One of the most compelling off-season moments in fantasy basketball is when a player is “freed” by his current situation, allowing him to head to greener pastures for more responsibility for another club. In recent years, players like Eric Bledsoe and James Harden were traded to new teams, which allowed them to blossom into star fantasy pieces.
This year, we could be looking at players like Reggie Jackson and Enes Kanter that make their push into fantasy basketball stardom, and that list will surely grow in the coming months.
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The question is, which players would most benefit fantasy-wise from a move this summer? This is not to say these players “should” move, but could certainly do so given their situation, and would become more intriguing from the fantasy basketball side of things if they did.
Here are my three players to keep an eye on as their teams head into the off-season (or playoffs).
Rajon Rondo, PG, Dallas Mavericks
In case you’re missing out on the world’s worst-kept secret, Rajon Rondo is not going to be a Dallas Maverick in 2015-16. The fit is absolutely atrocious, the coach cannot stand him, and it’s gotten to the point where he’s basically being benched in key stretches.
The reason it’s not working out in Dallas, beyond any “behind-the-scenes” stuff, is actually something we knew before the Mavericks traded for the enigmatic point guard: he can’t shoot, and often refuses to attack the basket. In other words, he’s not a threat to score, but he needs the ball in his hands.
The key offensive player for Dallas, Monta Ellis, can score, but unfortunately he needs the ball in his hands just as often.
Being as there is still only one ball used in NBA games, the smart money is on Rondo changing teams next season. He’ll likely sign on with a squad that lets him run the show, much like he was given license to do as a member of the Boston Celtics.
His averages as a Celtic in 2014-15: 8.3 points, 10.8 assists, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game (by contrast, his numbers as a Maverick are: 9 points, 6.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game).
Basically, allowing Rondo free reign is good news for fantasy basketball. He provides elite assist numbers, excellent rebounding numbers for his position, and potentially great steals as well.
He still isn’t a scoring option most nights, and he has been shooting a miserable percentage the past two seasons, but he isn’t jacking up an obscene number of shots (a la Josh Smith) to destroy your percentages.
The reasonable thought is that, prior to signing with any franchise this summer, Rondo will have conversations about his utilization. So, assuming he signs with a talent-barren team like the Knicks or Lakers, he should return to the value he carried prior to the debacle that has been his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks.
Kevin Love, PF, Cleveland Cavaliers
Kevin Love has been an awkward fit in Cleveland for awhile now, and it’s difficult to envision him returning to a place where not only is he a relative afterthought in the offense, he is starting to look like a social outcast when it comes to fitting in on the team.
I am of the mind that even a championship will not convince Love to re-sign long-term in Cleveland, and it would be foolish for the Cavaliers to pursue Love as a max-contract option given the way they use him.
Much of the time, Kevin Love is used to stretch the floor for the offensive terror that is a slashing LeBron James or Kyrie Irving. This is an effective approach offensively, but there are players out there can stretch the floor and rebound enough to make a difference, and they will come cheaper than Love. That fact alone makes a mutual parting plausible.
As a Cavalier, Love’s fantasy numbers aren’t terrible. He’s averaging 16.6 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.9 threes per game. What is frustrating for fantasy basketball players is that, in a situation where he is the first or second option, Kevin Love is an amazing fantasy piece. His last season in Minnesota was marvelous, with averages of 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.5 threes per game.
Jumping ship to say, the Celtics or Lakers, won’t help Love become an asset in steals or blocks, but it would cement him as a top-ten fantasy basketball pick. And while he’s more likely to see more Timberwolves-esque seasons than anything the Cavaliers are doing as a squad right now, he probably stands a better chance of getting in on his teammates’ Instagram posts if he switches jerseys in the off-season.
Tyreke Evans, G, New Orleans Pelicans
Tyreke Evans is another player that simply needs the ball to be an effective piece on a real NBA team. He won Rookie of the Year with the Sacramento Kings as a ball-dominant player, and he’s having one of his better seasons in the same role for the Pelicans this season.
But there are two major issues with his maintaining his current level of production, and their names are Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday.
While Gordon is admittedly the more likely piece to get traded, simply due to his big expiring deal, his presence isn’t as harming to Tyreke Evans as Holiday. The problem with Holiday as it pertains to Evans is that they essentially play the same position, and New Orleans gave up a lot to get him.
However, when Tyreke Evans is turned loose, he’s a dynamic fantasy asset. He’s currently on pace to set a career-high in assists per game, and match his career-high in rebounding. He’s filled in for the combination of Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday for a total of 66 games started this season after only starting 22 a year ago, and it’s easy to see the impact on a night-to-night basis.
I honestly don’t know how likely it is that the Pelicans consider a Tyreke Evans trade, but it would do wonders for his value. They have not had a ton of success with the three guards that they have, and swapping one out could do wonders for both parties from a fantasy basketball perspective.
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