With Russell Westbrook headed to the Los Angeles Lakers and Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Holiday all headed to the Washington Wizards, the landscape of fantasy basketball received quite a shakeup thanks to Thursday's blockbuster trade.
Let's take a look at the many fantasy ramifications of this deal.
Rising in the rankings
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards (with an asterisk): Beal is set to be the big fantasy basketball winner from this deal... provided that he remains with the Wizards. He has shown that, when the ball is frequently in his hands, he has the ability to lead the league in scoring with strong peripheral offensive numbers as well. Westbrook's presence forced Beal into more of an off-ball scorer role, but Westbrook's high usage also ate into Beal's shots. If Beal remains on the Wizards, and they once again make him the centerpiece of the offense, he has first round draft pick potential in fantasy hoops.
Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards: Kuzma averaged 17.3 PPG with 2.0 3PG in 32.1 MPG during his first two seasons in the NBA, often as a lead scorer on a lottery-bound team. He struggled a bit during the last two seasons as a bench player on a team with championship aspirations, averaging 12.8 PPG with 1.7 3PG in 27.0 MPG. He currently appears to have an inside track to a starting job, and perhaps a volume scoring role on a Wizards team without a lot of perimeter scoring options. If that happens, he has 20+ PPG and fantasy basketball impact upside this season.
Montrezl Harrell, Washington Wizards: Harrell was the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in the 2019-20 season that ended only nine months ago, averaging 18.6 PPG on 58.0 FG% with 7.1 RPG and 1.1 BPG in 27.8 MPG for the Clippers. The rugged big man never seemed to find his fit on the Lakers next to any of their other big men, but his talent is still there. On a depleted Wizards squad, Harrell could replicate or even up the numbers that won him his award for the Clippers.
Aaron Holiday, Washington Wizards: Holiday, a former first-round pick who is entering his fourth NBA season, currently has an argument as the highest upside point guard prospect on the Wizards. The offseason is just beginning, and the Wizards could very well bring in another point guard to take the reins, but until they do Holiday is a candidate to compete for starter minutes which could make him worth consideration in deeper fantasy leagues.
Falling in the rankings
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers: James has been arguably the best player in the NBA for the last 15 or so years. Age hasn't slowed him much, but has manifested as major injuries in two of the last three seasons. When healthy, he's still capable of putting up first round fantasy basketball numbers, but with Westbrook now in the fold James will have to give up some primacy to his new high-usage counterpart. Westbrook's fantasy value is tied into him having the ball, attacking opposing defenses off the dribble and making the decisions/passes that lead to teammates getting shots.
James showed during his tenure with the Heat a decade ago that he could be a formidable high-efficiency/high-volume finisher when working off the ball. But his overall volume is likely to decrease across the board, which damages his fantasy output more than the potential uptick in efficiency could counter. James could still produce late first round numbers if guaranteed health, but at 37 years old as he enters his 19th NBA season, the injury risk makes him a more likely mid-to-late second round pick.
Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers: Westbrook's presence may eat into LeBron's on-ball primacy, but LeBron's continued presence will have a similar impact on Westbrook. Both players have a proven ability to lead the league in assists, but playing together both will see decreases in that area. In addition, Anthony Davis is a third very high-volume scorer on the team, and both Davis and LeBron are plus rebounders. Thus, Westbrook is likely to see a volume decrease in every major category, and he doesn't have the long-range shooting ability or scoring efficiency to make up for those decreases. Without the likelihood of averaging a triple-double as in previous years, Westbrook could conceivably fall out of the second round on draft day.
Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers: Davis' boxscore numbers came down next to LeBron compared to what they'd been with the Pelicans. While Davis was an excellent 1B option for the Lakers during the past two seasons, he couldn't maintain his role as perhaps the top fantasy basketball producer in the NBA while playing next to a high-usage player like James. Now he will be playing next to two extremely high-usage players, and both happen to be strong on the glass as well. Just like James and Westbrook, Davis' numbers should drop next season and he would be hard to consider before the middle of the second round.