OKC Thunder players and sleepers to draft in NBA fantasy league

Round 2: Paul George and Domantas Sabonis

Sort of a no-brainer for these two players. Given the absence of Kawhi Leonard due to his ACL surgery, George will be the primary option for scoring and possibly playmaking but will he experience another season similar to what he endured in OKC where he burst out of the gate with the usage taking a toll on his body in the latter half of the season?

Even with the Pacers core healthy again, it’s doubtful Sabonis experiences any drop-off in his typical double-double effort. Plus, it’s a good bet Rick Carlislisle will have an immediate two-way impact on the club.

Considering the struggles the coach had trying to get Kristaps Porzingis to play anything other than on the perimeter defensively or to defend the fact he has two bigs in Sabonis and Myles Turner should make him downright giddy

Round 2/early in Round 3: Donovan Mitchell and De’Aaron Fox 

Admittedly, I’m in a bit of shock that Fox got the tap ahead of SGA by Snell. Granted, there aren’t a ton of scoring options on the Kings but Tyrese Haliburton has the quality of skills that could impact Fox’s stats plus Sacramento also added Davion Mitchell in the draft.

Although the OKC Thunder added Giddey he shouldn’t impact SGA’s stats like Fox will be affected by the two Kings guards. Personally, I’d swap the two guards moving the SGA up to this spot in the fantasy draft.  I touched on this in a prior post comparing the guards and their placement in the ESPN top 100 ranking position.

As for Mitchell, this ranking is based on him producing at his playoff level and I’m not convinced he’ll emulate those levels. It’s not that he isn’t capable, rather a healthy Mike Conley and deep Jazz roster should equate to the offensive wealth being shared.