2017-18 fantasy basketball preview: Washington Wizards

Over the past few weeks, we at FanSided have unveiled a team-by-team breakdown of each NBA franchise’s fantasy prospects for the 2017-18 season. Let’s finish today with the Washington Wizards.

Few (if any) NBA teams enter the 2017-18 as top-heavy as the Washington Wizards. Despite an offseason overhaul of their middling bench unit, the Wizards’ starters are the only players who hold any appeal for fantasy basketball owners this season.

The Wizards’ dismal bench contributed to their undoing during their second-round playoff loss to the Boston Celtics, as John Wall, Bradley Beal and Co. appeared to run out of steam by the waning moments of Game 7. Trey Burke, Bojan Bogdanovic and Brandon Jennings all departed this summer, but the likes of Tim Frazier, Jodie Meeks and Donald Sloan don’t inspire much more confidence in Washington’s reserve unit.

Much like last season, it appears as though the Wizards will only go as far as Wall, Beal and new max-contract signee Otto Porter Jr. can take them. Starting center Marcin Gortat expressed frustration with the franchise back in the spring (via Candace Buckner of the Washington Post), while 2016 free-agent splurge Ian Mahinmi was a mammoth bust in the first season of a four-year, $64 million deal. Sorting out that frontcourt headache will be one of Washington’s top priorities throughout the 2017-18 campaign.

Which Wizards 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

John Wall, PG: Second-round picks don’t get much more rock-solid than Wall, who erupted for a career-high 23.1 points on 45.1 percent shooting, 10.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.1 triples last season to finish as the 18th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues. The Kentucky product has missed a total of 12 games over the past four seasons combined, and he put up those career-best numbers after undergoing surgery on both knees last June. Wall doesn’t pour in 3-pointers like Steph Curry or James Harden, but he more than makes up for that with his output in points, assists and steals. He should come off the board toward the beginning of the second round in both eight- and nine-category formats.

Bradley Beal, SG: Ongoing bouts with stress reactions made Beal one of the most high-risk, high-reward fantasy prospects in recent years, but he put those issues behind him last season to the delight of fantasy owners and Wizards fans alike. The Florida product played in a career-high 77 games, pouring in 23.1 points on 48.2 percent shooting, 3.4 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 triples and 1.1 steals to finish as the 29th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues. If Beal’s issues with stress reactions resurface, it could be a major headache for fantasy owners, but his upside justifies taking him with an early fourth-round pick despite those potential health concerns.

Otto Porter Jr., SF: Porter Jr. may never turn into a superstar, but he emerged as a phenomenal No. 3 option for Washington last season. The Georgetown product set new career highs in points (13.4), field-goal percentage (51.6 percent), rebounds (6.4), 3-pointers (1.9), steals (1.5) and minutes (32.6) to finish as the 22nd-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues. His minuscule 0.6 turnovers per game fueled his nine-category appeal, but even without factoring in those giveaways, he finished 31st in eight-category formats. Another top-30 finish may not be in the cards, but he’ll be worth a fourth- or a fifth-round pick in case he is able to replicate his 2016-17 production.

Mid-round picks

Marcin Gortat, C: Gortat’s 2016-17 campaign was a tale of two seasons: his pre- and post-All-Star break splits. Prior to the weeklong layoff, Gortat put up 11.9 points on 59.6 percent shooting, 11.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 34.5 minutes, putting him 55th overall on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues. In his final 27 games, however, he averaged just 8.4 points on 53.2 percent shooting, 8.2 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in 24.4 minutes, finishing outside of the top 175 in terms of fantasy value. He’s coming off the board in the early seventh round of ESPN.com leagues at the moment, but if Mahinmi is able to contribute more than he did last year, it’ll be difficult for Gortat to return positive value on that draft-day price. Owners shouldn’t go after him until the 10th round, ideally.

Late-round picks

Markieff Morris, PF: Morris enters the 2017-18 campaign shrouded in uncertainty, as he’s set to miss the next six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery on a sports hernia Friday, according to a team release. He and his twin brother, Marcus, are also on trial facing aggravated assault charges, which could lead to a suspension down the road. Morris finished as the 74th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues last season after averaging 14.0 points on 45.7 percent shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 triples in 31.2 minutes, but his health status and legal troubles loom large over him. He’s likely to plunge down draft boards in the wake of his surgery, but if you can afford stashing him for the first month of the season, he could be a sneaky source of mid-round value once he does return.

Waiver-wire fodder

Donald Sloan, PG

Tim Frazier, SG

Jodie Meeks, SG

Sheldon Mac, SG

Kelly Oubre Jr., SF

Tomas Satoransky, SF

Jason Smith, PF

Mike Scott, PF

Chris McCullough, PF

Daniel Ochefu, PF

Ian Mahinmi, C

Next: Every NBA team's greatest draft pick of all time

Sleepers/Busts

Sleeper: Markieff Morris

Bust: Marcin Gortat

Other team breakdowns

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

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