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After a serious leg injury cut Lamb's 2019-20 campaign short, he made his 2020-21 season debut in mid-January. Lamb's performances were wildly up-and-down, and he ended up sitting out the final 18 games of the season due to knee soreness. Despite that, he still had enough positive moments to rank 134th in fantasy on a per-game basis. The multi-tooled wing averaged 10.1 points on 44/41/95 shooting, 3.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 combined steals-plus-blocks in 21.3 minutes. It actually ended up being the best per-minute fantasy production of his career. The 29-year-old figures to trend closer to 25 minutes this season, though the Pacers have relatively good depth on the wing, with Caris LeVert, T.J. Warren and Justin Holiday, that could limit Lamb's upside. Still, it was encouraging what he was able to accomplish coming off a major injury, and it's possible new head coach Rick Carlisle will utilize him more. Fantasy managers have justification to draft Lamb after pick 100, and he could end up being a great steal in deeper formats if other managers are scared of his recent injury history. He ranked as high as 78th in per-game production while seeing 28.5 minutes with the Hornets in 2018-19.
Lamb's first year with the Pacers was marred by injuries. Hip, ankle and groin issues cost him time in the early part of the season, but the big blow came in February, when he blew out his knee during a game against Toronto, tearing his ACL and meniscus while breaking a bone in his femur. He underwent successful surgery in March and is expected to be ready for action around mid-January. Of course, as long as Victor Oladipo avoids injury, Lamb probably won't have a starting role waiting for him, but he'll still have something to offer fantasy rosters as a three-and-D contributor. Although it's unlikely that he'll return to the glory days of 2018-19, when he posted career-high averages in points (15.3) and rebounds (5.5) as a member of the Hornets, the Pacers are still invested in Lamb and will need him on the court when he's healthy.
Lamb agreed to a three-year, $31.5 million deal with the Pacers after spending the last four years of his career with the Hornets. Lamb had the best statistical season of his career in 2018-19, with averages of 15.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 threes and 1.1 steals in 28.5 minutes per contest. He was the second-leading scorer on Charlotte and shot 44.0 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from three and 88.8 percent from the charity stripe. The 6-foot-5 wing can play either shooting guard or small forward and is likely to be the top backup to Victor Oladipo, where he could come off the bench as the Pacers' sixth man. He's likely to get a similar share of minutes in Indiana as he did in Charlotte, but with other quality scoring options on the roster, it's not unreasonable to expect a decline in points. Lamb will have to be productive in other facets of the game to make more of fantasy impact in 2019-20.
Lamb saw a career-high 24.6 minutes per game last season, setting career highs in many statistical categories as a result. He also appeared in 80 games, marking the first time he made more than 66 appearances since the 2013-14 campaign. The sixth-year man averaged 12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He also hit 1.2 threes per game and shot 45.7 percent from the field. Lamb’s expanded role could be in jeopardy this season, however. The Hornets ended up with Miles Bridges, who is expected to play small forward, in the 2018 Draft. And, the team signed Tony Parker, which could push Malik Monk to play more shooting guard. Lamb, who saw all of his run at either shooting guard or small forward last season, will be feeling competition from both sides. Given the situation, his upside is limited, and he can likely go undrafted in most standard Fantasy formats.
A career role player, Lamb has yet to carve out a significant niche in the NBA, despite the fact that he's coming off the best season of his career. Lamb set career-highs by averaging 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in just 18.4 minutes per game last season. However, he shot just 28.1 percent from beyond the arc, which was a career low and severely hindered his utility in Fantasy leagues. Looking ahead, Lamb is still expected to see time at both shooting guard and small forward, and the expectation is that he'll open the year as a starter. The addition of first-round pick Malik Monk is a bit of a concern, though, as he could cut into Lamb's workload off the bench.
Lamb has yet to live up to his pedigree as the 12th pick in the 2012 draft, but he's coming off of his best statistical season to date. In 66 games off the bench, Lamb averaged 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists while converting just over 45 percent of his field-goal attempts. Those numbers are modest, to be sure, but they're a step in the right direction for Lamb, who was in danger of falling out of the league not long ago. Lamb found himself glued to the bench on a deep Thunder roster in 2014-15, logging fewer than 700 minutes across 47 games. The change of scenery -- Oklahoma City dealt Lamb to Charlotte for Luke Ridnour and a conditional second-rounder in June 2015 -- may have been exactly what Lamb needed to hit reset button on his young career. The 24-year-old is in position to again see some minutes off the bench at shooting guard and small forward, and he'll be called upon to help mitigate the losses of Jeremy Lin and Courtney Lee, who departed in free agency. Nicolas Batum and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are the entrenched starters on the wing, so Lamb will battle with veteran newcomer Marco Belinelli for court time.
In his third season, Lamb recorded 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.1 blocks in 14 minutes per game through 47 contests with the Thunder. He shot 42 percent from the field, 34 percent from downtown, and 89 percent from the free-throw line. Lamb never really had much of a role in his three years with the Thunder with a career average of 16 minutes per game in 148 regular season games. It's not clear how many minutes the 23-year-old guard might play in 2015-16 given the Hornets' crowded wing rotation, but a change of scenery is probably a welcome sight for Lamb, who can become a restricted free agent next summer.
Lamb earned a bigger role in Oklahoma City's rotation in 2013-14, averaging 20 minutes of court time in 78 games (zero starts) after playing just six minutes per game in his rookie year. The shooting guard averaged 8.5 points on 43 percent shooting overall and 36 percent from beyond the arc but didn't contribute much elsewhere, only putting up 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. With Reggie Jackson, new additions Anthony Morrow and Sebastian Telfair, and Andre Roberson in the mix for playing time in the backcourt alongside Russell Westbrook, it's unclear what kind of role Lamb will carve out in 2014-15. That being said, should the third-year guard get an opportunity to play a significant amount of minutes, he'd be a solid source of points, three-pointers, assists, steals, and the occasional block.
Lamb spent most of his rookie season bouncing between the Thunder and the D-league. In college, he had great range on his jumper, but he made just 30.0 percent of his 3-pointers last year in limited playing time. With Kevin Martin playing in Minnesota this season, Lamb is expected to claim a lot of the wing minutes off the bench and could be the Thunder's sixth man. He's a great sleeper to target in the later rounds of your draft.
The 12th overall pick in the draft, the long, but slightly built Lamb has a strong midrange game and long wingspan (6-11) to be disruptive on defense. He'll back up Kevin Martin to start the season, but if Martin gets hurt, as he tends to do, or gets dealt - which is certainly possible - Lamb could find himself with regular minutes.