Fantasy Basketball

The Dubs acquired Waters from the Oklahoma City Thunder for the No. 52 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft over the summer. He shot 43.5% from beyond the arc in 2023-24 but could struggle to find regular opportunities given all other snipers at Golden State’s disposal.

Brown built on his strong Summer League showing with an impressive 2024 preseason debut. The second-year forward could be poised to step into a larger role after getting limited minutes as a rookie. He logged a game-high 27 minutes in Saturday’s contest.

Harden looked ready to take on a lead guard role ahead of the 2024-25 season. While he didn’t have the best shooting night, he got to the charity stripe and distributed the ball effectively. Fantasy managers should take note of his potential as a primary ball handler in his second campaign with the Clippers.

Nurkic posted 10.9 points and 11.1 rebounds and matched a career-high with 4.0 assists per game last season. The Suns’ coaching staff has expressed a desire to see him work on stretching the floor with outside shooting more this season. Whether his injured finger will affect that plan remains to be seen.

Sharpe was limited to 32 games last season due to a core muscle injury. Now, he’s back on the shelf. This time, it’s due to a small tear of his posterior labrum, and the Blazers announced that Sharpe would miss 4-6 weeks. Given the diagnosis, he’s only viable in deeper fantasy leagues allowing IL+ designations. As for who stands to benefit, Toumani Camara stands to pick up additional rotation minutes off the bench. While a starter for most of last season, Camara was expected to lose time due to the presence of Sharpe and the offseason acquisition of Deni Avdija. Avdija is expected to be a starter; Sharpe’s absence will also boost his value.

Selected with the fourth overall pick, the hope for Castle is that he can combine with Victor Wembanyama to serve as critical pillars for the Spurs franchise moving forward. The former UConn standout is off to a good start, with multiple veterans praising him for his early adjustment to the NBA. “Man, Steph is so good,” Spurs guard Chris Paul said. “You can always tell some players when they came into the league how they were coached in college. You can tell Steph was well coached.” At first glance, he appeared to be a rookie who would be more valuable to fantasy managers later in the season if San Antonio fell out of contention for a postseason berth. However, Devin Vassell (foot) is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season, opening up a spot in the starting lineup. Castle and Julian Champagnie are two possibilities to fill the void, making that a competition to track when San Antonio opens its preseason schedule on Monday against the Thunder.

James’ first preseason action was nondescript overall, an unsurprising development given his limited run during one season at USC. The defensive activity was a positive to take away from Friday night, as Bronny was rarely out of position and led the Lakers with three blocked shots. It’s doubtful he will help a fantasy roster this season, but watching him develop as a pro should be fun.

The first-round pick out of Tennessee made his unofficial NBA debut on Friday, and he had a decent night in Palm Desert. Knecht shot 2-of-7 from beyond the arc, but that was as part of a rotation that lacked LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Playing off of those two stars should result in cleaner looks. That should also help with the turnovers, as Knecht committed five on Friday. More often than not, he’ll be in the role of “finisher,” either around the basket or in catch-and-shoot situations, so that high number should not concern fantasy managers too much.

The Lakers were without LeBron James and Anthony Davis on Friday, resulting in Reaves taking on a more prominent role within the offense. His leading the team in assists may have been slightly surprising, as D’Angelo Russell (14 points, three assists, one steal, one block, and two 3-pointers in 21 minutes) was also in the lineup, but Reaves is capable of making plays for himself and others. He’ll need to clean up the finishing, as two of his four 2-point misses occurred in the restricted area. However, Reaves is a career 80.3% shooter from within three feet of the basket, so Friday’s effort should not concern fantasy managers.

With LeBron James (expected to play on Sunday) sitting out Friday’s preseason opener, Christie was moved into the starting lineup. And he had a good night, recording a complete stat line while shooting better than 50% from the field. With the Lakers signing Christie to a four-year extension this summer, there’s a clear expectation that he’ll earn rotation minutes under new head coach JJ Redick. That may not be enough to make Christie viable in most fantasy leagues, but there may be times when he’s worth the risk as a streamer.