HoopBallers (now known as SportsEthosians) around the world! The new NBA season is just around the corner and another exciting season of fantasy basketball is rapidly approaching! I’m pretty sure that by now most of you have been preparing for your fantasy drafts by mock drafting and reading the must-have SportsEthos guide!

We are here to help even more with some quick observations from training camps and preseason games as we get to browse around the league and see how the international guys are performing; who is rising up and who is trending down on the fantasy front.

Just like every year, there is a lot of fantasy value hidden, especially for leagues that are already drafting, so make sure you stay up to date on all the breaking news and rumors posted on our website’s blurb feed and our Twitter account @SportsEthosFantasy.

Atlanta Hawks

The Trae Young – Dejounte Murray backcourt is the talk of the year in Atlanta as the Hawks were one of the most active teams of the summer, shipping Kevin Huerter to Sacramento after they traded away Cam Reddish to the Knicks last year. This brings us to Bogdan Bogdanovic who now only has to compete against Justin Holiday for backup minutes at the shooting guard position and will likely remain a viable option for scoring and triples in standard leagues. His ADP this year is around top-135 in 9-cat leagues, primarily due to his inability to remain healthy and play more than 70 games, something that hasn’t happened since his rookie year. Baring any injury, I like him as a top-100 option and at this point it’s just how much faith you have in him being able to remain on the floor.

Clint Capela is still just 28 years old but last year his numbers saw a dip and he shot a horrific 47% from the FT line, making him a strong add in punt-FT builds but a liability in regular configurations. The Hawks are extremely high on Onyeka Okongwu who is on my radar as a potential breakout candidate and the dynamics seem to be fragile even though Atlanta lost Danilo Gallinari and there isn’t much depth in their frontcourt. Capela is entering the year with an ADP around top-75 but I’m being very cautious about his ability to return this kind of value, especially due to the emergence of Okongwu and I’d simply advise to go with safer options in the middle rounds.

Brooklyn Nets

After all the summer drama, the Nets still look to me like a volcano about to explode but at least Ben Simmons looks healthy and ready to get back on the court after a year and a half of not playing basketball. He has looked rusty so far but the expectation is that he should be up to speed at the beginning of the season and the Nets will give him a ton of minutes at both power forward and center. I really like him as a bounce-back candidate, especially since the Nets really have to make this roster work and they don’t have many options in regards to roster reconstruction. Top-70 return seems reasonable to expect and that’s where his ADP is, so he seems like a safe option to me even though the lack of triples and the bad FT shooting is likely to continue. Fellow Aussie Patty Mills meanwhile finds himself in a crowded backcourt with Seth Curry, Cam Thomas and Joe Harris also in the mix. That forces me to not really consider him standard league material at this point. Last but not least, one my favorite players in the league Yuta Watanabe is making a strong push to make the final roster and is someone I keep an eye on in deeper leagues, especially if the Nets discombobulate or get hit hard by injuries again.

Boston Celtics

Danilo Gallinari was very unfortunate this past summer, injuring his knee while preparing for the EuroBasket and the Celtics have no need to rush him back to action, even though he looks like a great fit next to the young core of the team. He shouldn’t be drafted and is only watch-material for now as long as he remains away from basketball activities.

Charlotte Hornets

Joxhow Panom “JT” Thor, the South Sudanese-American forward who the Hornets selected in the second round of the NBA draft last year had some impressive highlights as a rookie but he is still just 20 years old and will continue to develop in the G League. Keep an eye on him if the Hornets get off to a slow start and decide to give their youngsters a chance to play more as the season progresses.

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Chicago Bulls

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Thank you for reading our Eastern Conference Rotation Battles and stay tuned for the Western Conference next week! Please  make sure you stay up to date on all the breaking news and rumors posted on our website’s blurb feed and our Twitter account @SportsEthosFantasy.