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It’s fantasy basketball draft week, baby! If you’re in a league, then chances are you’re prepping this week for your draft. Whether you’re in a 10, 12 or 14 team league, it doesn’t matter, you’re going to need to do plenty of research on all available players. Usually, a season-long snake draft will be pretty cut-and-dry according to the built-in rankings on whichever site you’re drafting on. But when you get to the later picks, anything goes. This is where its important to identify some deep sleepers to take with your last few picks. Here we’re going to give you a few point guards you can snag late in your draft who could return big value.
Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn Nets
Average ADP: 128
People forget about Dinwiddie basically being “The Guy” for Brooklyn at times last season when Kyrie Irving was hurt and Caris LeVert was still sidelined. Dinwiddie opted not to participate in the season restart in the bubble, so we haven’t gotten a good look at him in a while. Dinwiddie should be the primary backup PG to Irving and would be in line for starts if Irving rests/gets hurt. There isn’t such a thing as handcuffs in fantasy basketball like in football, but if there were, this would be a direct handcuff to Irving.
Dinwiddie also has upside as the 6th Man for the Nets. In 2018-19, predominantly coming off the bench, Dinwiddie averaged 16.8 points per game. Now, this was with a far inferior roster that didn’t have Irving or Kevin Durant. But the presence of two All-Stars should only free up Dinwiddie for better looks. The Nets could get really creative with their lineups and run essentially four guards and Durant at center if they want. If we see this, Dinwiddie could get some crunch-time run. It’s never bad targeting players on good teams late in your draft.
Seth Curry, Philadelphia 76ers
Average ADP: 125
The Sixers desperately need 3-point shooting and their best get was Curry this offseason to address that. Curry isn’t his brother Steph, but when healthy, Seth isn’t far off. For his career, Seth Curry shoots 44.3 percent from downtown. He had arguably his best season in 2019-20, averaging 12.4 points on 45 percent shooting from beyond the arc. It’s a relatively big if, but IF Curry can stay healthy, he should carve out a nice role for Doc Rivers and the Sixers.
If we look at the depth chart, Danny Green may end up being the starting shooting guard. If this is the case, I can’t imagine Green will get that much more playing time than Curry. My guess is Curry would be out there in crunch time next to Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle with Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid. I could also see some Curry-Green looks as well to get more spacing. Again, if Curry can shake the injury bug, there’s no reason he can’t — at the very least — be a solid 3-point specialist to take up a bench spot.
Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz
Average ADP: 162
It’s a bit surprising to see Clarkson being drafted this low or not at all. It must be because there aren’t as many 12 and 14 team leagues. Right now, Clarkson is THE FAVORITE to win 6th Man of the Year at +500. If we look back at the history of players winning the award, we see Lou Williams’ name a lot. Guys like Eric Gordon, Jamal Crawford, J.R. Smith (in his prime), James Harden (on OKC), Manu Ginobili, the reigning winner Montrezl Harrell. What do all these guys have in common? They were fantasy assets!
Clarkson re-signed with the Jazz to be the primary scorer off the bench. He provided a nice boost in the NBA bubble and was great after coming over from the Cavaliers in a trade. With Utah last season, Clarkson averaged 15.6 points in just 24.7 minutes per game. In the seven-game first-round playoff series, those numbers jumped up a bit to 16.7 points in 28.6 minutes per contest. Most of that was because Bojan Bogdanovic was out, but wait a second, handcuffs! It’s similar to Dinwiddie. God forbid the Jazz endure any injuries at PG, SG or even SF, Clarkson would be the next man up. Even if he stays on the bench all season, I think the favorite to win 6th Man will have his place on fantasy basketball rosters.