Fantasy Review For 2019/20 Season:
It was a very disappointing and injury plagued season for the Suns. Their, already fired, new coach, Igor Kokoskov couldn’t figure out the PG rotation next to Devin Booker while refusing to start the star at that position. Simultaneously he didn’t try hard enough to incorporate DeAndre Ayton into teams offense leaving the number one pick with only 12.3 shots per game, most of them rather opportunistic. Fortunately, they managed to gather some really interesting wing talent with Mikal Bridges and Kelly Oubre, both of whom became hot fantasy pickups of the second part of the season. Jamal Crawford playing in front of young guns Elie Okobo and DeAnthony Melton at the garbage time of the season was an suitable exclamation point of their 2018/19 campaign.
Changes in the offseason
Lost = TJ Warren, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Richaun Holmes, DeAnthony Melton
Added = new head coach Monty Williams, Cameron Johnson, Ricky Rubio, Dario Saric, Ty Jerome, Aron Baynes, Cheick Diallo, Jevon Carter
Monty Williams is known for having great relationships with young players. That, along with internal development are two key factors for their potential fantasy value during 2019/20 season.
Projected Depth Chart:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Ricky Rubio | Devin Booker | Mikal Bridges | Dario Saric | Deandre Ayton |
| Ty Jerome | Tyler Johnson | Kelly Oubre | Frank Kaminsky | Aron Baynes |
| Jevon Carter | Elie Okobo | Cameron Johnson | Cheick Diallo |
Positional Battles: Wings
Kelly Oubre and Mikal Bridges were already fighting for starter spot at Small Forward last season, but as both players are very versatile, they were playing a lot of minutes together, sharing the forward spots. This season it looks to be same story all over again, but now Suns actually have reliable true Power Forwards, so if any from the Oubre/Bridges duo wants to play at that position, would have to outplay both Dario Saric and Frank Kaminsky. The depth of the wing rotation is an obvious problem for fantasy players, especially as highly praised during training camp Cam Johnson comes into play, and we cant judge right now which way would Monty Williams turn after preseason. The interesting tidbit here is Williams willingness to try using big ball and playing DeAndre Ayton at Power Forward position next to Aron Baynes at center. This may result with Ayton growing fantasy value at the cost of traditional wing players.
Fantasy Relevant Players – standard 12 team leagues
54,3FG%, 14 FGA, 74,2 FT%, 3,1 FTA, 0,4 3PM, 17,9 PTS, 11,8 REB, 2,1 AST, 1,0 STL, 1,2 BL, 2,7 TO
He should be the main beneficiary of reshaping of the team. Finally he will play next to true point guard in Ricky Rubio, who is one of the best in business of delivering the ball to the partners favourite spots. After stunnig rookie fantasy campaign we fully expect DeAndre to take the next step and become top20 roto player. It might happen even without progress in defensive numbers, but just with 3 to 5 more minutes per game and some improvement in efficiency. He was also vocal about shooting some more threes, a weapon that he posses and used to use in his college days, but that was forbidden for him during his first NBA season. Future is bright for this young center.
46,0 FG%, 20,2 FGA 88,2 FT%, 7,6 FTA, 3,0 3PM, 28,3 PTS, 4,0 REB, 6,2 AST, 1,0 STL, 0,3 BL, 3,6 TO
44th last season in 9 cat rankings but 21st in 8 cat rankings / punt-TO build. Extra year of experience and playing alongside Ricky Rubio should help him reduce TOs, while maintaining progress in efficiency. He is evolving into Damian Lillard type of player with very strong points, threes and FT%, and significant flaws in rebounds and blocks. However his upside is higher than this, due to his already better field goal percentage. He should not be allowed to slip out of top20-25 in your fantasy drafts.
Bounce back year is what exactly what to expect here. Playing for Suns is a perfect opportunity for Rubio to regain his positons as top fantasy performer in department of steals and assists.
He has yet to prove that his recent breakout wasn’t only a fluke. Since joining Suns, Oubre was flirting with top40 9 cat value, but only with 15 games played, most of them without Devin Booker. This year is going to be a true test for his value and he should be a popular sixth to ninth round pick in standard leagues. Reasonably.
Really strong breakout candidate. He has quite a high floor, with his value build on steals (1.6 in rookie season) and threes (1.3 in rookie season). Now, after playing just under 30 mpg he should gain 3-4 additional minutes, and make further progress in threes, points, fg% and blocks. He is almost a lock in top100 this upcoming season with an upside of top60.
Worth watching:
Bust candidate:
Devin Booker (unsure health)
Value pick:
Ricky Rubio
Just don’t bother with:
Cameron Johnson – human injury red flag here
Posted in Teams preview