Sacramento Kings: Fantasy Basketball Season Preview
By Tyler Watts
Worth A Flier in a Standard League
These are players you can select in the last two picks in your standard league draft but become starters in fourteen and sixteen team leagues. You only select these guys in your standard league if you really believe in them or are expecting something the “fantasy experts” are not. The players worth a flier in standard leagues are:
Matt Barnes
Taking a flier on Matt Barnes in a standard league has been a decent proposition the last 5 years or so. Barnes is consistent and produces well in the steal and block categories which are often hard to come by. The problem with taking a shot on Barnes this season is the minutes will get crunched in the small and power forward positions for the Kings. There are a number of players for the limited minutes at those two positions. Barnes does not need a huge dose of minutes, but he probably needs 28 minutes a night to be standard league worthy.
Barnes has low upside, which is why I would probably steer clear in ten and twelve team leagues. With my last pick in those leagues, I am shooting for someone who may break out and be something unexpected. At 36 years old that label probably does not fit Matt Barnes. He is a great stabilizing option in deep leagues as a bench player who you start from time to time.
Expect solid threes, steals, and block production from Matt Barnes. He will be slightly lacking in field goal percentage and points. His rebounds and assists, and free throw percentage will be fine, but neither helpful or nor hurtful. Expect solid and expected production from Matt Barnes when he gets the minutes. Given his familiarity with Coach Joerger, I am expecting around 26 minutes a night.
Willie Cauley-Stein
Willie Cauley-Stein is probably my top standard league flier on the Sacramento Kings roster. He is young and his production in the second half of last season showed some promise. He could take a step forward and produce you some value.
The fact that he has been coming off the bench this preseason and that Coach Joerger has stated he wants to play small this season against second units does not help Cauley-Stein’s case. If that holds it will cap him around 25 minutes a game. WCS could prove he is worthy of more minutes and he could force Coach Joerger’s hand with good production.
Cauley-Stein is going provide value if he is given the minutes. Cauley-Stein helps your fantasy squad in field goal percentage, steals, and blocks. He shoots no threes, provides so-so rebounds, and is not much help in points or assists. If your team is in need of upside or just some defensive stats you could do worse than Willie Cauley-Stein on your squad.
Ty Lawson
If you are going to take a flier on a Kings’ player then Lawson is a great target. Lawson is going to start the first eight games with Darren Collison suspended. In that time you will know if Lawson has returned to form and is worth holding and using this season or if he can be cut.
Lawson has always produced strong assists production and that is often a difficult category to improve late in drafts. He will probably shoot a poor field goal percentage and not be positive contributor in free throw percentage. The potential is there for points, assists, and steals contributions, though. I am hopeful from the action that I have seen so far. Let us see how he comes out in those eight games and the minutes he receives after that to decide if we want to hold him all season long.