RADIO
The dust on the Kawhi Leonard situation has finally settled with the former Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year moving north to the Raptors along with veteran 3-and-D man Danny Green for a package of DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick (protected for 1-20). There's a lot to unwind here so let's take a quick look at the fantasy impact we can expect from this blockbuster move.
Dinos' New Claw - Reactions To The Kawhi Leonard Trade
Stock Up:
Neither of these guys have ever operated in lineups with THIS much spacing, and it should open up their games quite a bit. The Raptors will be able to trot out their own take on the Lineup of Death with Lowry/Green/Leonard/Miles/Ibaka - a unit with 5 above average 3-point shooters that will give opposing defenses nightmares and still be able to hold its own defensively. With the culture shift and emphasis on ball movement and 3s, and the team replacing 2 players who are non-existent threats from 3 to two excellent shooters from range, Ibaka and Lowry should thrive in what will be an improvement over an already elite offense.
Jakob Poeltl
The talented big man goes from backing up a 26 year old Jonas Valanciunas to relieving a 38 year old Pau Gasol on a team notorious for DNP-Olds. Poeltl sports an incredibly fantasy friendly game and producted top-100 value at times last season in less than 20 minutes per game. With an expected increase in minutes, as well as an extra year of seasoning, he should produce closer to his insane per-36 numbers (12.6/9.0/1.7 with 1.0 steals and 2.4 blocks per 36 over the last 3 months of the season) with some chances for truly monster games during the second game of back-to-backs when Pau inevitably rests. Poeltl looks to be a trendy value pick for next season.
Kawhi Leonard
All indications are pointing to Leonard being healthy and ready to contribute again. After a frustrating season last year where he only appeared in 9 games, people are forgetting that Leonard was a top-10 value prior to that, and there is a great chance he can return to that form this year. Leonard will be entrenched as the Raptors' first option and will look to return to the all around 9-cat stud he was before last season, and could be a serious value pick in redraft leagues this year.
Neutral:
DeMar Derozan, Danny Green
Both these guys shouldn't see their value change much, as they won't see their roles change much from what they were before the trade. Green could see a bit better consistency shooting the ball playing with the type of spacing he never saw in San Antonio, but I still wouldn't draft him expecting him to go back to the heights he reached in 2015 when he was a top-50 player. There is a chance he returns to close to a 2/1/1 guy in 3s/stl/blk and approaches top-75 value but there's no reason to draft him as such, just take it as a bonus if you get him late and he gets there. Derozan will be sharing the spotlight with LaMarcus Aldridge, and the Spurs will definitely have spacing issues, and you can maybe see him becoming a better defender under Gregg Popovich's tutelage but there isn't really a reason to expect the needle to move too much on his fantasy value.
Stock down:
These guys were expected to take on a bigger role this season, especially Anunoby as a starter with the Raptors weak at SF before, but their playing time will be held back a bit with Kawhi in the fold. Make no mistake, having Kawhi on the team to learn from is fantastic for their development, and they will be better players next season as they take on bigger roles after Leonard bolts to LA, but their breakouts will have to wait a year and neither of these guys look to make much noise in redraft league. At least they remain solid young assets in dynasty.
