Below are André Snellings' Northwest Division player profiles for the 2018-19 season.
For all other player outlooks, click here.
For sortable player projections, click here.
Click on a team to view their player profiles below:
Denver Nuggets
Minnesota Timberwolves
Portland Trail Blazers
Oklahoma City Thunder
Utah Jazz
Denver Nuggets
Jokic has established himself as one of the best centers in the NBA and continues to improve at a significant rate. He has clear 20 and 10 potential this season, and with his passing ability (6.1 APG last season), he routinely goes through stretches when he averages a near triple-double on a nightly basis. Jokic is a clear top-10 performer in both points-based and roto formats, with an outside shot at the No. 1 overall slot this season.
Millsap had his first season in Denver derailed by injury, but he remains clearly the best power forward option on the team, despite the talent of Trey Lyles on the bench. Millsap is a plus scorer and rebounder who has averaged at least one full steal, block and 3-pointer twice in his career (including last season). His volume is depressed a bit in Denver due to his strong teammates, including Nikola Jokic, but his versatility in the hard-to-fill categories makes him a top-60 prospect with top-30 upside in roto leagues.
Thomas finished top-five in the MVP vote two seasons ago, then injured his hip in the playoffs to trigger the sequence of unlikely events that had him sign a minimum contract to come off the bench for the Nuggets. Thomas was a sixth man before he became a star, and if he's healthy, he has the ability to vie for NBA Sixth Man of the Year this season. He is draftable and potentially startable in both formats, though his volume, and thus his points-based potential, will be limited by his role.
Murray improved quite a bit as a second-year player, moving into the starting lineup and posting scoring averages in the upper teens with solid rebound, assist, 3-pointer and steal numbers. Murray has 20/5/5 upside in the near future and looks like a top-50 prospect in both points-based and roto formats this season.
Barton has been instant offense off the bench the past three seasons since he joined the Nuggets, but in the second half of last season, he became a starter as well. In his 40 starts, his numbers improved to 17.7 PPG (47.6 FG%, 87.2 FT%), 5.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, 2.3 3-pointers and 1.2 SPG in 37.5 MPG. This sets his expectations for this season and gives him clear top-50 fantasy upside moving forward.
Harris continued to improve last season, upping his averages across the board to 17.5 PPG (48.5 FG%, 82.7 FT%) with 2.3 3-pointers, 2.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals. He is a better roto prospect than points-based due to his contributions in specialized categories in lieu of higher volume, but he is a clear starter in both formats.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Towns took a step backward in volume scoring last season, which makes sense, as Jimmy Butler joined the team as a high-volume primary scorer. Towns still averaged 21.3 PPG on career-best shooting efficiencies (54.5 FG%, 85.8 FT%), and his 12.3 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.5 3PG, 1.4 BPG and 0.8 SPG help him round out one of the best stat lines in fantasy. And if Towns might project slightly behind a handful of players in per-game fantasy volume, he has never missed a game during his three-season NBA career thus far, a history of health that gives him a boost into a viable top-five prospect in both points and roto leagues.
Jimmy Butler
Butler joined the Timberwolves last season and immediately became their primary offensive option, averaging 22.2 PPG (career-best 47.4 FG%, 85.4 FT%) and 4.9 APG. Butler started the season slowly as he tried to fit in, and he ended the season slowly due to injury, but in between, he was one of the most dominant producers in the league. With a year under his belt in this system, Butler projects as a top-20 prospect again this season in both roto and points leagues.
Teague joined the Timberwolves last season and had a solid, if slightly down offensive season as he moved down to third or fourth in the pecking order behind Jimmy Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Teague was still good for 14.2 PPG, 7.0 APG, 3.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG and 1.2 3PG even in his attenuated role and projects as a midround draft pick in both points and roto leagues.
Andrew Wiggins
Andrew Wiggins is probably the player who was most hurt by Jimmy Butler's addition to the Timberwolves, because so much of his production is pure scoring with very little in peripheral categories. Thus, when Butler became the primary option and cost Wiggins almost six points off of his scoring average, it dramatically lowered his fantasy value. Wiggins still projects as the third scoring option this season, but he is coming off a career-best 1.4 3PG, and if his long-range jumper improves, he could still be worthy of a midround selection in roto leagues. His volume limitations cap his points-based potential, but his history of health (only one missed game in four seasons) does boost his overall value even in that format.
