The Grass Is Greener: NBA Players Who'll Succeed In New Places

Justin Carter looks at five NBA players who changed teams in free agency this year and are set up for fantasy basketball success for the 2022-23 season.

With most of NBA free agency in the rearview, it's time to start thinking about how player movement will impact the fantasy basketball landscape.

While there are still some trade-related shoes that could drop and disrupt team rotations and rosters, we have a pretty good idea now of what each NBA team will look like this season.

Today, we're going to talk about some players who changed teams this offseason and are positioned for strong 2022-23 campaigns.

John Wall - G - Los Angeles Clippers

It's not really hard for Wall to have more value than he had last season, as he didn't appear in a single game last season for the Rockets.

In the end, Wall's Rockets career featured him playing 40 games over the last two seasons. He averaged 20.6 points and 6.9 assists per game in those 40 games.

Now, Wall heads to the Clippers, where he should be able to grab the starting role over Reggie Jackson. Even if he doesn't, he'd be second on the depth chart at the one and would see plenty of minutes.

If we assume the Clippers are at full strength, Wall won't need to score 20-plus points per game since the team has Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, but he can provide a nice scoring boost when necessary and should be able to rack up the assists on this team. I haven't put together my rankings yet for this season, but I anticipate Wall being in the top-150.

T.J. Warren - F - Brooklyn Nets

We're operating under a certain premise here by talking about T.J. Warren, which is the assumption that the Nets will make some big trades between now and the start of the season. The Kevin Durant trade demand can't just be undemanded, right?

Warren's worst-case scenario is that he's an important role player on this Nets team. His best-case scenario is that a new-look Nets squad needs him to be one of their top scoring options.

In that worst-case scenario, Warren's shooting ability makes him an intriguing option. He's shot over 40% from three in three of his NBA seasons. He's also averaged at least one steal per game four times. So, top-175 value because of his contributions in those categories?

But if the Nets wind up without Durant and/or Kyrie Irving, there's a much higher ceiling here. Because Ben Simmons is more of a downhill player who doesn't shoot, there's a scenario where Warren is starting at either the two or the three and is being asked to provide a huge chunk of the team's outside scoring.

Bruce Brown - G - Denver Nuggets

Last year in Brooklyn, Brown averaged 24.6 minutes per game, posting averages of 9.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He shot 40.4% from three.

Now, Brown is heading to Denver, where there's a bit of a hole at the two. Either Brown or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will end up starting there, and the other will get plenty of run off the bench at both the two and the three. His positional versatility will be a key thing that gets him on the floor.

What that should mean for Brown is that as long as his shooting improvement last year was real, we'll be looking at a career-high in points per game from the 26-year-old.

Jalen Brunson - G - New York Knicks

While the first three names in this might be more in the "value" range, Brunson's different. The Knicks spent big money to bring the former Mavericks guard to the Big Apple.

Last season, Brunson became a full-time starter for the Mavericks after spending his first three years oscillating between the starting unit and the bench. He played 31.9 minutes per game, averaging 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 37.3% from deep.

Brunson did that while playing next to Luka Doncic. Doncic was second in the NBA in assist percentage and first in usage rate.

Now, Brunson heads to New York, where he will not play next to Luka Doncic. And what will that mean? Theoretically, it means a higher usage rate for Brunson, which should mean more points per game. It also should mean that with the ball in his hands more, his assist numbers will go up. I think Brunson is easily worth a top-75 pick this season.

Thomas Bryant - C - Los Angeles Lakers

I really wanted to write about a center in this piece, but I also didn't love how free agency meant for the position. Some of the players who would have been fun elsewhere just stayed up with their old teams, while a lot of the movement involved guys like DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond.

There are two names that interest me, though. The problem is that one of them is Isaiah Hartenstein, who signed with the Knicks. If the Knicks make a big trade to clear out their logjam in the frontcourt, I'd be all in on Hartenstein, but right now there's a cloudy path to minutes for him.

That leaves me with Thomas Bryant, who signed with the Lakers.

There have been a lot of good flashes from Bryant before, though injuries have limited him. He's played more than 50 games just once...but he led the NBA in two-point field goal percentage that year.

Last season with the Wizards, Bryant appeared in 27 games, shooting 61.3% inside the arch. He averaged 7.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, both his lowest marks since his rookie year.

With Kristaps Porzingis now in Washington, there just wasn't an upside for Bryant if he stayed there. Now, he heads to a Lakers team where he'll back up Anthony Davis. But the Lakers frontcourt is shallow behind Davis and LeBron James, with Bryant having a good shot to get minutes at the four and the five. Add in Davis missing time like he always does, and Bryant becomes an intriguing sleeper this year.