Fantasy Review For 2018/19 Season:
A team that is usually overlooked during offseason and preseason and that beats the expectation on a regular basis. The same happened last season. First, they managed to clinch the third spot in the bloodbath of the Western Conference, then despite being underdogs in all of their playoff series, they managed to get into the Western Conference Finals, loosing there to their nemesis, Golden State Warriors. What is worth noting, they pulled of that playoffs run without their second/third best player, as Jusuf Nurkic ended his breakout season in March with an gruesome ankle injury.
Changes in the offseason
Lost = Moe Harkless, Al Farouq Aminu, Evan Turner, Seth Curry, Meyers Leonard
Added = Hassan Whiteside, Kent Bazemore, Mario Hezonja, Anthony Tolliver
Projected Depth Chart:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Damian Lillard | CJ McCollum | Rodney Hood | Zach Collins | Hassan Whiteside |
| Mario Hezonja | Anfernee Simmons | Kent Bazemore | Anthony Tolliver | Jusuf Nurkic |
| Troy Caupain | Gary Trent Jr. | Nassir Little | Skal Labissiere | Pau Gasol |
Positional Battles: SF
They have a weird construction of a roster, that has a clear cut starting five and reserve unit, but the team two stars, their bigger prospect and two other of their top7 players are all guards and the rest of rotation lacks of depth. However there is no positional battle on the guard spots, as Dame Lillard and CJ McCollum both have an undeniable role. Other talented guards would have to fight for scraps… or a significant minutes on the other position. That applies especially to a Small Forward, where the minutes are wide open, as all three o last year contributors on the position are now gone, and Portland didn’t add any SF to fill that hole. As for now, it looks that there will be a time split on that position between nominal guards – Kent Bazemore and Rodney Hood.
There is also a pending battle for center spot between Hassan Whiteside and Jusuf Nurkic after his comeback from the injury, but timetable for Bosnian big guy is February, so the not-so-bald type here is that they will never play together, as Whiteside huge expiring contract would be an interesting trade chip at the trade deadline.
Fantasy Relevant in standard leagues:
44 FG%, 91 FT%, 3,4 3PM, 26,5 PTS, 4,3 REB, 7,1 AST, 1,1 STL, 0,3 BL, 2,6 TO
We all know who Damian Lillard is. An elite points, threes and FT% contributor with solid rebounds, assists, steals and turnovers, and negative influence on the FG% and blocks. His fantasy profile is James Harden light, even more so, after his recent progress in assists. Very durable, he is almost a lock in a top10 totals at the end of the season, and safest fantasy draft pick outside the top6.
Amazing real life player with not so amazing fantasy profile. His lack of rebounds, assists, defensive numbers and elite efficiency, makes him just a scoring punch and a source of threes to be drafted outside the top60, with high floor and very limited upside. In our fantasy world he is a poor man version of Buddy Hield.
He finished his career breakout season, when he finally started to fulfill his tremendous fantasy potential, the worst possible way – with a gruesome injury, that probably would keep him out of the game till February and would also affect his performance after comeback. Nobody expects Nurk to be top35 contributor as he finally makes it to the court and considering his questionable work ethic and the style of play that requires a huge amount of self confidence, it is hard to expect him being a standard league guy even after the comeback. He is still worth taking a flier in the last round of draft in the leagues with an IL spot, but just don’t have high hopes for him. His value would be highest just before his return and if you stash him, that would be the perfect moment for a trade.
He is just a walking fantasy disappointment. We all saw his potential during the 15/16 campaign, when he finished 8th on a per game basis. He managed to do so, even while shooting only 65% from the line. His shooting mechanics still were very good for that kind of a player and he proved that two years later, when he shot over 70% from a stripe. The ability to shoot free throws along with elite big man numbers are something that should put him in a top20 contention. Meanwhile he doesn’t like to practice elements that are required from him and wants to focus on a stuff like threes or mid range shooting, that are both unnecessary in his game and that he is horrendous at. Portland fans right now must be really scared as he is vocal about his passing game and playmaking. In a fantasy world, he will still be a top80 player at minimum, leaning on a pure talent and physical ability. Just beware of a possible worst free throw impact in fantasy and maybe, if he fulfills his threats of trying to be a playmaker, horrible amounts of turnovers.
Breakout candidate. Due to Blazers absolute lack of depth at big man positions, he is projected to begin the season playing 30 minutes out of position as a Power Forward and another 22 as a backup at center. How will he do that, I don’t know, but what I know is, that he would play as many minutes as he could handle. He is worth a pickup at the end of Top100, just because of the opportunity and a intriguing combination of threes and blocks.
A steals and threes specialist, with a little bit of upside in other categories. Blazers are really high on him, and tried to acquire him for years, so he will have his opportunity to play. There is just skepticism if he will be able to use that to produce relevant fantasy numbers, other than steals (which are the most common commodity outside top100).
Points, acceptable efficiency and a very little of anything else. On a given night he can go for 30 points, while two days later you would have from him 6 points on 2 for 7 shooting. Good for late round flier type pick, nothing else.
Could be useful with trades/injuries:
Anfernee Simmons, Mario Hezonja, Anthony Tolliver, Skal Labissiere, Gary Trent Jr
Just don’t bother with:
Pau Gasol, Nassir Little
Don’t forget to check the rest of the Portland Trail Blazers fantasy basketball projections...
Posted in Teams preview