T.J. Leaf

Leaf found court time hard to come by during his rookie campaign, seeing action in just 53 games and averaging 8.6 minutes. He was merely emergency depth in the frontcourt when needed, though he did noticeably knock down 18-of-42 three-pointers (42.9%) in the limited run. The Pacers lost both Al Jefferson and Trevor Booker this offseason, but went on to add big man Kyle O'Quinn and Doug McDermott, who could play some small-ball power forward. In addition to that, both Thad Young and Domantas Sabonis return, which means Leaf's path to playing time doesn't clear up much. His long-term prospects forecast him as a potential floor-spacing big man due to his silky three-point stroke, which is a hot commodity in today's NBA landscape. However, until some bodies higher up on the depth chart go down with injury or are traded, Leaf will likely be an avoidable player when evaluating frontcourt options in Fantasy leagues.

The 6-foot-10 power forward declared for the 2017 NBA Draft after just one season at UCLA, where he posted 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. His incredible efficiency also turned scouts’ heads, as he made 61.7 percent of his shots from the field and 46.6 percent of his threes. His lack of lateral quickness, slight build, and unimposing wingspan raise questions about his potential as a defender, but the Pacers seemingly felt like his offensive upside was too good to pass up when he fell to them with the 18th overall pick. His path to playing time won’t be easy, though. He’ll certainly be behind Thaddeus Young, the projected starter at power forward. After that, Leaf will have to compete with the likes of Domantas Sabonis and possibly Bojan Bogdanovic for minutes at the four, as Leaf doesn’t project to be a pseudo small forward or center. All in all, it’s probably safe to avoid Leaf in the vast majority of Fantasy formats for his rookie campaign.