Fantasy Basketball: 2024-25 Northwest Division Team Previews

By Zak Hanshew

The 2024-25 NBA season is a little over one month away, making this prime time for fantasy managers to prepare for their drafts. Rotoworld will have articles dropping throughout this time, beginning with fantasy-related thoughts on every team. Next up in our division-by-division previews is the Northwest Division.

Oklahoma City, Denver, and Minnesota finished last season as the top three seeds in the West, with the latter reaching the Conference Finals for the first time in 20 years. And there are multiple fantasy studs in the Northwest, with Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way.

Denver Nuggets

2023-24 Record: 57-25

Pace: 97.4 (26th)

Offensive Rating: 117.8 (5th)

Defensive Rating: 112.1 (8th)

One Potential Sleeper: Christian Braun

For the second straight season, Braun is Denver’s potential sleeper pick. We here at Rotoworld were admittedly a season early on Braun. Still, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope now in Orlando and no significant additions to the roster, Braun is in line to open the season as a starter. He’s shown flashes of quality two-way play in two seasons with the Nuggets, and as an NCAA and NBA champion, Braun has shown poise under the brightest lights. A breakout performance is undoubtedly in the cards.

One Potential Bust: Jamal Murray

Murray struggled again with availability last season, appearing in just 59 games. Following the regular season, he logged 12 playoff games and a run at the Paris Olympics for Team Canada. Murray tied his career-best mark by finishing 32nd in per-game fantasy hoops value, but fantasy managers should be leery of drafting him for the 2024-25 season after an eventful offseason. His early ADP (per Hashtag Basketball) suggests he’ll cost a mid-fourth-round pick, which may be a bit rich given his injury concerns.

Notable Number: 29.4

Denver ranked sixth in bench points per game last season and eighth in bench minutes (81.4). The Nuggets’ bench was one of the weakest in the Association, and the team relied heavily on its starters. After losing starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the offseason, Christian Braun is expected to replace him in the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy-basketball-2024-25-northwest-130000312.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-18 13:00:00

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