though he stands at just 6'1'', his 43.5 inch vertical leap allows him to play athletically and physically much bigger. He was projected to land somewhere in the mid-20s and make a 2016 contender a nice backup PG. Instead he was a steal by the Celtics, who finished 5th in the Eastern Conference in 2015-2016, at 45th overall.
The problem is that while the 21-year old Jackson may be ready to produce on the floor, the Celtics may not be ready to let him. Guards on the Boston roster are currently: star of the team Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, James Young, Terry Rozier, and RJ Hunter. The Celtics may also try to re-sign free agent Evan Turner to come back on the wing and run the offense from the bench. Jackson wouldn't steal time from Thomas, Smart, or Bradley and guards like Young, Rozier, and Hunter specialize in scoring or distance shooting where they beat out Jackson by a long shot. Demetrius Jackson was a great selection by Boston. His speed and athleticism make up for his short stature and will allow him to play at the NBA level. His passing and defense will earn him a lot of playing time in the future. He's yet another asset on a Boston team full of assets. Demetrius Jackson is a sleepy point guard that will eventually make many Fantasy Basketball Managers very happy that they paid attention to both rounds of the draft. It just won't be this season.
By popular demand, RotoBaller has aggregated all of our fantasy basketball NBA waiver wire pickups into a running list of NBA waiver options, so bookmark the page and check back often for updates.
