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After a breakout 2019-20 campaign, Bertans has regressed hard over the past three years. In fact, he has finished well outside the top 350 in each of the past two seasons, playing limited minutes off the bench in Dallas. His playing time fell to 10.9 minutes per game last year, the fewest he has played in his career. Despite being traded to Oklahoma City during the offseason, it doesn't appear as though Bertans' role will change. The Thunder are a young team on the rise, meaning Bertans is unlikely to feature on a nightly basis. Outside of being a desperation streaming option, he has little to no value in fantasy leagues.
After breaking out in 2019-20, Bertans' fantasy value has plummeted to the point where he ended last season well outside the top 350. With Dallas looking to be a threat in the West, Bertans will likely struggle again this season. His overall upside is limited anyway, given that he only offers viable production in one category. If a path to more minutes opens up, he could have some limited streaming value. Even if that occurs, more appealing options will likely be available, especially in standard formats.
After Bertans' best NBA season yet in his first year with the Wizards, the Latvian struggled in what was an underwhelming 2020-21 season following the signing of his five-year, $80 million contract extension. During the 2020-21 season, the 28-year-old averaged 11.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 25.7 minutes. Bertans saw his shooting percentage from the field drop from 43.4 percent to 40.4 percent and his three-point shooting percentage fell from 42.4 percent to 39.5 percent. His defense also slipped as he went from 1.3 steals-and-blocks last year to just 0.8 last season. This upcoming season, Bertans will have more competition for his role as the Wizards added Kyle Kuzma and rookie three-point shooting star Corey Kispert. Teammate Deni Avdija will also be fully healthy and could take away minutes from Bertans. With Russell Westbrook now in Los Angeles, the Wizards lack a strong secondary scorer which is where Bertans can find a role. After a down-year assisting the ball and scoring, the Wizards will need their depth players to step up this season and Bertans is one of those players that has the ability to have the occasional big scoring night. Although he'll likely be drafted in the later rounds of fantasy drafts, Bertans has a interesting ceiling and the potential to score 15 or more points a game consistently. But Washington's added depth probably means a decrease in total minutes.
In his fourth season in the league and his first on a new team, Bertans had a breakout campaign with the Wizards. He saw 29.3 minutes per game and was entrusted to launch at will from beyond the arc, averaging 15.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 threes (42.4 percent) and 1.7 assists. He was one of the best sources of threes in fantasy, and his proficiency from the free-throw line (85.2 percent) was also a boost for fantasy managers. Washington went all out to keep the free agent, and Bertans is back with the team on a five-year, $80 million deal. The 28-year-old should occupy an extremely similar role this season, though could find more open jumpers given that new point guard Russell Westbrook should be a great source of drive-and-kick offense. Bertans ranked 75th in per-game production last season, and that's an appropriate range to draft him this season.
Bertans was traded to the Wizards this offseason after spending his first three seasons with the Spurs. He had a minimal role as a rookie, but got more playing time in each of the next two seasons as his game developed. Bertans was a key reserve for San Antonio last season, averaging 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 threes in 21.5 minutes per contest -- all career highs. He shot a career-best 42.9 percent from three and has shot better than 37.0 percent from long distance all three years in the NBA. He's likely to backup No. 9 overall pick Rui Hachimura at power forward, but Bertans has a great chance of seeing quality playing time off the bench as he can play small forward in certain lineups. The best fit for the 6-foot-10 Bertans, however, is as a floor-stretching four -- a role he could fill immediately. More minutes could certainly lead to increased production, as Bertans has averaged 14.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 threes per 36 minutes in his career.
Bertans' second campaign with the Spurs was once again set in a deep reserve role. The 6-foot-10 big man averaged 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist across 14.1 minutes, while most notably providing a floor-stretching presence with his ability to knock down the deep ball. Bertans finished with an average of 1.2 three-pointers at a 37.3 percent clip from deep. Despite playing just a minor role up until this point in his career, the Spurs still like his upside and opted to invest in Bertans once again this offseason with a two-year, $14.5 million extension in July. The 25-year-old's return puts him in a prime position to secure his most significant role to date, as the Spurs traded away superstar Kawhi Leonard and also let Kyle Anderson walk in free agency. That opens up a bunch of minutes at the two forward spots and Bertans should be one of the main beneficiaries as a result. Who, exactly, will start in the frontcourt is unclear, but Bertans is for sure behind Rudy Gay in the pecking order, who can also play both forward spots. Still, his contract suggests he's going to see a fairly sizable uptick in role and production, so look for career numbers across the board.
After being selected with the 42nd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Bertans finally was brought to the United States this past season on a two-year, $1.4 million contract. Bertans ended up playing in 67 games, posting averages of 4.5 points and 1.5 rebounds across 12.1 minutes. For the most part, he was kept in a deep reserve role and while he did show some upside as a three-point shooter (39.9 percent), the addition of Rudy Gay to the Spurs severely complicates his path to playing time. It will likely be another developmental season for Bertans, as he should just fill in as depth behind the likes of Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Gay and potentially Kyle Anderson at the forward positions.