Miles Plumlee

Plumlee opened the 2016-17 season in a heavily crowded center rotation with the Bucks. Despite inking a four-year, $50 million contract entering the year, he was unable to garner a significant role and averaged just 2.6 points and 1.7 rebounds across 9.7 minutes in 32 games. That prompted Milwaukee to look for potential trade partners and they eventually agreed to a deal with the Hornets, thus getting rid of an ugly contract. In Charlotte, Plumlee only saw minor gains, as the center position was just as crowded. He averaged 13.4 minutes, but saw action in just 13 games after suffering a second-degree calf strain that prompted a lengthy absence. Plumlee was once again traded this offseason, now with the rebuilding Hawks. Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap are no longer in Atlanta, so Plumlee should at least have a rotation role ahead of him. Dewayne Dedmon is still the favorite to open as the team's starting center, which leaves Plumlee to battle Mike Muscala for the backup spot. If he does win that competition during training camp, Plumlee should see a decent increase in playing time, though it likely wouldn't make him a Fantasy option in anything but deeper leagues.

Plumlee joined the Bucks as a part of the Michael Carter-WIlliams deal back in February, and played only sparingly down the stretch. Coming off of an encouraging 2013-14 campaign in Phoenix in which he averaged 8.1 points and 7.8 rebounds, Plumlee's playing time dipped as second-year center Alex Len moved into a more significant role. The Suns ultimately deemed Plumlee expendable, shipping him to Milwaukee, where his role would be further reduced. Plumlee never seemed to get much of a chance to crack the Bucks rotation, as he played in just 19 games after the trade and played double-digit minutes on only seven occasions. He appeared in only one playoff game, logging 16 minutes in a laughably lopsided Game 6 loss to the Bulls.

Plumlee is entering his third season in the NBA and his second with the Suns. He became one of the major fantasy surprises early last season as he saw a major jump in minutes that contributed to his averages of 8.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 25 minutes per game. He also shot 52 percent from the field on 6.9 attempts and 56 percent from the free-throw line on 1.7 attempts per game. While not a major scoring threat, Plumlee can crash the boards and reject shots, and last season, those commodities came at a very good value. The price on Plumlee has definitely risen but still remains low overall, and he could provide some sneaky value in the ever-important rebound and block categories. Plumlee shoots an abysmal percentage from the line, but with only 1.7 attempts, he shouldn't affect the outcome of that category too much. He'll slot in as the starting center for the Suns again in 2014-15 and could be an option for those who miss out on some of their higher-rated targets on draft day.

Plumlee will begin his second season as a professional with aspirations of solidifying his role with the Suns in hopes of eventually pairing with Len to form the frontcourt of the future. During his time at Duke, he established a reputation for being an elite rebounder and athletic big. He will look to do the same in Phoenix this year in anticipation of the trade of Gortat.

Advertised as an active rebounder and defender, Plumlee flashed more offensive game (13.6 ppg) than expected during the Orlando Summer League. Sure, it’s only summer league and we never make any predictions based on it, but it’s promising nevertheless. Plumlee will not be needed much at center with Roy Hibbert and Ian Mahinmi ahead of him. However, if the mid-range game he showed this summer is for real, Plumlee could get minutes at power forward, where Tyler Hansbrough has regressed.