From Deep Positional Recap: PF Jalen Johnson has the game to fly to new heights next season

While Jalen Johnson’s fantasy basketball stock is trending up, John Collins’ future is uncertain heading into the offseason. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The 2023-24 NBA season continues to be a roller coaster of highs and lows even in the playoffs, bringing with it an array of hits, misses and unexpected breakout stars across all positions. From point guards (PG) who defied expectations to centers (C) who dominated the paint like never before, we learned a lot to take into next year.

In this five-part series within From Deep, we’ll dissect each position — PG, SG, SF, PF and C — sharing insights into the players who made waves, those who fell short, and the newcomers who burst onto the scene.

Next up, the power forwards.

The PF position was weak in terms of hits, so you’ll see two names (Herbert Jones and John Collins) who played most of their minutes at another position but have PF eligibility. OK, let’s get to it.

The Hits

Herbert Jones, New Orleans Pelicans

Herbert Jones became one of the best defenders in the league quicker than most predicted. After earning a well-deserved All-Defensive first-team nod, the defensive specialist performed better in categories leagues than most power forwards relative to his ADP and outcome. On top of averaging over two stocks per game, his 50/42/86 shooting splits took his game to top 70 status despite going in the 11th round (132nd) in drafts.

The efficiency came off low volume (only seven FG attempts and two FTs per game), but if Brandon Ingram gets moved in the offseason, we could see more offensive production from Jones heading into next season.

Tobias Harris, Philadelphia 76ers

I’m on record for hating Tobias Harris’ real-life value regarding his salary versus performance, but once again, he was a cheap and dependable fantasy player. Harris is a boring pick in the eighth round of drafts but needs to be recognized for finishing within the top 50 in category and top 70 in points leagues. He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer, so his fantasy value hinges on his role and the team he decides to ink his next deal with. Wherever that destination is, please don’t let…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-05-23 17:47:36

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