Fantasy Review For 2018/19 Season:
Despite team’s breakout and their late run that led them to playoffs, fantasy-wise it was a bumpy year for fantasy purposes. Nikola Vucevic pulled one of the best out-of-nowhere seasons in recent memory, but heralded breakouts of Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac never came with only the latter showing the signs of future potential. On the positive side of things, they suddenly transformed from a rebuilding team with no hope to one of the NBA’s feel good stories.
Changes in the offseason:
Lost =
Added = Al Farouq Aminu
Projected Depth Chart:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| D.J. Augustin | Evan Fournier | Aaron Gordon | Jonathan Isaac | Nikola Vucevic |
| Markelle Fultz | Terrence Ross | Wesley Iwundu | Al Farouq Aminu | Mohamed Bamba |
| Jerian Grant | Josh Magette | Melvin Frazier Jr | Amile Jefferson | Khem Birch |
Positional Battles: PG, wings
Among the wings Fournier is a rather sure starter but who’s going to play next to him is a question mark.
There are 4 very different options – Ross, Gordon, Isaac and Aminu – and there are only 2 starter spots for them.
Head coach Steve Clifford prefers tough and athletic defenders but this description fits three out of these four guys, and the fourth, Ross, is the best shooter/specer of them all, and its not even close.
At point guard there are 2 options and this time always-questioned DJ Augustin is going to fight for minutes with former #1 pick, Markelle Fultz. Potential is obviously on the Fultz’s side, but fit and experience suggest that Augustin will for now remain a starter.
Fantasy Relevant in leagues with 12- to 15-teams:
He played his career season, good enough for him to cut all the trade talk and transform Magic into a playoff team. Some of his stats seem irreplicable as he suddenly raised his FG% by more than 4%, what looks a bit like a fluke, but some would probably stay, including being a 3×1 (3, stl, blk) guy and also a high level of assist, as he became an offensive hub for Steve Clifford’s offense. Just dont be worried about Mo Bamba stealing his time, Vuc was a top15 player last season while playing only 31 mpg, and its an achievable mark for him again.
He has estabilished himself as an top80 player with a slightly positive production in counting stats and slightly negative in percentages. It is just who he is, and it would be unreasonable to expect any sort of breakout from him.
He won’t block a shot to save his life, he won’t rebound a ball that doesn’t fall to his lap and he is a serious negative in terms of FG%. On the other hand he is still nice scoring and assist option outside top100, and in standard leagues someone worth a pick in late rounds.
We have a breakout year coming here, as Isaac is best candidate in the league to average somewhere in the future 3×2 (3, stl, blk). For now we should hope for 3×1,5 production with decent percentages and an evolving scoring game.
He is threes and blocks and low minutes guy. His upside is around two threes and two blocks per game, but until Vuc gets traded or injured he simply won’t get enough playing time.
Very good scorer outside top100 and limited potential for more. He can give you 3 threes per game and around 15 points on quite decent shooting. It is a rare feature that far in the draft.x
Could be useful with trades/injuries [or in deeper leagues than 15 teams]:
D.J. Augustin, Markelle Fultz, Khem Birch, Al Farouq Aminu
Just don’t bother with:
Wes Iwundu, Jerian Grant
Don’t forget to check the rest of the Orlando Magic fantasy basketball projections..
Posted in Teams preview