Fantasy Basketball Risers, Rookies and Draft Sleepers (Pacific Division) - Devin Booker, John Wall, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Keegan Murray

October 8, 2022

Antonio's fantasy basketball draft sleepers, risers, targets, avoids and NBA rookies for the Pacific Division. Depth chart analysis for the 2022-23 season.

The regular season is inching closer by the day, and most offseason moves have already been completed – barring a surprising Simmons/Beal/Dame trade before tipoff. Each team's depth chart is mostly complete, so it makes sense to start analyzing how it could work come October. Before diving into the fantasy season, RotoBaller has you covered with some last-minute basketball depth chart recaps for each team, including some useful bits of analysis for players you want to keep on your radar.

The charts below are based on usage rates and minutes per game data from the 2021 season, while the rosters have been updated to reflect these offseason moves. The charts don't include players drafted this past July, as we don't have data about them regarding MPG/USG% in the NBA. That being said, comments will be made on rookies when deemed necessary in each team breakdown blurb.

Here are the current preseason depth charts for the Western Conference Pacific Division.

Phoenix Suns - Fantasy Basketball Depth Charts

Impact Rookies: None

Other than losing JaVale McGee to the Mavericks in free agency these Suns are pretty much the same as the ones that made it to the NBA Finals two seasons ago. Phoenix retained Deandre Ayton matching the sheet he got from Indiana and he will remain in 'Zona at least until January.

Don't buy into any sort of dumb narrative of Ayton and the Suns clashing and impacting his performance. It won't happen. That said, Ayton is not even close to what any other top-tier big man can offer. Just among Suns players, he finished with the fourth-highest total fantasy points last season and as a measly top-15 center in the NBA. Don't overpay.

Devin Booker is the obvious no. 1 of the team and the clear top fantasy pick, although I'm loving Chris Paul more and more each passing day. There is a debate about whether he still has it in him or not, but I see no negatives in drafting him with an ADP of 40+ given what he keeps doing these days (14-4-8-1 baseline at the very least next year).

Mikal Bridges is fantastic...only for real-life matters and not so much fantasy. He can shoot with ease and is coming off putting up 53/37/83 splits for a 62.6% ridiculous true shooting percentage but he contributes a low 14-4-2-1 with a little bit of everything but not a lot of anything, which hurts his fantasy upside.

Not a lot more to extract from a very top-heavy Suns squad that serves no purpose for fantasy GMs other than when it comes to his three honchos. Landry Shamet will give you 3P% and so will Cameron Johnson (with a little bit of RPG upside on top of that) but outside of those, there is nothing else to like in the desert.

Los Angeles Clippers - Fantasy Basketball Depth Charts

Impact Rookies: None

Angelenos will be very mad if the Clippers don't lift the chip next summer. Can't blame them. This roster is loaded and packed full of talent. There is no denying that with, well, the exception of injuries. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are must-draft players no matter what happens. Of course, you better get into the season with a very clear mindset: there will be tons of load management for both.

Injuries made it possible for Reggie Jackson, Ivica Zubac, Terance Mann, Robert Covington, and Luke Kennard to finish above Paul George last season in total fantasy points. Just imagine. Jackson will have competition at the point with John Wall in tow. Don't expect All-Star Wall to come out of the left field, but draft him with a low ADP if you can – he will either lead the second unit or play in a very favorable context as a starter (mojo to be found in PPG, APG, and 3PA/3P%).

Zubac, somehow, keeps flying under the radar season after season but you should know by now that he's a (near) walking dub-dub with upside for some easy 10-8 and then some on top of that. Norman Powell only played five games for the Clips last year so if you realize other fantasy GMs have forgotten about him in your draft, then exploit that bug because he's well worth it (nearly 46/42/81 splits on 13+ FGA and 5.5+ 3PA last year).

The Clippers are a golden mine for three-point shooters to the point that every player (except the centers) hoisted at least 1.4 3PA per game and all of them hit at least 30% of them. Detailed breakdown: three players at 40%+ (Kennard, Batum, Powell), two at 37%+ (Covington, Coffey), two at 36%+ (Marcus Morris, Mann), and two at 35%+ (George, Xavier Moon).

At a reasonable price, everybody on this team should be either draftable or a WW target to consider because all of them bring fantasy upside to the table on one front or another.

