2017-18 fantasy basketball preview: Sacramento Kings

Over the coming days, we at FanSided will finish our team-by-team breakdown of each NBA franchise’s fantasy prospects for the 2017-18 season. Let’s continue today with the Sacramento Kings.

With DeMarcus Cousins gone, the Sacramento Kings will be hardly recognizable heading into the 2017-18 season. That complicates matters for fantasy basketball owners, as the Kings could have as many as a half-dozen new rotation players competing for minutes with Sacramento’s incumbents.

In the backcourt, No. 5 overall pick De’Aaron Fox will jostle for the starting point guard gig with veteran free-agent signing George Hill, who inked a three-year, $57 million deal with the Kings this summer. Buddy Hield, the prize from the Cousins trade, will compete with the likes of Garrett Temple, Vince Carter, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Malachi Richardson for playing time on the wing. Head coach Dave Joerger will have no shortage of options at his disposal, but that crowded rotation could limit the fantasy impact of any one player.

There isn’t much more clarity in Sacramento’s frontcourt, where young prospects such as Willie Cauley-Stein, Skal Labissiere, Harry Giles and Georgios Papagiannis will battle with veterans Zach Randolph and Kosta Koufos for minutes. Both Cauley-Stein and Labissiere broke out late last season in the wake of the Cousins trade, but the Kings presumably didn’t hand Z-Bo a two-year, $24 million contract in free agency only to park him on the bench once the season begins. Fantasy owners will have to monitor reports and usage throughout training camp and the preseason to see which way Joerger is leaning with his rotation.

Which Kings players should fantasy owners target with early-, mid- and late-round picks, and who should be left on the waiver wire? Let’s take a look.

Early-round picks

N/A

Mid-round picks

George Hill, PG: Hill’s fantasy upside in 2017-18 largely boils down to how NBA-ready Fox proves to be. The 31-year-old has shot above 40 percent from 3-point range over each of the past two seasons, which gives him the ability to operate in an off-ball role at times, but with Hield, Carter, Bogdanovic and Richardson looming, he isn’t likely to see much time at the 2. Hill battled a toe injury for much of last season, but he still managed to finish 55th overall on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues after averaging 16.9 points on 47.7 percent shooting, 4.2 assists, 3.4 rebounds, a career-high 1.9 triples and 1.0 steals in 31.5 minutes across 49 appearances. If Hill can stave off Fox, he’ll flirt with top-50 upside, but he’s better suited as an eighth- or ninth-round pick.

Willie Cauley-Stein, C: Don’t be fooled by Cauley-Stein’s underwhelming output last season; instead, focus on his numbers upon Cousins’ departure from Sacramento. In his final 25 games, Cauley-Stein put up 12.9 points on 50.4 percent shooting, 8.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks in 30.9 minutes, finishing as the 75th-ranked player on a per-game basis over that span. Randolph shouldn’t threaten to cut into his playing time at the 5, leaving only Koufos and Papagiannis as his primary competition. Once the Kings realize a playoff berth is unfeasible, expect them to embrace a youth movement. That will make Cauley-Stein a sound investment in the ninth round, a full two rounds ahead of his early ESPN.com average draft position of 106.6.

Late-round picks

Buddy Hield, SG: If Hield didn’t have so much competition for playing time on the wing, he’d tout sneaky top-100 upside. Upon his arrival in Sacramento, the Oklahoma product erupted for 15.1 points on 48.0 percent shooting, 4.1 rebounds, 2.4 triples and 1.8 assists in 29.1 minutes across his final 25 games, putting him just outside of the top 100 on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues over that span. Temple and Carter may cut into his minutes, but both of them can play small forward as well, which suggests Hield should remain a fixture of Sacramento’s rotation. He’ll be worth a look in the 12th or 13th rounds, especially given the non-zero chance he breaks out in a big way alongside Hill and/or Fox.

De’Aaron Fox, PG: If his early ESPN.com ADP of 108.7 is any indication, fantasy owners are likely to overrate Fox. Yes, Sacramento drafted him fifth overall to be its point guard of the future, but the team immediately turning around and signing Hill to a three-year deal didn’t bode well for Fox’s short-term upside. The Kentucky product projects as one of the league’s more athletic point guards, which should help him rack up steals in droves, but his three-point shooting left much to be desired during his lone year in college. He’s a low-risk flier with one of your final few picks, but don’t go reaching for him in the 11th or 12th rounds of standard 10-team drafts.

Skal Labissiere, PF: Those who invest in Labissiere on draft day must stay patient, as it wouldn’t be surprising to see him start the year slowly if Randolph edges him out for the starting power forward gig. Once the Kings fall out of the playoff picture, however, developing Labissiere should turn into one of the franchise’s primary focuses. After Cousins’ departure, the 21-year-old chipped in 10.8 points on 54.1 percent shooting, 6.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.5 blocks in 22.4 minutes over his final 25 games, 12 of which he started. Prior to that, though, he played in just eight of the Kings’ first 57 contests. With Randolph likely to push Labissiere back to the bench, the Kentucky big man is only final-round-pick material, but he could surge just as the fantasy playoffs kick off.

Waiver-wire fodder

Frank Mason, PG

Bogdan Bogdanovic, SG

Garrett Temple, SG

Vince Carter, SG

Malachi Richardson, SG

Justin Jackson, SF

Zach Randolph, PF

Harry Giles, PF

Kosta Koufos, PF

Georgios Papagiannis, C

Next: Every NBA team's greatest shooter of all time

Sleepers/Busts

Sleeper: Willie Cauley-Stein

Bust: De’Aaron Fox

Other team breakdowns

All average draft position info via FantasyPros. All rankings via Basketball Monster are based on nine-category leagues.

Home/Fantasy Basketball