Fantasy Review For 2018/19 Season:
In the first year post Chris Paul they lacked stars but they collected many quality players [based on the averages 7 were in the Top150 for 9-cat, 8 if we count Blake] though this depth was a little bit of mirage because of the injuries three of them played a combined total of 93 games. The main story of the season was probably how quickly they changed the course with Blake Griffin by trading them instead of following on the promise of Clipper-for-life but Lou Williams and Tobias Harris nicely stepped up into the void left by stars to accomplish a career-best years.
Changes in the offseason
Lost = Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Moe Harkless
Added = Marcin Gortat, healthy Patrick Beverley, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luc Mbah a Moute
Projected Depth Chart:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Patrick Beverley | Landry Shamet | Kawhi Leonard | Paul George | Ivica Zubac |
| Terance Mann | Lou Williams | Moe Harkless | JaMychal Green | Montrezl Harrell |
| Derrick Walton | Jerome Robinson | Rodney McGruder | Patrick Patterson | Mfiondu Kabengele |
Positional Battles: None
The roles in this team are as clear as they could be with a clear cut starting five and bench unit. Only on a wings Doc Rivers would have a bit of a headache, because there wont be many minutes left behind Leonard and George, but there is a very solid group of players waiting for the opportunity behind them – Harkless, Green, Robinson and McGruder, all of them deserve to play.
Fantasy Relevant in leagues with 12- to 15-teams:
He’s a top notch finisher who doesn’t shoot many jumpers so he was among league leaders in positive effect on FG% despite playing limited minutes. This ability combined with low turnovers and decent big man stats made him again a top100 player in 9-cat and he there was nothing fluky about it so he has a shot at doing it again. It would be a great value at the end of drafts, but now he is widely recognized as a top100 player so times of buying him low are long gone. Actually, he might get overdrafted this year, as he would be considered again a heavy usage player. In the mean time he shouldn’t be able to maintain his production, as with arrival od Clippers new big duo, somebody would have to sacrifice shots, and Montrezl is an obvious candidate for that.
After his terrific season 17/18, he saw a natural decline, mostly due to smaller minutes and, well, getting older. He compensated it with a sky-high usage in his limited minutes (34.4%) but this year it is going to be harder for him. Arrival of Leonard and George means that his usage and minutes will drop. That probably means that Lou will fall out of top100 becoming Eric Gordon with assists.
Steals and assists with low TOs, thats what he is at this stage of his career… still worth owning though.
Aruguably the best player in the NBA and Mr. Finals MVP, best hired gun in the league, finally back home. We all know who he is in fatasy 9-cat – an elite player flawed only by time and load management. Given enough minutes he is one of only two players (Embiid is the other one) that could brake the fantasy dominance of this years consensus top6. In fact, you have to be optimistic about it, as Kawhi is very vocal about being healthy and resigning from the load management procedures known from Toronto. The only concern here is Clippers depth and the fact, that Doc Rivers probably would try to save his star’s best version for the playoffs.
He probably owes his huge breakout to Russell Westbrook and its unfortunate, that he couldn’t finish his amazing 17/18 campaign healthy and on his own terms. The season might have ended for Thunder in a very different way, has George been healthy. Either way he ended up teaming with Kawhi Leonard. That is not only great news for his championship hopes, but also for his health, as his new team is good and deep enough, to handle its business without him, letting him to fully recover after recent surgeries. Therefore as he comes back, he should be in quite a good shape, as good as you can be, especially shooting, after shoulder injuries. The downside? He probably won’t be back till the end of November and to be honest, Im not sure if we would see him again before Christmas.
Could be useful with trades/injuries [or in deeper leagues than 15 teams]:
Landry Shamet, Moe Harkless, Ivica Zubac, JaMychal Green, Terance Mann
Just don’t bother with:
Patrick Patterson, Rodney McGruder, Mfiondu Kabengele, Jerome Robinson
Don’t forget to check the rest of the Los Angeles Clippers fantasy basketball projections..
Posted in Teams preview