RADIO
The NBA offseason has turned into a matter of days--hours, if you push it--when it comes to player movement. Tampering present or not, the truth is that franchises lose no time in inking their new acquisitions to healthy deals, wheeling and dealing rookies and draft picks left and right, and pulling off trades with other teams around the nation. That's why entering September, pretty much all the dust has already settled leading up to next season.
That was mostly the case earlier this summer when it came to actual free-agent moves. It definitely wasn't the case with trades, as only one true blockbuster (Rudy Gobert from Utah to Minnesota) qualifies as the Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell trade sweepstakes have stayed alive for weeks and months on end with varying results.
With virtually all free agents already signed and rookies knowing where they'll start their careers, I will cover some of the trades that took place in the past few weeks to declare fantasy winners and losers involved in them. Let's take a look at some players who changed teams via trade who should find their stock rising up this season.
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2022-23 Fantasy NBA Preview: Fantasy Winners from Offseason Trades
Jarred Vanderbilt, PF/C - Utah Jazz
While it can be said that Vanderbilt is still trying to find himself in the NBA, last season was definitely a step in the right direction and a consolidating one when it comes to his future in the association. After three years of going through the growing pains of a newcomer, Vanderbilt finally played an important role in Minny, starting 67 of 74 games for the Wolves playing a bit over 25 MPG.
The results weren't great, mind you, but the league-average 0.90 FP/min he posted on a ridiculously low 10.9% usage rate was good enough to make him a viable role player/bench option for fantasy GMs out there.
Vanderbilt got involved in the monster Gobert trade a few days ago. He's joining a Jazz squad that will reportedly keep swinging and dealing (looking at you, Donovan Mitchell) and that is totally depleted of top-tier players – more than anywhere in the paint. Hassan Whiteside and Eric Paschall – along with Rudy Gobert, of course – are off the Jazz's roster right now due to trades or entering free agency.
If JV is not the starting C, he'll definitely be the starting PF as things stand right now. Mike Conley/Mitchell/Bojan Bogdanovic is the starting trio poised to get the highest usage rates, but someone has to play inside and Vanderbilt should at least get the easy dump-in balls from the guards to drop down the rim with ease. As the main big in Utah next season, Vanderbilt gets a bump up when it comes to his (still average) upside.
Rudy Gobert, C - Minnesota Timberwolves
Karl-Anthony Towns, PF/C - Minnesota Timberwolves
You don't sell the house to bring in a backup, do you? In other words, KAT is Minny's new power forward as he makes room for Gobert to man the paint at the five. This pairing is ridiculously unique in the NBA landscape. The Wolves are now paying $200M+ to their two centers, something no other team in the Association is currently doing (in fact, only one other C in Nikola Jokic has ever signed such an onerous deal).
This move is wonderful and very intriguing and most people agree that it's still to be seen how these two fit between them and in the grand scheme of Wolves' things.
For one, it's clear that defensively Gobert will man the paint as he's always done while KAT will go defend the perimeter more often than not. I wouldn't get too worried about that, though. KAT might see a downtick in blocks and rebounds, but that should still have him at a floor of 8.5+ RPG and 0.5+ BPG all things considered.
Gobert, the same, although perhaps to a lesser extent (around 12+ and 2+). When it comes to offense though, Gobert will have capable playmakers feeding him in D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards, so moving away from Donovan Mitchell should not impact his catch-and-dunk tendencies and easy-bucket-scoring numbers.
Gobert has logged a usage rate above 18% just once in his nine-year career. Seriously. That's phenomenal for KAT and the rest of the Wolves as he won't just come and command tons of touches. He's not that type of offensive player.
If I had to highlight something negative on Gobert's resume, it is the time he's missed here and there, as he's played more than 71 games only once in the past five years. That said, he's still been a top-six fantasy C in four years running and in five of the last six while also finishing all of those (except last season, top-28) inside the top-20 players in the whole league.
While it can be argued that KAT will end up being a loser, all things considered, I don't think the impact of Gobert on his fantasy upside will be that great. KAT has been a top-seven C in all but one of his pro seasons (top-15 in 2020 when he only played 35 games). He's also missed a bunch of games a la Gobert, but nothing too worrying. He missed on averaging a dub-dub for the first time last season by 0.2 rebounds, but that might be his new normal with Gob around.
Even then, Gobert will free KAT a lot as he'll take tons of defensive attention for himself in the paint while also allowing KAT to expand his game further getting back to the career-high 7.9 3PA he attempted in 2020. Nothing is going to prevent KAT from having another top-10 overall season with an upside for a top-five finish if he can stay healthy for 70+ games.
Kevin Huerter, SG - Sacramento Kings
I had Huerter as a loser when the first pieces from the free agency domino started to fall and after Atlanta traded for Dejounte Murray – of course, both Murray and Trae are still losers (to an extent) for me due to the overlapping – but the second it was reported that the Hawks had moved Huerter to Sacramento he became an instant winner to my eyes if only on the fantasy realm.
Not only does Huerter retain his SG1 role – now in Sacramento – but he also gets to a team in which he'll be under no real pressure other than making it to the play-in while being part of an all-shooters roster that includes tons of long-range firepower. He, of course, should fit like a glove.
I wouldn't worry about Malik Monk's presence so much. He feels like a much better fit as a second-unit microwave than a starter – and yes, he's another collateral loser of the whole Atlanta-San Antonio-Sacramento affair. It sucks for Monk as he signed with the Kings before they traded for Murray, but he couldn't really control anything that happened after putting pen to paper so he'll have to deal with staying on the bench while still in California.
De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis have little to envy the likes of Trae Young and John Collins regarding their cache in the league and their role in their respective teams. Huerter has had to surrender a ton of touches and opportunities to the former two, and while he will also be doing to the latter pair, I'd bet on that impact softening a bit.
Huerter has averaged 0.83, 0.80, and 0.78 FP/min in the past three seasons while getting to USG% of around 27% (second unit), 17%, and 17%. Project a slight uptick there and some 12-3-3 line to go with around 2.5 3PM per game and that's 2023 Huerter for you.
