• Roles are one of the more exciting topics to research during draft prep. It is always refreshing to see players receive new responsibilities for the upcoming season. The potential for a player to expand their usage and provide more fantasy stats is a welcome sight for fantasy managers. However, it is good to note that it is still “potential.”

    This is where we come in. We’ll take a league-wide look at all of the players shouldering new roles with their teams and how it can help you in fantasy this year.

    Mathurin’s Time to Shine

    With Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) set to be absent for the entire year, coach Rick Carlisle already nominated Bennedict Mathurin to fill the void in the starting lineup. Mathurin doesn’t bring the elite passing that Haliburton does, but he does shine in a few other areas. His fantasy game mostly centers around PTS and FT%, but we saw an interesting boost in his stat set last season. Mathurin is no stranger to the starting lineup, as 49 of his 72 appearances last season were as a starter. During those contests, Mathurin averaged 16.7 PTS, 6.0 REB, 1.9 AST, and 1.5 3PT on 45.8% FG and 81.7% FT. The rebounds were the newest addition to his game this season, as there were a couple of outings where Mathurin managed double-digit boards.

    Now let’s break this down a bit deeper. Most would think that starting means more usage,  but that might not be the case with Mathurin. Last year, Haliburton had a modest 21.7% usage on the court, which is technically under Marthurin’s usage last year (22.9%). There aren’t many extra shots to go around, especially with Andrew Nemberhard, Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam in the lineup. Even with the departure of Myles Turner, Carlisle prefers to take an egalitarian approach with the offense, spreading the wealth around equally. The best case is that Mathurin may see one to two more shots on the court. Sure, that could lead to a potential 20-point average at best, but there are huge holes in his fantasy game that prevent him from becoming an elite fantasy basketball player. At best, Mathurin should be viewed as a late-round option for a nice scoring/rebound touch to your team. Scooping up Mathurin in the ninth round or so is a good target area for him if you need his specific set of skills.

    Want to see the rest of the players slated for important new roles? You’ll need to have an Ethos 360, All-Sport or NBA FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up! Premium Access Required

     


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