RADIO
This is the second part of the ongoing series about "forgotten" NBA players I decided to write this preseason to bring some names back to the fantasy basketball forefront. Whether it is because of injuries, because of a perceived lack of talent, or because of any other reason you can think of, some professional athletes find themselves on the outside looking in at some point in their careers. They get forgotten, they become part of their sport's past, and they have to make a comeback and reignite the passion of the fans that once rooted for them.
I wanted to bring some players whose names have already (or could soon) entered the "forgotten" realm in the NBA, so that's why I'm highlighting them in this little preseason series of articles. This doesn't mean that you should rush to smash that "draft" or "add" button in your league draft or WW pool in some cases, but it definitely is meant to provide a list full of names that you should definitely keep an eye on, just in case.
Here is a partial chunk of the list of players I have chosen for this series, who might or might not have bounce-back campaigns depending on the chances they get, where they land, or even if they get signed to play basketball at all next year. One thing, though, is clear: do yourself (and the NBA as a whole) a favor, and don't forget about them!
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Fantasy Basketball Forgotten Players To Keep An Eye On
Victor Oladipo, SG - Miami Heat
Oladipo is about to play his age-30 (!) season with the Heat in 2022 after having already burnt nine seasons of professional play in the NBA. Dipo is definitely not the definition of a "forgotten" player, not at least when to put next to some other names in this series of articles, but he's gone through enough to consider him at least close to that label with just 41 games played in the past two years combined (out of a possible 164) and only eight last season.
Oladipo has only topped 70 games played in four of his nine pro seasons and it's been now four years in a row where Oladipo appeared in fewer than 40 contests. Last season marked the first time Dipo hit another low in his career after starting only one of the eight games he played with Miami, kind of showcasing what might be ahead for him come next season--a limited 21 MPG having played at least 27+ MPG in all seasons before that one.
Dipo, even on a bench role, should have enough fuel and ability in him to keep up with most players on that similar usage. On a per-minute basis, Oladipo has been (and should remain) a machine. He's posted figures above 1.05 in four of the past five seasons (including 2022), and in three of those, he reached marks above 1.10 FP/min. The per-game averages aren't much worse, mind you, with those three aforementioned years hitting 36+ FPPG.
Dipo is a natural scorer and should hit a customary 12-to-14 PPG even on that limited 20 MPG, off-the-pine role next year. Add some assists (3+), rebounds (2+), and steals (1+), and you have a solid rotation player. If he can sustain the shooting he briefly teased last season (47.9/41.7/73.7 splits) on 9+ FGA and 4+ 3PA, then Dipo should be a terrific late-draft pick for any and every fantasy GM out there.
Edmond Sumner, PG/SG - Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn Nets... yeah, right? You bet! If you only remember Sumner as an Indiana Pacer, I can't blame you. Sumner, still and until December only 26-years-old, had his best professional run with the Pacers, which is actually the only team he's officially played for as the Nets acquired, waived (because of an Achilles injury, mind you), then re-acquired him... all of it in the past 12 months.
While Sumner has steadily improved and increased his numbers on all fronts, the truth is that he never became anything of substance. He went from playing one to 23, 31, and lastly 53 games in 2021 throughout his NBA career (he didn't play at all last season). He averaged two, then nine, then 14, and lastly 16 MPG. He went for per-game averages of 3.3, 6.1, 11.0, and 12.6 fantasy points. And his per-minute production improved yearly until topping at 0.77 in 2021. Not quite incredible.
The obvious move by the Nets would (and will 99% probably) be to waive Sumner. Will he land elsewhere, though? You never know, and Sumner is still 26-years-old. He can shoot from beyond the arc (39.8% in 2021) and hits freebies with a passion (81.9%). All of that helped him post a sound and solid 62.5 true shooting percentage in his last year with the Pacers a couple of seasons ago.
