Fantasy Review For 2018/19 Season:
It was a season to forget with Anthony Davis leaning from its start to being traded, and in fact requesting a trade in February causing an organizational meltdown. Obviously it ended with Pelicans gathering a ton of young assets with a grand grand prize of Zion Williamson won in the draft lottery. Years from now this season might be considered the same way as Spurs season 96-97.
Changes in the offseason
Lost = Anthony Davis, Ian Clark, Cheick Diallo, Tim Frazier, Solomon Hill, Stanley Johnson, Elfrid Payton, Julius Randle, Christian Wood
Added = Zion Williamson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaxson Hayes, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, JJ Redick, Derick Favors, Nicolo Melli
Their rotation got completely reshaped, with only Jrue Holiday retaining his role from last season.
Projected Depth Chart:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Lonzo Ball | Jrue Holiday | Brandon Ingram | Zion Williamson | Derrick Favors |
| Frank Jackson | JJ Redick | Josh Hart | Nicolo Melli | Jahlil Okafor |
| Josh Gray | Nickeil Alexander-Walker | E’Tuwan Moore | Kenrich Williams | Jaxson Hayes |
Positional Battles: Guards… and every other position
Their problem is simple – too much talent. Its a good problem to have, but also its a nightmare for fantasy owners. Right now across five positions only two players have clear cut roles: Jrue Holiday and Zion Williamson. Usability of every other rotation player would be judged based on their fit to the duo. Even Brandon Ingram, probably the third most important player for Pelicans future, doesn’t have locked minutes or role due to his questionable shooting ability. The true bloodbath is going to be on the guards positions, as at least 6 players deserve the minutes there, and the available minutes ar going to be limited – out of 96 on the guards position – more than 30 belong to Jrue Holiday. Also another 30 should go to Lonzo Ball as a perfect fit for Holiday/Williamson duo. It leaves only around 30 minutes for Frank Jackson, Redick, NAW, Hart and Moore…. each of them deserving at least 20. The only way to solve this log jam is playing bunch of them as small ball Small Forwards, what moves the logjam to that position and to solve it there… Brandon Ingram should be moved a position higher, to PF. But its where already Nicolo Melli battle Kenrich Williams for a postion of Zion backup… so one of them, or both and definately Zion, would play some small ball C. And there are already three true centers on the roster. Following the previous logic they should be moved… where? To the bench? Or G-League like Jaxson Hayes? Or maybe lets move one of them to the guard spot? This roster is packed, you will love to watch it and you will be terrified by having their fantasy players.
Fantasy Relevant in leagues with 12- to 15-teams:
Last season he proved himself as an elite fantasy player. There was some uncertainity regarding his shooting efficiency and he has shown all the doubters that he can mantain 47 FG% or higher making him a positive Field Goal contributor for the second year in the raw. Combination of neutral to positive percentage contriubutions with elite defensive stats, great points and assist, good threes and rebounds makes him a great fantasy asset. Add to it projected fastest pace in the NBA and even playing a minute or two less than last year he has a legit chance of breaking top15 roto 9 cat level with a shot at top10.
Lonzo Ball
It looks like it is finally here – the season of Lonzo Ball breakout. He looks tremendous in preseason, piling up rebounds, assists, steals and blocks while maintaining reasonable shooting efficiency. He is also making threes with his rebuild mechanics and looks like he has a shot at finally making free throws on a regular basis. Atop of that he looks like a perfect facilitator of Alvin Gentry’s offense. Fantasy-wise sky is the limit for him this should be finally the year when we will see it…
Zion Williamson
Its unbelievable that so exciting and athletic guy manages to outplay expectations over and over again. He was ranked behind RJ Barrett while coming to NCAA, he wasn’t supposed to be one of the best players at NCAA level ever, but he was, and now he wasn’t supposed to translate his game easily to the NBA level. And, as for now, in preseason, he does. In preseason basketball he makes 70% of his shots, often playing as a smallball center… the position that he wasn’t supposed to be able to play in his first NBA season. Meanwhile as a small ball center he looks already as a matchup nightmare. He might be even top20 player in his rookie season, both in real world and in fantasy basketball. Amazing kid.
Brandon Ingram
18-5-4 with 1,5 stl+blk on 50% FG is the statistical goal for him this season. An achievable one. If he makes it, for the first time in his career he might be a top100 fantasy contributor, despite bad FT% along with weak 3s and TOs. Boom or bust kind of the guy.
Derrick Favors
In only 23 mpg he was an 89th best player in fantasy basketball last season. This year his value will depend heavily on minutes, which are extremely hard to predict, based on the “moving logjam” in their roster. We’ve started with him playing around 31 minutes per game, what gave him stunning top25 roto rank. Right now, after seeing most of preseason, it looks like he is going to play something in 22-26 minutes range, what means top60-70 rank. His role, minutes and health are going to be a gamechanging factor in many fantasy leagues this season.
JJ Redick
Threes and nothing else, thats what he is at this stage of his career. However if you need a reliable source of those threes in the later parts of the draft, he is your guy.
Nicolo Melli
Another three point streamer in this roster and a player that is such a great fit for Zion and Holiday, that he actually may play significant minutes.
Could be useful with trades/injuries [or in deeper leagues than 15 teams]:
Frank Jackson, Nickeil Alexander Walker, Jaxson Hayes, Josh Hart, Kenrich Williams
Just don’t bother with:
Jahlil Okafor, E’Tuwan Moore
Don’t forget to check the rest of the New Orleans Pelicans fantasy basketball projections.
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