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Fantasy basketball analyst Dan Titus predicts Jalen Johnson is bound for a statement year in the 2024-25 NBA season. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Hoop heads! We’re back with more breakouts as we gear up for fantasy basketball draft season. We covered breakout guards on Monday and today, we’ll talk about the forwards who will level up for fantasy managers this season. The list entails some players who’ve made waves in fantasy already but are on the precipice of reaching All-Star or, perhaps, All-NBA status. Let’s break them down.
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Jalen Willams, SG/SF/PF, Oklahoma City Thunder
Putting J-Dub on this list is kind of cheating. He finished 40th in per-game value last season in category leagues. The efficiency has been a game-changer for Williams, as he’s sporting a ridiculous 53/40/81 shooting split through his first two seasons.
Williams taking over Josh Giddey’s secondary playmaking role opens up more usage, ball-handling and assist potential, too. If the playoffs are any indication of what to expect, Williams’ potential assists rose from 7.6 per game in the regular season to 9.6 in the playoffs. J-Dub is also a beast defensively, as he can guard multiple positions while averaging over a steal per game.
Williams is about to set career-high marks in his third year and it wouldn’t surprise me to see his ADP creep into the late-third round as we get closer to draft night. He’s a legit candidate to win Most Improved Player.
Jalen Johnson, SF/PF, Atlanta Hawks
This time last year, Johnson was on sleeper watch. Now, Johnson is very close to being a “too good to be a breakout” type of player. Johnson played just 56 games last year but posted career bests across eight categories. The injuries don’t concern me since he played in 70 games the year prior. Johnson offers fantasy managers a bit of everything, and his fourth-round ADP aligned with his top-50 finish last season. He was one of nine forwards/centers to average at least 3.5 assists with a usage rate below 20% last season.
Assuming his minutes remain in the mid-to-low 30s and he’s the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy-basketball-forward-breakouts-jalen-johnson-jalen-willams-154220815.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-09-25 15:42:20
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