It’s that time of year again as we quickly approach the beginning of the NBA season and that means it is fantasy basketball draft season. With the Fantasy Alarm NBA Cheat Sheet we bring you the Top Sleepers, Busts and Rookies that you need to pay attention to when heading into your fantasy basketball draft. This article is going to focus on those rookies that you need to have on your radar for the upcoming season that could very well make a real impact on the league this season like we have seen from rookies over the past few draft classes. Without further ado here are the top 10 rookies heading into the 2019 fantasy basketball season!
Zion Williamson , NOP PF – Of course this article is going to start off with maybe the most hyped player to come out of a draft in some time as the Pelicans won the lottery and drafted Williamson to be the new face of their franchise following the trade of Anthony Davis to the Lakes. So, what do we know about Williamson? First, he is an athletic freak and I don’t say that with hyperbole. What he lacks in height, as he stands just 6-foot-7, he makes up with his ability to jump out of the gym. That athleticism is going to lead to plenty of dunks in the NBA. If I had to make a comparison, I would maybe take a look at what Blake Griffin did as a rookie in the NBA which was average 22.5-points while grabbing 12.1-rebounds. I don’t think those numbers are out of reach for Williamson whatsoever.
De'Andre Hunter , ATL SF – Hunter is getting the double-tap here as he was also featured in the Sleepers article which you can also find here in the NBA Cheat Sheet and for good reason as the kid is quite the player. Hunter was the No.4 overall pick by the Hawks and could/should very well see meaningful minutes in the frontcourt as they traded away Taurean Prince this offseason who was the team’s starting SF a season ago. Hunter will join an exciting starting five that includes Trae Young , Kevin Huerter and John Collins to create a very athletic and talented young core. I think it’s reasonable to expect double-digit scoring with some three-point upside from Hunter in his rookie season as he shot 41.9-percent from beyond-the-arc in college.
Ja Morant , MEM PG – The Memphis Grizzlies went and traded away Mike Conley to open the door for Morant to be the new face of the franchise after selecting him with the No.2 overall pick in this past year’s draft. The Grizzlies made a lot of interesting moves this offseason in their effort to rebuild their organization, bringing in such talents as Josh Jackson from Phoenix and Jae Crowder from Utah to pair with last year’s rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. and center Jonas Valanciunas . Morant is a great facilitator, averaging 10 assists per game during his final year at Murray State. I think seeing him average double-digit assists this season may be a lot to ask but if he ended the year averaging 17 points with seven assists per game that would seem right.
RJ Barrett , NYK SG – Did the Knicks actually get this one right? Barrett was taken with the third overall pick out of Duke and is immediately projected to be the team’s starting shooting guard. The Knicks made a ton of signings this offseason after losing out on the Kyrie Irving /Kevin Durant combo and failing to get the No.1 overall pick. Added to their roster was Julius Randle , Bobby Portis , Marcus Morris , Reggie Bullock , and Elfrid Payton just to name a few. The veterans are all pretty high usage players when on the floor and maybe that caps some of his upside but I am still expecting plenty of shots to come from Barrett here as the Knicks look to rebuild their franchise behind their No.3 overall pick.
Tyler Herro , MIA SG – It’s hard not to think about Tyler Johnson when picturing the role that Herro is going to fill with the Heat this season. He should be among the first guards off the bench with the ability to play both PG and SG when necessary. He is somebody that is going to come off the bench to shoot the basketball and provide an offensive spark for the second unit. He should be very active from three-point range and that should keep his in fantasy relevance on that aspect alone. He is somebody going pretty late in drafts right now with an average ADP of 160.5 but to me he is worth taking with one of my last picks in hopes that he finds his way to some playing time given the injury histories with Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters .
Michael Porter Jr., DEN SF – Yes he still counts as a rookie despite being taken back in 2018. Porter missed his entire “draft year” following back surgery but is expected to be ready to go for the Nuggets this season. Now, he doesn’t have an immediate path to minutes as the Nuggets currently list him behind both Will Barton and Juancho Hernangomez but I don’t think leaping Hernangomez will be too hard for Porter if he can live up to the talent that once had him considered as the best prospect in the country before his back issues started derailing his career. He is another end of the draft flier worth taking because the upside is certainly worth it.
Jarrett Culver , MIN SG – The Timberwolves currently list Culver as the team’s back-up shooting guard, behind only Josh Okogie . That’s all you really need to know when considering Culver’s upside here as Okogie certainly did not show enough last year to make me think he would be able to hold off Culver from eventually taking over the starting role. As it stands now there are reports that Culver could also be the T’Wolves third point guard as well as backup shooting guard which just goes to show that the team is looking for ways to get him involved. Culver is coming off an incredible season which saw him average 18.5 points with 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game for Texas Tech.
Rui Hachimura , WAS PF – The Wizards drafted Hachimura with the 9th overall pick in the draft and he is currently slated to be their starting power forward with just Davis Bertans behind him on the depth chart. He is not somebody that I am expecting to take over the game in the front court but the minutes are going to be there for him to flirt with a double-double for a seasonal average while offering some peripheral stats as well. This is not a good Wizards team an they aren’t making the investment of a No.9 overall pick on a player they don’t plan on trying to get involved.
Jaxson Hayes , NOP C – Let me start out by saying this, only Derrick Favors and Jahlil Okafor stand in the way of Hayes seeing significant run as either a starting center or primary big off the bench and that’s a good thing. Favors is either constantly injured or in need of game management to keep him on the floor and Okafor was very close to being out of the league it seemed like a few seasons ago when not even the Nets wanted him. Hayes was drafted with the No.8 overall pick and comes to the NBA with an offensive skillset that made him among the most efficient scorers in college last season and the ability to be a potential difference maker on the offensive end. If he can get on the floor for 20-to-25 minutes a night I think we could see 6-to-8 points with 4-5 rebounds and a few blocks. Those numbers might not seem appealing right now but like I said, the talent ahead of him is questionable at best.
Carsen Edwards , BOS PG – Ok, so maybe there is a little hometown bias here as I am a Celtics fan but the team did lose two guards this offseason in Kyrie Irving and Terry Rozier which leaves the need for a backup. Edwards should fill the shoes of the departed Terry Rozier here in my opinion and during the summer league the kid put on an offensive show much like we saw from him during the NCAA tourney. He seemingly has infinite range and is not afraid to shoot the basketball, in fact he is encouraged to shoot when on the floor. Now, he is nothing more than a priority waiver player, going undrafted pretty much everywhere outside of Boston but as somebody who has been able to watch him play I suggest you go find some of his game tape as well and I think you will see where I am coming from with this.