Sumner seems to be fully recovered from his Achilles injury (which happened on Sept. 2021) and is ready to get back to NBA courts next year. Whether that happens in Brooklyn or not, we'll have to wait and see. In his own words, Sumner recently said that “I feel like I can do a lot of stuff. Play off of the ball. Play multiple positions and guard multiple positions. I feel like I could do a jack of all trades, and that makes me very versatile.” If that's not appealing enough for the Nets or another needy franchise out there, I don't even know.
Jonathan Isaac, PF/C - Orlando Magic
It's been so long since we last watched Isaac ball that in the elapsed time, he's even published a book about the NBA Bubble and his stance on other multiple non-basketball-related topics. For what interests us, the latest reports coming off Orlando regarding Jonathan Isaac's recovery from injury speak of a fully available player come opening night. We'll see how that goes, but the truth is that Isaac has missed two entire seasons while only playing 34 games in the 2019-20 campaign.
In other words, when the season tips off in late October, it'd have been nearly 800 days since the last time this young man sat feet on a basketball court (Aug. 2, 2020; Isaac played back-to-back games to close July and open August logging 30 combined minutes before getting shut down for good in the bubble and he's been out until now).
As sad as it is, the train of hope is inching closer to leaving Isaac behind sooner rather than later. Some fantasy GMs, though, seem to still believe in the two-ACL man of mystery. And there might be an actual reason for that. Isaac's last active season in 2020 was a promising one as he finished that year as a steady starter in Orlando (32 of 34 games started) while putting up a 12-7-1-1-2 per-game line in less than 28 MPG of playing time.
Isaac's player profile is very unique when factoring shooting into the equation. Only 14 times in the history of the NBA has a player posted a combination of 2+ BPG and a 55% or higher TS% with Isaac having such a campaign in 2020.
It might look like cherry-picking, but if you add a 1+ SPG baseline to those other two stats, you only get a three-man list: Isaac, Andrei Kirilenko, and Anthony Davis. The possibilities are endless and the sky should be the limit, but there will always be health concerns until Isaac is back and proving he can be out there on a nightly basis.
Jabari Parker, PF/C - Free Agent
As I'm writing this post, there are only two players employed by NBA franchises that go by the name of Jabari: Smith and Walker. Sadly, none of their last names is Parker. Ugh. The Original Jabari, Jabari Parker, was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the summer of 2014 as part of a rookie class that included Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, and Marcus Smart just to name a few. I vividly remember the echoed #TankSafariForJabari hashtag.
Of course, you know what happened next. Embiid became a perennial (although oft-injured) MVP contender, Wiggins was great even though haters don't want to acknowledge his talents, Smart became a DPOY, and the list goes on. Jabari became a walking ACL injury. Parker suffered one in 2015 (after 25 games) and another one in the same knee in 2017 and he was never the same player.
The thing is, Parker was looking fantastic and could have probably been a yearly contender for top-25 finishes at the forward position in fantasy leagues had it not been for his injury woes. He was at the peak of his powers when he got injured in 2017: 51 games (50 of them starting) with 34 MPG and a per-game line of 20-6-3-1 to go with an average of 34.6 FP per game and 1.02 FP/min in fantasy leagues. That's impressive, superstar-level stuff.
After that season, Parker's best years came in 2019 and 2020 when he averaged 28 and 26 FPPG and above-average (one could say even elite) marks on a per-minute basis (1.04 and 1.10 FP/min). Then, nothing. It's been now two seasons of 13 and 12 games played, so it'd be reasonable for you to admit that, well, you had forgotten about Parker.
The Celtics, the last team to employ him, now find themselves in a situation in which they signed his replacement (Danilo Gallinari) only to lose him a few weeks ago to an ACL injury (this is how the universe works, I guess) and hear voices calling for the addition of Parker to the roster. It's a long shot, yes, but Parker (believe it or not) is only entering his age-27 (!!!) season next year. That's crazy but real. Here's hoping he can still become a valuable rotation player somehow, somewhere.
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