Yahoo Fantasy basketball analyst Dan Titus and contributor Justin Henry pick players who will be drafted as fantasy coaches next season.
Video transcript
DAN TITO: All good. So let’s look to next year. Great season. Congratulations to everyone in fantasy basketball if you took home the title. But we have to prepare for next season.
I know the draft has to happen. Free agency has to happen. Summer League. But let’s throw out some initial predictions and just thoughts on how we feel about the landscape in general.
So we have to start with the elephant in the room, or alien in the room, Victor Wembanyama. Where will you take it next year? Who is the number one overall pick and is it him?
JUSTIN HENRY: The sequence. We already know. I mean, I’m not going to pass on the alien in the first place. Wemby should be the number one choice because his performance as a rookie was impressive.
Who knows what this will be like a year from now? And guess what? He also took time to take care of his ankle throughout the season. He didn’t even play a full year.
Imagine. Imagine, Tito. When he gets a full slate of games and is playing – and puts on weight in the off-season. He knows the game. He knows the pop system even more.
Wemby is going to be crazy next year. And I can’t pass on potential three to four blocks. You know, more than five stocks on average throughout the year. I can’t pass this on, man. Wemby, number one.
DAN TITO: He had, arguably, the second best – perhaps even the talk of the best rookie season of all time, or at least the last 50 years. I mean, I don’t see how you can pass on that advantage, right? Do you know what I’m saying? Alone defensively, he will win you categories. He also has the potential to do quadruple doubles.
And by the way, he might give you five cents. Imagine when this guy plays like 33 minutes. 34 minutes. What bro. Like, we don’t – these are going to be those NBA 2K numbers that – you know what I’m saying?
These are the numbers of the types of creative players we will see. As good as Jokic is, like, his floor – his ceiling is as safe as, like, a consistent triple-double threat. But the defense that Wemby gives you, plus the 3, it’s like, Jokic can’t do certain things that this guy can do.
JUSTIN HENRY: Now we have to talk about which player probably won’t be in the top 12 or top 10 first round picks next year? So Dan, what player do you have in mind that will be out of the first round conversation next season?
DAN TITO: Well, there will definitely be some people who will be present. Wemby will be present. I think Chet is in the conversation.
I’m going to kick Damian Lillard out. From what I’ve seen with the Milwaukee Bucks, here’s a guy who’s going to seed touches. And he really wasn’t that effective in his first stint in Milwaukee. Yes, there were many injuries. But this team has deeper questions to answer.
They don’t have much depth. Therefore, they cannot afford too many injuries. I think Dame is in pretty much the same situation he was in Portland, just a little worse because he has an All-NBA player next to him to take away some of that usage and production. Then we saw the numbers drop for Dame in the scoring area. I think the trend will continue like this, especially with Doc Rivers as his head coach.
Like, I just don’t have a lot of promises. Like, he’s a good second-round pick. And that can be value. But I’m not going to choose him in the first round, based on what I saw in the first campaign.
JUSTIN HENRY: It’s tough. Hard to say, lady time. Clock is ticking.
My guy couldn’t stay on the field. LaMelo Ball. He couldn’t stay on the court. We gotta keep it there, man.
DAN TITO: Court, field, it doesn’t matter. He’s not playing.
JUSTIN HENRY: He’s not playing. He’s on the bench, as you said earlier. Your best skill is your availability. And LaMelo Ball couldn’t finish a season here.
Brandon Miller played very well. I’m sure they’ll have, you know, a great draft pick next year. So there will be new pieces on this team.
And this team might not ask LaMelo Ball to do the same things. And we can’t depend on it either. Then LaMelo Ball managed to knock him out of the first round conversation next year.
