Rotations are starting to settle, preseason action is in the books and tonight a new season finally arrives!  Since Monday didn’t bring us any action to dissect I thought we could look ahead.  Below are three stories savvy owners should have on their radar as the curtain comes up on the 2016-17 campaign.  With that, here’s Tuesday’s Daily Dish.

Kristaps’ Ascension

New York is abuzz with excitement surrounding second year big man Kristaps Porzingis, and fantasy owners seem to feel similarly as the second year big man’s ADP started to threatened the second round by the middle of October.  The hype train has left the station, and it isn’t hard to understand why: Porzingis could average two 3-pointers, two blocks and a steal per game as early as this season.

Tonight it will be interesting to see how much the Knicks are willing to run the offense through their young phenom.  Carmelo Anthony will remain the team’s highest usage player, but Porzingis should see significantly more run than the 28.4 minutes per game he averaged last season.  How much more time he sees will go along way to determine his fantasy ceiling during his sophomore campaign.

Rudy Gobert: Offensive Centerpiece?

Rudy Gobert headlined many fantasy bust lists at the end of the 2015-16 season, as he underwhelmed after costing owners a second round pick.  Most of his struggles resulted from the MCL sprain that limited him for nearly twenty games, and when he returned he didn’t look the same.

That story’s shifted during the preseason.  Gobert has looked explosive patrolling the paint and crashing the glass, leading many to proclaim him an obvious bounce back candidate.  The last two weeks have reinforced that notion, as Gobert has become a genuine offensive weapon for the Jazz after injuries sidelined Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward.  His free throw shooting has improved to well above 70%, and if he can make north of 65% of his freebies he’ll be a draft day steal.

The Warriors’ Whirring Death Machine

The Warriors have been the most covered team for more than a season and a half now, so you know all the principal players.  Tonight we’ll get our first real glimpse at how the team plans to deploy its embarrassment of talent.  Owners weren’t shy about grabbing both Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant in the first five picks of their drafts, which makes sense given the otherworldly fantasy upside both players have had over the past five years.  Playing together shouldn’t do much to ding these superstars.

Further down the roster, however, a significant question looms: who ends up losing touches to accommodate the addition of Durant?  Draymond Green has looked absolutely lost throughout the preseason, and is now shooting below 30% from the floor in exhibition action.  I’m not worried, though.  You were never drafting Green for his scoring, and there will be a plethora of easy assists to Durant and Curry to compliment his exceptional defensive numbers.

Klay Thompson may be a different story.  His efficiency could approach historic levels (as Hoop Ball boss Aaron Bruski loves to say), but he may be reduced to a mere spot up shooter this season.  He’s likely the team’s fourth ball handler in the starting lineup, and he may be fifth when they go small.  I’ll be watching tonight to see what his usage looks like now that the games count.

That’ll do it for this Tuesday’s dish.  Follow @HoopBallTweets for up to the minute updates or hit me up on Twitter (@AbyssAlsoGazes) if you have any questions.  See you all next week.