RADIO
The regular season is inching closer by the day, and most offseason moves have already been completed--barring a surprising Simmons/Beal/Dame trade before tipoff. Each team's depth chart is mostly complete, so it makes sense to start analyzing how it could work come October. Before diving into the fantasy season, RotoBaller has you covered with some last-minute basketball depth chart recaps for each team, including some useful bits of analysis for players you want to keep on your radar.
The charts below are based on usage rates and minutes per game data from the 2021 season, while the rosters have been updated to reflect these offseason moves. The charts don't include players drafted this past July, as we don't have data about them regarding MPG/USG% in the NBA. That being said, comments will be made on rookies when deemed necessary in each team breakdown blurb.
Here are the current preseason depth charts for the Eastern Conference Southeast Division.
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Eastern Conference - Southeast Division Depth Charts
Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta was a pleasing surprise last postseason when they got the Bucks to a 2-2 tie in the ECF before falling short of making the finals after dropping to a 2-4 outcome against Milwaukee. Can't hate the Hawks, though, because their core is as young (no pun intended) as it gets and is only getting better by the day. Atlanta dodged the offseason bullet, didn't lose any true contributor (Kris Dunn should be good for Boston but only played four games in the ATL), and re-inked pending FA John Collins to bring him back to Hawkland.
Gorgui Dieng and Delon Wright are the two new faces in Atlanta for 2022. Gorgui will be important while sophomore biggie Okongwu recovers from injury, and Wright should slide into the PG2 role backing up Trae Young as Lou Williams ages into an inevitable retirement sooner than later. Don't draft any of those two signings, though, as they won't be worth that pick no matter how late in your draft it comes. Trae Young has been a top-10 fantasy player in back-to-back seasons, so you know what to do.
Outside of no. 1 draft-target Trae, though, there is still plenty of tasty fruit hanging from Atlanta's tree. Capela and Collins have turned into can't-miss swings with averages of 15-14 and 17-7 respectively last season that could very well turn into a couple of dub-dubs come 2022. The efficiency of Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danillo Gallinari fell below the league-average mark (0.90 FP/min), but they were playing a bulky 30 and 24 MPG so that made up for their woes--definitely not bad fliers to take late in your draft. KevinHuerter and Cam Reddish might flight a bit under the radar, but they could become sleepers with high-end production next to Young and the two bigs, though they don't profile as high usage players next season, which definitely temper our expectations.
Miami Heat
The Heat look absolutely murderous entering 2022 after pulling off the heist of last free agency signing Kyle Lowry. Yes, the point will get his bread, but Miami will undoubtedly benefit from his game as he will replace Kendrick Nunn as the main starter at the position. There might be some issues in the second unit as there is no real backup option for when Lowry sits, but... that's luckily not a problem for us fantasy GMs.
P.J. Tucker has arrived as a reigning champ, but you should absolutely fade him as he's not even close to be a viable fantasy play with a 3-4-1-1 line in 26 MPG. Victor Oladipo, who inked a one-year deal with Miami, won't be available for most of the season--if at all--and is vacating a starting position in the backcourt and a very high 28+ USG%, which will probably be shared between Lowry and Duncan Robinson--he'll most definitely experience a raise there: he logged a paltry 16 USG% last season.
You don't need me to tell you that you should draft Bam above everybody else from this roster. That being said, you should be targeting Bam with a first-round pick. I'm not exaggerating: the line read 18-9-5-1-1 last year, he can dish dimes like the best of them, and he's now playing with a real point guard. No downside in this man. Dedmon gave us a ridiculously small sample of games played (16) last season, but he looked fantastic (7-5-1 shooting almost 71% from the floor in just 13 MPG) and is now taking on the backup center role so he should see his minutes go up a ton--keep an eye on the WW because he could be a fantastic addition.
Washington Wizards
No more wild Russ in the courts of DC. The Wiz completely rebuilt their roster this offseason moving on from Westbrook and bringing back three potential starters to go with their new PG in Spencer Dinwiddie. Uh, oh, flex on roster turnaround haters. Obviously, getting rid of Westbrook opens all sorts of possibilities for the new and staying Wizards as Russ is vacating the second-largest usage rate of the team (30+ USG% last season, only behind Beal), 19 FGA, and 4.8 TO per game.
Beal will remain the go-to player and bucket-getter in tow, and that should always be the case because he's well worth it--if Bradley Beal could hit 31+ PPG with Russ next to him, imagine what he can do playing beside spacers and non-ball-hoggers. The center position was a headache in Washington last season and Robin Lopez (72 games, though only 9 starts) is now out of town, making it even thinner. But good for the Wiz, Thomas Bryant should be healthy to man the position after only logging 10 games last season before getting injured down for the year. My advice: draft Bryant at some point. He's one of my top candidates to rebound and become one of the best comeback players of 2022; he was putting up a 14-6-1 line in 27 MPG when he got injured and that should only improve going forward.
