RADIO
There is a thing the NFL does that the NBA does not: hand a Comeback Player of the Year award after every season. As the very own NFL defines it, this award is given "to the player who shows perseverance in overcoming adversity, in the form of not being in the NFL the previous year, overcoming a severe injury, or simply a poor performance."
With that in mind, I'm bringing this accolade to the realm of (fantasy) basketball and giving you some names of who should be candidates to have a "Comeback Season" in 2021-22 after missing time of late or straight playing way below their true-talent level in the past few months and/or years. With more than 450 players regularly playing in the NBA, it's understandable that you have forgotten about some of those guys missing time recently and for long periods of time.
Here are a few picks of players with G/F eligibility expected to have bounceback campaigns when the upcoming season tips off that you might draft without other fantasy GMs really noticing those players' presence on the board after they forgot about them!
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Fantasy Basketball Comeback Candidates - Guards and Forwards
Klay Thompson, SG - Golden State Warriors
I don't think I can start this column with a player not named Klay. The last time we saw Thompson on a basketball court, "COVID-19" was still months away from entering our lexicon. Klay Thompson touched a ball for the last time on Jun. 13 of 2019 in the last game of the NBA Finals that saw Toronto defeat Golden State 4-2 back then. He's been out ever since suffering not one but two very serious injuries since then, a torn ACL first (Jul. 2019) and an Achilles injury later (Nov. 2020).
Those two blemishes in Thompson's medical record are obviously going to give pause to a few of us, but I mean, just look at what Kevin Durant did this past season coming off his own Achilles nightmare--one that started along with Klay's back in Jul. 2019. Leading up to his final year and including that 2019 campaign, Thompson had strung five All-Star appearances with an average line of 21-4-2-1 per game. That's great, but that doesn't include Klay's main skill: shooting.
Klay Thompson is a career 41.9% shooter from beyond the three-point line. Carrer, I said. Only four players put up a 41%+ 3P% while attempting 7+ 3PA per game (Klay's career average), let alone amassing those numbers through their whole careers. Thompson is a do-it-all player whose shooting alone can win you the league, plays next to a perennial MVP contender in Steph Curry and force-of-nature Draymond Green... and have we really forgotten the Warriors contending teams of just a couple of years ago? Must-draft player, this Klay.
Spencer Dinwiddie, PG - Brooklyn Nets (now Washington Wizards)
Dinwiddie is a master of all arts. A second-round draftee all the way back in 2014 by Detroit, Dinwiddie had for sure to fight his way throughout his career until he settled as an above-average NBA talent by the 2020 season, definitely the best year of his career. Dinwiddie never stopped growing, going from an average of just 0.1 WS per in his first two seasons as a pro to 2.8 once he moved to Brooklyn followed by three years reaching 5.7 WS, 4.8, and finally 4.8 for the second time in a row. Too bad for Spencer, 2021 only lasted three games for him.
Dinwiddie has proved his worth playing both the starting and off-the-pine roles for Brooklyn to great levels. It feels like he's been around forever, but Spencer is just entering his age-28 season and right in the middle of his prime. Dinwiddie is, also, leaving a more-than-crowded squad in Brooklyn and joining a Wizards team that will feature as many as four fresh starters--including the own Spencer at the point leading the Wiz operations in 2021.
In his last full season in 2020, Dinwiddie posted a marvelous 20-3-7 line with almost a stock per game to go with that, all of it in 31.2 MPG. That playing time will be there for him in Washington, and although he will have it hard to log Usage Rates in the high-20s (29.2% in 2020) he still can put up numbers without ball-hogging that much. He's got a 30% career-assist rate and is going to play next to his best teammate so far in Bradley Beal, a walking bucket that will undoubtedly boost Dinwiddie's assists. Not the greatest defensive player, but an offensive stalwart that shouldn't lose minutes in Washington because of his subpar D.
T.J. Warren, SF - Indiana Pacers
Did Warren play the most astonishing out-of-left-field season in the 2020 Bubble Times? Jeez. While T.J. Warren had not been a bad player in his Phoenix tenure, he just evolved once the Pacers signed him in advance of the 2020 campaign and Warren did truly pay their investment back. He posted career-best marks in ORtg and DRtg playing and starting all of his 67 games that year, shot a ridiculous 53.6% from the floor on 14.9 FGA, and sustained a 40.3% from three-point range on a healthy 3.4 3PA per game.
After such a fantastic year, Warren only logged four games this past season before getting ruled out for the whole campaign. Ugh. A lot of things have changed between the Bubble Pacers and the upcoming 2022 Pacers. Just to name a few: Victor Oladipo and Doug McDermott are no longer on the team, the Sabonis-Turner pairing is getting closer to breaking up than ever--barring a functioning miracle from new HC Rick Carlisle--, and Caris LeVert is the new go-to guard in the team as he shot the most field goals per game (17.5) last season.
Warren should come back to the starting lineup from day one. He's still the best wing playing the SF position in Indy's roster, and he's joining a squad in which three remaining players averaged 20+ PPG last season. Indiana made it to the Play-In, demolished Charlotte, but couldn't get past Washington after that to make the Playoffs. If the Pacers want back in they'll need all Warren they can handle, and there is nothing telling us he won't be up for the task.
Jonathan Isaac, PF - Orlando Magic
Jonathan Isaac has had poor luck so far in his short NBA tenure. He got drafted back in 2017 with the sixth-overall pick, but could only play 27 games in the 2018 season starting 10 of them. Isaac already had a comeback year in 2019 playing 66 matches and putting up a promising 10-5-1-1-1 line in just 26.6 MPG. Then, when we were all hyped about 2020 being Isaac's true breakout season, injury struck him hard and ended playing, similarly to 2019, just 34 games that weird season.
Isaac is getting back in time for the 2022 season with the Magic. Orlando has focused on bulking up their backcourt through the draft, so it's not that Isaac will be coming back to fight a bunch of players for minutes in the paint--in fact, Orlando moved on from the likes of Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic, so that's another positive thing concerning Isaac's upside.
The PF (with eligibility as C in some platforms) comes positively graded by advanced metrics all across the board. He was forced out of the 2020 season while posting a rather high 2.5 WS in just 34 games and a .120 WS/48 mark that ranked inside the top-100 players with at least 30 games and 900 minutes played. If that doesn't sound like much, well, Isaac was one of only 20 kids aged 22-or-younger to do so. The sky should be the limit for Isaac's ceiling, starting to get there this next season.
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