Kenneth Faried (F, DEN) - Fantasy Basketball Draft Sleepers

Going into last season, Kenneth Faried was pegged as player who could be ready to bust out for a giant season.  That was not the case.  He saw his points per game drop by over a point per game and was not able to boost his rebounding or defensive stats.  Look for that to change with the arrival of head coach Mike Malone to the Denver bench.  The former Kings coach was lauded by players like DeMarcus Cousins as a great coach, especially for big men.  If that rubs off on Faried, he could turn into the fantasy stud many have been waiting for.  Not a big scoring player, much of Faried’s value comes from his hustle stats including rebounds, blocks, steals and field goal percentage.

In an up pace system, value estimates for Faried could push up towards 15 points, 11 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals per game which would put him in elite company of only a handful of players. Only Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and DeAndre Jordan averaged a double-double with at least 1.0 steal and 1.0 block last season.  The downside to Faried’s game is that he will provide nothing in terms of assists, threes, and free throw percentage, but if he can live up to expectations elsewhere, those numbers will not matter.