Sleepers and Stayaways

Thanks for subscribing to the One Court To Rule Jamal Crawford newsletter. This week we're focusing on Draft Sleepers and Stayaways. This list is a healthy mix of deep research and light drinking. Hope it's helpful

Sleepers

Demarcus Cousins - Boogie's a free agent for now, but I don't know why. He looked really good backing up Jokic last year, and with teams always needing backup centers (cough cough, Boston) he should get picked up fairly soon and give you solid minutes. The sleeper part of this is that he must just be really annoying or something. No one hangs onto him for long, and that could hurt his chances significantly

Bryn Forbes - Minnesota's bench is a little low on shooters, and all Bryn really does is have surprisingly great shooting nights. A quality late rounder (Remember, these are sleepers, so keep those expectations nice and low)

Ochai Agbaji - Would've been a perfectly good pick if Cleveland had kept him, but now that he's on Tankathon Utah, I see the four-year college player getting some serious minutes. Especially as they trade away what little talent remains as the season goes on

Danuel House - The last year he played for Daryl Morey in Houston he averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in 25 minutes. Reunited and it feels so good. The only thing stopping a good season would be Daryl loving him so much he starts him, which he truly might do

Isaiah Hartenstein - He only counts as a sleeper because he's not a particularly big name, but backing up Mr Injury Mitchell Robinson will provide plenty of minutes for Zach Lowe's favorite unknown player

Jalen Johnson - I'm taking a big swing here, but looking at the Hawks forward depth, I like Johnson's chances. He spent last year in the G League and while it's not the one-way ticket to stardom Fred VanFleet made it look like, it is a solid league that helps people break into teams that get injuries. When DeAndre Hunter goes down, I'm looking for Johnson to step into some backup minutes and impress

Coby White - Somebody's gotta take over at point for the Bulls (likely for the whole year; this Lonzo injury sounds bad) and while it's likely to be Dragic or Dosunmu, White's a textbook backup sleeper with more athleticism than Dragic ever had

Jalen McDaniels - The McDaniels brother in Charlotte. With Miles gone and Hayward bound to get hurt, McDaniels could get some real minutes over even younger JT Thor (another sleeper)

Trey Murphy - I'm telling you, this kid had an efficient year last season and he's poised for a better showing this time around, while a loaded Pelicans squad will secure his bench position

Cam Thomas - He's got a ton of talent ahead of him on the Nets, but let's briefly examine that talent: Kyrie, who will miss plenty of games; Seth Curry, who's coming into the season with a slight injury and isn't getting any younger; and Patty Mills, who is a legend, but looked bad at times last year. It pretty much comes down to this: if the Nets have a successful, wholesome, stable season then Cam Thomas will be a terrible pick. But I'm not betting a penny on that

David Roddy - My official pick for Rando Who Goes Off On The Grizzlies' Bench. Mostly because his body makes me chuckle. I like watching him play basketball. Dude is a unit

Shaedon Sharpe - Another rookie and another huge swing. We know nothing about this guy. The only thing we really know is if he's even decent he'll be really good. I don't see any way he's an average player

Stayaways

Dwight Howard - Yes, Dwight's turned it around and been a solid enough backup center in the waning years of his 30 For 30 deserving career. And yes, someone will need a big man to eat some regular season innings and he'll likely get picked up. But don't take him. Do yourself a favor and research a lesser known name who isn't going to be popping up in the WWE and grabbing as many techs as rebounds

DeAndre Jordan - If you've actually watched basketball the last two years you should already know everything I might say. The only thing that could make him a valuable player is the talent around him at Denver

Matthew Dellavedova - Another example of drafting for the name that will bite you in the ass. I love Deli, and he's a good passer and a fun player, but he's behind a surprisingly good and deep group of guards in Sac Town and he'll barely see the court

Serge Ibaka - I should just rename this category after grabbing players you've heard of. Serge looked like he'd been rode hard and hung up dry last year (or whatever the saying is). He hardly played and when he did he was bad. A veteran presence who will help the Bucks win the chip this year with a remarkable performance in a random playoff game, but will do nothing else

Juancho Hernangomez - Yes, Bo Cruz looked like a top tier athlete in that movie. And if anyone knows how to best use a rangy athlete it's Toronto. But he's got some serious competition ahead of him if he wants to even make the bench

Dwight Powell - It's not like anybody was beating down the door to draft Powell last year, but with the additions of Christian Wood and apparent starter Javale McGee, Powell simply won't see enough of the floor to be worth drafting

Naz Reid - I like him and I love what he brings off the bench behind KAT. That being said, here's how I see the Timbs new front court playing out: Rudy and KAT start together, then one of them is subbed in the first few minutes and they alternate at center until the end of the game when they bring them both out to close. Not a ton of space in there for Naz. This is the realest pick I have; it could very easily blow up in my face

Shake Milton - Little Bill has popped up here and there with good games for Philly, but with Melton in town taking most of his minutes, I just don't see him playing enough to support his inconsistency

Victor Oladipo - I want it to work out in Miami for him, I really do. And he had good showings in the playoffs. But damn, just take a look at his last several regular seasons. Since 2019 he's played in only 60 games. When healthy he's been good, but I don't know if you can justify taking him. Could turn out to be good value in the late rounds. Could play 6 games all year. Too risky for my blood

Kai Jones - Don't know if any of you were seriously considering taking him, but allow me to dissuade you. I hope everything I write about him turns out to be untrue, because he's a joy to watch and a helluva dunker, but the kid's nowhere near NBA-ready. Adding our hopeful franchise center in Williams to an already crowded and untalented bunch of bigs spells even less playing time for Jones, who only saw the court 21 times last season for an average of 3 minutes

Thanasis Antetekounmpo - This one hurts me the most, because this man is what this league is all about. As Mark Jackson said, "He could play for me any day." But sadly, he averages less than 10 minutes a game, and never puts up actual stats. I love him, and I might pick him as a glue guy, but he's simply a terrible fantasy player