Rebound & Rant: Western Conference Job Battles

Yes, indeed, this is our third position battles essay of the pre-season. NBA Editor Nick Whalen already posted this delightful wisdom salad last week. And a few days ago I posted my own R&R, a tad more snarky Eastern Conference Position Battle piece. So, yes, maybe we're going a tad overboard. But better to give you too much knowledge versus not quite enough.

Many teams in the West have fairly set rotations, especially when eliminating battles that have no fantasy significance. With that in mind, let's pick a few Western Conference minutes battles that could lead to fantasy sleepers.

Los Angeles Clippers

Mr. Whalen already chimed in on the battle at center, giving the slight nod to Montrezl Harrell over Marcin Gortat. I agree with him – when in doubt, bet on the younger legs. But the Clipper backcourt is also a log jam.

Backcourt: Patrick Beverley, Milos Teodosic, Avery Bradley, Lou Williams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jerome Robinson

There have been rumors of Patrick Beverley being traded. Frankly, that's exactly what the Clippers should do. The future of this team is attached to rookies Gilgeous-Alexander (pick #11) and Robinson (pick #13). Let veterans Teodosic and Bradley start early in the season, but then graciously hand things to the rooks once the two vets experience their inevitable injuries. Gilgeous-Alexander is the player to stash in this crowd, despite the fact that he looks about 12 years old. During his one year at Kentucky, SGA filled the stat sheet across the board with excellent percentages. His three preseason game averages were modest: 11-2-3. But in Las Vegas this summer, SGA posted 19-5-4 averages over four games while demonstrating nice athleticism and some crazy reach. Check out SGA's preseason highlights from October 3rd::

Memphis Grizzlies

I think it's inevitable that Jaren Jackson Jr. passes JaMychal Green in minutes by mid-season. The shooting guard situation seems cloudier.

Shooting Guard: Dillon Brooks, Garrett Temple, Wayne Selden
I know what you're saying: "K-Train, I thought we were only discussing position battles that have fantasy significance?". That's a very fair point, so if you're in a standard 10 or 12 team league, you can move on. For those in deeper leagues looking for cheap 3's, one of these three will evolve into a catch-and-shoot option, helping the Griz better space the floor. Garett Temple is 32 and known more for his defense. Memphis is the perfect location for his grindhouse style of play, but Memphis will not succeed out West playing early 90's ball. That leaves either the sophomore Brooks or third-year vet Selden. Two weeks ago, I thought Brooks was a sneaky sleeper, but he hasn't done anything in three games of pre-season ball. Whalen likes to stress that Brooks is "one of my least favorite draft prospects ever." So Wayne Selden seems like the stash. One can't argue with his 1.4 made treys a game from last year. Better ball movement from a returning Mike Conley and free agent acquisition Kyle Anderson should lead to some easy open jumpers for Selden.

Sacramento Kings
Will this rabid fan base every again get a team worth cheering for? I suspect, as usual, the Sacramento rotation will be in constant flux. Nick already talked about their front court. But who will light up the scoreboard?

Top Scorer: Buddy Hield, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Zach Randolph, De'Aaron Fox, Willie Cauley-Stein
Can you guess who led the Kings in scoring last year? It was now-37-year-old Randolph. Can you guess who it's been this pre-season? Through four games the scoring leader is reserve PG Yogi Ferrell. If either of those two lead the Kings in scoring this season, this rebuild is in even more trouble than expected. Ownership would sure love Buddy Hield to grasp the scoring reigns, but as a Vinnie-Johnson microwave off the bench, Hield probably won't see enough minutes. I liked Bogdanovic as a sleeper to lead things, but he's battling a knee injury that will have him either out through October and probably in partial recovery mode for some of November. Maybe it's time for Fox and Cauley-Stein to blossom. Fox is only 20 years old and should get the usual sophomore bump in field goal percentage. It remains to be seen how well Cauley-Stein and prized rooke Marvin Bagley can play together (Editor's Note: It sounds like they will bring Bradley off the bench, for now. NW). I'm going with Fox.

Phoenix Suns

On Monday, the Suns fired GM Ryan McDonough. While we feel bad for the McDonough family, this probably should have happened a year ago. Exhibit A and B would be the gaping holes at point guard and power forward.

Point Guard: Shaquille Harrison, Elie Okobo, Josh Jackson
Yes, I'm listing the 6-6 Jackson as a point guard option. Shannon and Alex discussed this on Friday's "3 Amigos" podcast. So I'm really stealing this idea In four preseason games, Jackson has averaged 5.3 dimes in 34 minutes a game. Knowing the lack of pedigree from Harrison (undrafted out of Tulsa, nice bench player last year) and Okobo (first pick of the 2nd round this summer), is it crazy to envision a Devin Booker-Josh Jackson backcourt that splits the playmaking duties? I don't think so. Add some minutes backing up Ariza and Booker, and Jackson has a path to increasing the 25 minutes a game he saw last year, his rookie season. Jackson's ADP of 82 seems a tad low if the pre-season trend continues. (Editor's Note: I disagree with Ken. Jackson is a poor 3PT and FT shooter. NW)

Power Forward: Ryan Anderson, Dragan Bender, Trevor Ariza
Anderson's mid-season benching was one of a few reasons Houston's defense improved from 18th in 2016-17 to 6th last season? Anderson's defense was so porous last season, he played in only 11 games post-ASG, averaging only 18 minutes during those 11 appearances. To be fair, Anderson also had hip and ankle issues, but at 30 years of age, the outside shooter's D is only going to get worse. Maybe with his expiring contract, the new GM can move Anderson this winter. Ariza is the starting small forward, but will see time here when the Suns go small ball. Bender is only 20 years old, so hopefully the past two seasons of low end production were a result of youth. Bender's two year averages of 5.4 points and 3.7 boards per game with 38% shooting scream "bust" for the fourth overall pick in 2016. That said, the 7-1 Croatian is well, 7-1, and only 20. There is still time for him to blossom, but one must question whether or not Phoenix is the right training ground. But Bender only got 10 minutes of run in Monday's pre-season win. This is a horribly long-winded way of saying that Trevor Ariza, despite his 33 years of age, could play absolute monster minutes for Phoenix, with more shot opportunities than he saw in Houston. Ariza's 117 Yahoo ADP seems low.

Well, ballers, that's it for job battles in the West. Enjoy the last draft weekend of the pre-season!

(BTW, if you enjoy this little column, give our AWARD WINNING Friday NBA podcast a try, where I usually join Shannon McKeown and Alex Barutha for some epic Fantasy NBA conversations.)