Los Angeles Lakers - Fantasy Basketball Depth Charts

Impact Rookies: None

The Lakers might suck on paper but the Lakers are a fantasy mine at least at the top of their lineup. Of course, there are a lot of risks baked into all of those elite-level options. Russell Westbrook finished last season as the most criticized player on the roster but also as the highest-scoring fantasy player. That will be the case once more next year wherever he ends up playing and whichever role he gets. Russ is always going to Russ – in other words: 15-7-7-1 baseline (with a ridiculously huge amount of TOPG, tho).

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the two-best players in the Lakers, of course, but check those games played counts: 56 for LBJ, 40 for AD. It's been like that for years now and the concerns are obvious (one because he's approaching 40 years of age, and the other because he just can't stay healthy to save his life). If/when available, drafting and starting any of the two is a win; keep in mind you're going to miss them for a good chunk of the season as that feels inevitable these days.

The backup PGs are good but there are two of them (Dennis Schroder and Patrick Beverley) and that might cut their upside a bit. The stat lines are eerily similar (13-3-4 Schroder, 9-4-4-1 Beverley) so don't really sweat it if you miss on drafting one and have to pick the remaining option.

I always loved big man Thomas Bryant and he should start at center for this team. He will drop baby shots (high FG%) and can stretch the floor (1.5+ 3PA) but he's definitely not a three-point sniper (28.6 3P% last year, 31.1% career). At the peak of his powers, he should still be able to put up some 14-6-1 with nearly 1 BPG and 62/40/75 shooting splits.

Golden State Warriors - Fantasy Basketball Depth Charts

Impact Rookies: None

The Warriors haven't changed from last season barring the potential addition of James Wiseman at some point if he is available, ready to play, and can produce at the levels we expected when he first entered the NBA.

Wiseman had a great Summer League for what he is and what he has shown to this point in his career. Don't get crazy about him because Golden State won't lose its collective mind to make him the go-to player, but he definitely has great upside. Kevon Looney is meh for fantasy GMs (7-6-2 per-game line) but only plays 21 MPG so at least there is a path therefor Wiseman to get large MPG.

Other than that, the chalk picks are as chalky as ever – your Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins. Draymond Green is a bit volatile on a game-to-game basis but over the full season, he still found a way to a 7-7-7-1-1 stupid line, which is not great but should work for most GMs filling mid-lineup gaps.

I don't think he's an under-the-radar target anymore after his last campaign, but Jordan Poole is legit and he's here to stay. He's coming off a top-50 OVR fantasy season, and somehow finished the year averaging 18 PPG (in a lineup featuring Wiggins, Curry, and Klay no less), and did so with a stunning 60% true shooting and hoisting 7.5+ 3PA a pop. He added 3+ RPG and 4.0 APG just because Poole is Cool.

Too much hype about Kuminga and Moody but they're ways away from becoming fantasy relevant. Don't buy.

Sacramento Kings - Fantasy Basketball Depth Charts

Impact Rookies: Keegan Murray (SG/SF)

The NBA is a whole different game than college and even the Summer League, but if there is a rookie capable of dumping 20 PPG nightly that's Keegan Murray. Yes, there are a few veterans with much steadier and more well-known productions in the Kings roster, but Murray is definitely a must-draft player (as long as the ADP is not unreasonable for an unproven rookie, of course).

Sacramento has a little bit of everything and assets for all tastes and needs. Sabonis and Fox will finally have a full season together and that will be great to watch unfold because of the fit. They are the only two players here locked into a top-50 OVR finish next year. Giannis (2020) and Kevin Love (2013) were the last forwards to put up 13+ RPG in a season but Sabonis could very well do it next year depending on how Sacramento uses him.

Harrison Barnes, Kevin Huerter, and Malik Monk all do the same at varying prices and with decreasing MPG in that order as the DC looks right now (Barnes at 33 MPG, Huerter at 30 and starting, Monk at 28 off the pine). The outcomes were closer than you think with the three of them averaging per-game lines of about 16-5-2, 12-3-2, and 14-3-3 respectively in their teams/roles last year.

Davion Mitchell gets back to the bench for a second year after Sacramento landed Huerter and Monk this offseason. Not sure if he's as valuable in fantasy as he is in the real NBA, though, so I'd pass. Richaun Holmes is the best at the C (10-7-1 with nearly 1 BPG and sky-high FG%) but the USG% is going to be ground-level low so he better take advantage of every touch he gets.

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