Andrew Wiggins was the type of rare talent that was able to step in and contribute at a high level in terms of fantasy production from day one of his rookie year. His numbers were good enough to help him win 2015 Rookie of the Year award honors and help a number of fantasy teams find success. With the 2015 NBA Draft in the books, we can look ahead to how this year’s top rookies project for this coming season from a fantasy perspective with arguably a couple more players with higher upside than at this point a year ago. Here is a look at four rookies that should be on everyone’s fantasy radar looking ahead to next season.
D’Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers desire to land a franchise point guard came to fruition at the NBA Draft when they landed Russell with the second overall pick. He will have every opportunity to play big minutes in Los Angeles from the outset. The Lakers were supposedly among the teams interested in signing unrestricted free agent Rajon Rondo but his play has significantly declined over the past couple of years and Russell could have the higher upside already at this point. More importantly, he comes at a cheaper price.
It’s hard to predict what Kobe Bryant has to offer at this point in his career but Julius Randle has high upside and the Lakers have a ton of cap space to build around those three players in free agency. Russell should play big minutes right away and you can expect him to be a decent source of points and assists early on.
Emmanuel Mudiay, Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets selected Mudiay with their top pick and are expected to send Ty Lawson to the Sacramento Kings – or somewhere else. That opens the door for Mudiay to step in as the team’s starting point guard from the outset where he will have the ball in his hands as the primary ball handler in Denver. The Nuggets are far from being a playoff team but that could actually work in Mudiay’s favor from a fantasy perspective. He’ll get every opportunity to showcase his skillset beginning opening night without much competition for touches. He played in China last season and is considered to be one of the most NBA-ready prospects out there. Remember, though, that the Nuggets have to move Lawson for Mudiay to make the cut here. If Lawson (somehow) remains with Denver, these two guys will be locked in a timeshare that kills both players value.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Towns is considered the best and most complete player in the draft and his elite skill set and maturity should help him step in from the jump and play big minutes in the NBA. The Timberwolves have a couple of decent centers already in place in Nikola Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng but neither of them will prevent Towns from getting his touches in his rookie season. And it’s possible that Towns plays at power forward for the T-Wolves as that’s an area of need. Minnesota is the first team in NBA history to land three consecutive No. 1 picks and Towns could very well follow Andrew Wiggins and give the Timberwolves back-to-back Rookie of the Year award winners.
Trey Lyles, Utah Jazz
It is difficult to project how Jahlil Okafor will fit in as a rookie in Philadelphia with Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid potentially starting ahead of him but one big man that should get plenty of looks from the outset is Lyles. A skilled player with a very high basketball IQ for a rookie, Lyles is a solid power forward that should have every opportunity to produce for a young Utah team beginning in his rookie year. Fantasy production is as much about opportunity as talent and Lyles has the best of both heading in to his rookie season.