Gibson came to the Timberwolves last season and took over the power forward position, relinquishing Gorgui Dieng to backup status. Gibson had a strong season by his standards, though his 12.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.2 APG and 0.7 BPG were all numbers that he had topped at least once in previous seasons. His breakout categories were in shooting, as his 57.7 FG% and 76.8 FT% both marked career highs, and boosted his value in roto leagues a bit beyond that of the late-round draft prospect he is in points leagues.
Portland Trail Blazers
Lillard is right in the midst of his athletic peak, and the past two seasons, he has a combined average of 27.0 PPG (44.2 FG%, 90.5 FT%), 6.2 APG, 4.7 RPG and 3.0 3PG. He is coming off his first All-NBA first-team nod last season, and with health, should continue to produce at this borderline top-10 level in both roto and points-based leagues.
McCollum is entering his athletic peak, coming off three consecutive seasons of very similar value, averaging 21.7 PPG (45.7 FG%, 86.2 FT%), 3.7 APG, 3.6 RPG, 2.4 3-pointers and 1.0 SPG. His role hasn't changed, so this is the type of production that should be expected this season as well. Thus, McCollum should flirt with top-20 roto value and top-40 points-based value.
Nurkic is a distant third option for the Portland Trail Blazers behind Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, but his role has been consistent in the 1.5 seasons that he has been on the team. Nurkic has averaged 14.5 PPG (50.5 FG%, 63.8 FT%), 9.2 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.5 BPG and 0.9 SPG in his 99 games with the Trail Blazers, and though it seems that he has the ability to step up that production a notch, it is hard to see him getting enough shots in the pecking order to do much more than that. He projects with top-50 upside in both roto and points-based leagues.
Aminu has been a metronome in most categories for the past two seasons, averaging 9.0 PPG (39.4 FG%, 71.8 FT%),7.5 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.1 SPG and 0.6 BPG with little variance in any category. The one area that changed last season was from behind the arc, where he made a career-high 1.8 3PG on a career-best 36.9 3FG%. If he continues to improve from downtown, Aminu has top-75 upside in roto leagues, though he still lacks the volume to do much better than top-100 upside in points-based formats.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Westbrook projected as perhaps the top prospect in points leagues, but his unexpected arthroscopic knee surgery on Sept. 10 has dampened enthusiasm slightly. Westbrook is entering his 11th season and will be 30 years old in November, and he relies so heavily on his furious athleticism that questions about his knee are more concerning than for other players. With that said, Westbrook has averaged a triple-double in each of the past two seasons, and if the surgery is in fact minor, then he should remain one of the top-five points-league and top-10 roto prospects again this season.
George found a home in his first season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, enough so that he signed an extension with them this offseason after many had assumed that he would return to play for one of his hometown Los Angeles squads. George fit in well as a second option next to Russell Westbrook, averaging career-highs with 3.1 3PG and 2.0 SPG to go along with his characteristically strong 21.9 PPG (43.0 FG%, 82.2 FT%), 5.7 RPG and 3.3 APG. George is a borderline first-round draft pick in roto leagues and a clear top-25 guy in points leagues as well.
Adams quietly had the best campaign of his career last season, notching personal bests with 13.9 PPG (62.9 FG%), 9.0 RPG, 1.2 SPG and 1.2 APG. He also added 1.0 BPG and produced the type of all-around categorical numbers that would make him worthy of a late-midround pick in fantasy leagues this season.
Schroder was the primary option for the Atlanta Hawks but now projects as a sixth man for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Presumably he will back up Russell Westbrook and also get some playing time next to him in a small-ball lineup. Westbrook's knee surgery could allow Schroder to get some extra playing time early in the season, but his limited opportunity lowers his status to late-midround in fantasy drafts.
Grant seems to be the player most likely to inherit the starting power forward slot from the departed Carmelo Anthony, which gives him solid upside coming off the best per-minute production of his career. Grant averaged 14.9 PP36 (53.5 FG percentage, 67.5 FT percentage), 7.0 RP36, 1.7 BP36, 0.7 SP36 and even 0.7 3P36 last season. Grant is unlikely to average 36 MPG this season, even as a starter, but he has the opportunity to get closer to those minutes, which could lead to a career-best season and him flirting with a top-100 ranking in both points and roto.
Roberson is the defensive stopper on the wing for the Thunder, but a ruptured patellar tendon ended his 2017-18 campaign and could absorb a good chunk of this season as well. Roberson's defensive numbers are worthy of some attention in roto leagues, but his lack of volume and the likelihood that he misses a significant number of games this season make him a likely undrafted free-agent nominee in roto and points formats until he returns to action.