Dinwiddie will get to man the point, and his recent injury will lower his ADP turning him into a great value (he finished as a top-40 player just two years ago in a similar role as that projected for him next season). The Washington Lakers should also be valuable because they won't command high draft picks: Kyle Kuzma will start and Montrezl Harrell will probably force coach Wes Unseld Jr. to play him off the bench as Thomas Bryant power-backup (even then, Harrell should be a much better play than Kuz, mind you). Hachimura should also keep improving in a friendlier environment, and Bertans should rebound at least a bit; don't draft them in regular leagues, but definitely keep an eye on them in case you can snatch them via waivers (or draft them late in deeper formats).
Charlotte Hornets
If getting fantasy shares of a player means that you'll be watching them often to see how they play, then score yourself as many Hornets as you can. This team bombs, and not happy with their style they went on and added another fresh guy in Kelly Oubre Jr. Can't-miss. Official League Pass darlings, this swarm. Speaking of Oubre, I just refuse to believe he will be as bad as last season when he was missing every long-ranger he was attempting for a while. Woes and all, Oubre got to a season-average 15-6-1-1-1 line with the Warriors and although he will be moving into a reserve role behind Gordon Hayward in Charlotte, he should be one of the better second-unit players in the L.
With Malik Monk and Devonte' Graham out of town we can rest easy about the shape of Charlotte's backcourt after last season's brainfart. LaMelo at the point, Rozier at the other guard slot. Draft Ball whatever it takes (huge usage rates, 15-6-6-1 per-game average as a rookie), and if you feel like it go get some Scary Terry shares too (Rozier was a little volatile, sure, but he still finished the year as a top-25 player hitting 20+ PPG and adding a 4-4-1 rest-of-line with 3.2 3PG; that, after finishing inside the top-50 fantasy group in 2020 too).
Hayward should be a great fantasy player, but he's always letting us down a bit because of his glassy body and the games he misses, so I wouldn't risk it with him. Plumlee got signed to replace departing Cody Zeller and he should be an absolute lock to dub-dubbing in 2022 after putting up a borderline such 10-9-3-1-1 line in Detroit playing just 27 MPG--Mason Plumlee was a weekly entry in my WW columns and he is now starting for a much better team, so the numbers will go up undoubtedly. Bridges and Washington are good-not-great fantasy-fadeable players who will also be fighting for minutes with a clogged crop of wings.
Orlando Magic
Impact Rookies: Jalen Suggs (SG)
Shout-out to the Magic for lucking into a top-3 prospect with the no. 5 pick of the 2021 draft! Orlando went from drafting/acquiring great bigs/wings (Shaq, Dwight, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic) to horrid ones (Orton, Mo Bamba, Chuma Okeke, Jonathan Isaac?). Well, they are now aiming at building the youngest and most crowded of backcourts as they feature all of Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton, Michael Carter-Williams, and the latest addition Jalen Suggs. We can only hope they find a way to play them all.
Anyway. This team is not very appealing for us fantasy GMs looking for viable players to add to our rosters. But there are some interesting fliers and upside hoopers playing for the Magic these days. With Gordon/Vooch/Fournier off to other places, the main contributors in Orlando should be Fultz, Suggs, and Wendell Carter. This team feels like an all-PG-and-C squad with no middle ground, though, so expect some trades to pop up from the Magic as we approach the trade deadline.
Fultz is coming back from his eight-game season in 2021 after getting injured and if he should be the starting PG when healthy (good late-rounder). Suggs is obviously going to start 82 games at the SG slot without much trouble and take on ball-handling duties often even as a rook and battling Fultz (another good flier; one of the few rookies worth drafting). Wendell Carter Jr. is Orlando's hope at a big man doing it once for all after Bamba's upset (the 11-8-2 line in 25 MPG is definitely promising, but his upside is tied to whatever Robin Lopez ends doing for the Magic).
If we're honest, the Magic look more like a team full of reserve-caliber players for fantasy GMs to start on spot weeks after acquiring them via WW, not via draft-day picks. Only Suggs and Fultz (assuming he stays healthy) are locks to produce, and pretty much the same goes for returning Jonathan Isaac. Sure, Isaac should thrive if he's healthy and playing most of the year, but after missing a ton of time we'll see how his return goes--don't get me wrong, though; he's one of my favorite comeback candidates for the 2022 campaign, but given his past, it's hard to really drop too much draft capital on him early; if he slips in your draft, though, he's more than a worth gamble to make.
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