So far, I’ve covered Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal, Thomas Robinson and Damian Lillard. This draft class is so deep that I didn’t get to cover every guy I want in my once a week slot, so I’ve decided to dedicate this post to covering most of the remaining rookies that I think are notable this season. Here we go:
*Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, CHA: MKG is going to start from day one in Charlotte, and with good reason: The team sucks. Because the team sucks, he will have every opportunity to develop in to a leader both on and off the court. In terms of his production for this season, don’t draft him if you need three-point shooting. Kidd-Gilchrist is a great finisher and can get to the basket, but his jump shot isn’t going to go in very often. You can probably expect double digit points, if only because Charlotte is so bad and he could be facing a lot of second units, in addition to the fact that there’s nobody to really take his points away. You should also expect solid rebounding and steal numbers out of MKG.
*Terrence Ross, SG, TOR: Ross isn’t a great prospect, but he should serve some purpose: He’s a good jump shooter on a team that might be desperate for offense. If you draft Ross expecting anything other than some points and 3s, you’re making a mistake. In terms of his long-term projection, I’m not sure what to think. He most likely isn’t the answer at SG in Toronto, so depending on where they draft next season and who’s available, he could really only be serviceable for one year, seeing as they already have DeMar DeRozan on the roster.
*Andre Drummond, C, DET: Drummond has all the physical tools to be good in the NBA: just look at the size of him for crying out loud. If he sees minutes this season (which he will), he should put up decent rebounding and scoring numbers, but he won’t see any minutes near crunch time, because teams will institute a Hack-An-Andre plan. He’s awful, awful, awful at the line. If your league has FT% as a category I’d stay clear of him.
*Dion Waiters, SG, CLE: He should start for Cleveland from day one, and that bodes well for his fantasy owners, seeing as this team lacks wing scorers outside of him. He’s been given a rep as a Dwyane Wade-Tyreke Evans type player: He isn’t a great outside shooter but he has the ability to get to the basket and finish around the rim. Look for solid scoring numbers with not much else.
*Meyers Leonard, C, POR: I wasn’t going to put him on here, but he has a good chance to earn playing time, seeing as his competition for minutes is JJ Hickson. Don’t draft him, but keep an eye on him. If he gets minutes he should be somewhat productive for guys in deep leagues, if only because he has to, right?
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