Utah Jazz
For the second straight season, Gobert finished the campaign strongly with much better splits post-All-Star break than pre. In his last 48 games after the break, he averaged 15.8 PPG, 69.0 FG%, 68.0 FT%, 12.3 RPG, 2.7 BPG and 0.7 SPG. The common denominators in those two stretch runs were health and a clicking team offense built around a strong offensive wing. With Donovan Mitchell potentially ready to make another leap after his stellar rookie season, Gobert should be in position this season to concentrate on his defense and finishing easy shots around the rim ... exactly what he does best.
Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell is coming off a campaign that in many seasons would have won him the Rookie of the Year award, and even his runner-up finish was extremely impressive to the NBA community. Known as the Spider Man, Mitchell most frequently drew comparisons to Dwyane Wade, whose production took a giant jump between his rookie and sophomore seasons. Mitchell's rookie numbers were more impressive than Wade's, so if Mitchell makes a similar leap in Year 2, then he could have legitimate 25-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist upside as a sophomore.
When the Minnesota Timberwolves took Ricky Rubio fifth in the 2011 NBA draft, it was considered justifiable by many that he was picked just before Stephen Curry. Rubio has flashed promising skills in the NBA, but his lack of a consistent jumper limited his upside, even as Curry was going on to become the two-time MVP. Rubio was much less of a floor general in his first season with the Utah Jazz than he was in Minnesota, but he discovered enough of a J that he turned in career highs in points, field goal percentage, 3-pointers made and 3FG% last season. If his jumper continues to improve, Rubio has the upside to be a top-50 fantasy option this season.
Favors was once considered one of the promising young big men in the NBA, but a series of injuries derailed his progress and limited him to one of the worst seasons of his career in 2016-17. Favors was healthy enough to bounce back last season, playing well enough in 17 games to earn himself a contract extension this offseason. Favors was especially effective when starting at center in place of an injured Rudy Gobert, as he turned in averages of 14.9 PPG, 58.5 FG%, 8.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.3 BPG and 0.7 SPG in 23 games as a starting center to demonstrate the kind of upside that he still possesses.
Ingles is a perfect role player for this Jazz team: a tough Australian who plays hard-nosed defense, knows how to handle the ball and set up teammates, and he can knock down the open jumper. He set career highs in essentially every category last season, as he started more games (81) than he did in his first three seasons combined (60). Ingles should continue to perfect that role this season, as he will still be able to play off of his more talented teammates on offense while manning his role as one of the defensive leaders on the wing.
Crowder is a virtual twin to Joe Ingles on the court; a tough-minded defensive big wing who knows the game, can help facilitate the offense in a secondary role and knock down the open trey at a good clip. The only reason that his projections aren't higher is that the Jazz already have Ingles -- and that other Ingles starts -- so Crowder is relegated to a sixth-man role. His per-minute production should remain solid, and he has the game to become interesting if injuries dictate that he play more minutes.
Allen was one of the least popular players in the NCAA among non-Duke fans, and his repeated tripping incidents got him the reputation for playing dirty. Nonetheless, he has the ability to get red-hot from behind the 3-point line, and he measured out with a surprising 40.5-inch vertical leap at the combine, which illustrates his athletic potential on the pro level. Allen is in Utah to fill the role of a shooting defensive wing off the bench, likely playing in a backcourt tandem with Dante Exum, and he has the ability to potentially fit that role well even as a rookie.
At his best, Sefolosha was a defensive role player in real life who earned a niche in rotisserie basketball with his ability to generate difficult-to-fill categories like steals, 3-pointers and even some blocks from the wing. However, his game was never had a high enough volume for much points-based value, and he has missed more than 24 games per season on average during the past five seasons. Add in that his role is filled on the Jazz by both Joe Ingles and Jae Crowder, and Sefolosha is unlikely to have a large enough role for relevance this season, barring a teammate's injury.
Dante Exum
Exum was drafted with the fifth pick in the 2014 NBA draft and was expected to be one of the next big things as a big, athletic point guard who could do everything. Instead, repeated injuries slowed his progress, until last season's role as a Shaun Livingston-like guard off the bench earned Exum rave reviews in the playoffs among Jazz faithful. He likely reprises that role this season, but at still only 23 years old, he still has upside to grow into an impact player, if his opportunity increases and his body can hold up to the stress.