RADIO
Every year there are breakout, bust, and lock players in fantasy basketball. Max Kulish identifies one player for each category on the Indiana Pacers.
The regular season is just one week away and here at RotoBaller, we want to help prepare you for the 2022-2023 fantasy basketball season and your upcoming fantasy drafts!
If you play fantasy football, you'll probably recognize the format here as we had a series of preseason NFL articles that followed the same outline. The idea here is to hone in on several players from each team that we see as values for the upcoming season or that are possibly being drafted too high this preseason.
In this piece, you'll find a fantasy basketball breakout candidate, a fantasy basketball bust candidate, and a fantasy basketball lock (think steady production and being drafted correctly) for the Indiana Pacers based on early ADP for fantasy basketball drafts for the 2022-2023 season. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@Maxadelphia) for more fantasy basketball insight (amongst other things).
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Fantasy Basketball Breakout: Tyrese Haliburton
Haliburton looks primed to explode in his third year, his first full season in Indiana.
Haliburton turned into a walking double-double after being traded to the Pacers. He raised his assist numbers from 7.4 per game to 9.6 per game and registered 11 double-doubles in his 26 games with the Pacers last year.
WHAT A PASS Tyrese Haliburton. That's too smooth.
(live on NBA League Pass) pic.twitter.com/oEbppGfGFW
— NBA (@NBA) October 6, 2022
After the trade, Haliburton saw increases across the board in every major statistical category. The only other PG the Pacers have on the roster is glue-guy TJ McConnell - Haliburton should see heavy usage. I think Haliburton is a strong darkhorse contender for Most Improved Player, I expect something comparable to Dejounte Murray's breakout season a few years ago with the Spurs.
Fantasy Basketball Bust: Myles Turner
Turner has shown he can anchor a defense, but the cost to get him is just too high. Turner currently holds a fourth-round ADP, but he only averages 30 fantasy points per game over his seven-year career.
Given how defensive stats are weighed, Turner really relies on his defensive contributions to hit his limited ceiling.
Two other factors working against Turner: his ability to stay on the floor in recent seasons and his trade availability. He's played only 99 games in the last two years and has seen his total number of games played decrease for four years straight. He's also been dangled as trade bait for the Lakers, and being traded to LA would almost certainly shrink his already low ceiling.
Fantasy Basketball Lock: Buddy Hield
Hield has been the absolute model of fantasy consistency: he's missed less than 30 games his entire career, is a career 40% 3-point shooter, and just as a cherry on top he's finished second in made 3s the last two seasons running.
Hield has also been long coveted by the Lakers' front office, but should he end up getting traded for the second time in as many years, his status as an elite 3-point shooter should keep his production steady. Regardless of what shade of yellow is on his jersey, you know exactly what Hield offers your fantasy team.
Buddy Hield is a bucket. 🔥
(via @swishcultures_)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) August 30, 2022
Conclusion
The Pacers should be a scrappy and competitive team, but they'll really need to rely on their defense to win games. After Haliburton and Hield, no one else on the roster averages more than 13 points per game.
In fantasy terms, there isn't much offense to be found in Indiana outside of the 2 H's (Haliburton and Hield). However, they have a formidable defensive frontcourt and Chris Duarte has shown early signs of being a respectable perimeter defender. I expect less fantasy-friendly environments compared to other teams, but this team is still very young and should find themselves playing from behind a decent amount.
Thanks for reading and good luck in your leagues this year!
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