The dust has pretty much settled on the NBA free agent period and most of the players who were eligible have found a new home for the upcoming season. There are of course a few stragglers who have yet to ink new deals; however, the stars and second-tier guys have found their homes. With the ink now dry on the new deals and press conferences complete, it is time to take a peek in at the new faces in new places and assess just how they will fare in terms of fantasy value for the season. We started the Western Conference off with a look at the new free agents signings out of the Northwest Division. Now we move onto the Southwest division where the biggest free agent splash was made.
Houston Rockets
As busy an offseason as it was for the Rockets, they really only made one new free agent signing and that was of Marcus Thornton. Houston did what they had to in order to keep their own free agents from leaving; however, the addition of Thornton here is nothing more than a depth move for the bench. Thornton is a deep bench shooting guard who will provide some insurance throughout the season to keep guys like James Harden’s minutes in check. In terms of fantasy relevance, this move has zero impact.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies had their franchise centerpiece on the market as an unrestricted free agent; however, it was with little fanfare that Marc Gasol resigned with the Grizzlies. There were rumours that Gasol might listen to other teams, but in the end it was clearly Memphis all the way as Gasol took the max contract that was offered and didn’t draw out the situation at all. By all accounts Gasol had his best year ever as a pro last season as he managed to exceed his previous best scoring average on a season and kept his rebounding numbers in line with his career averages. Gasol will be a huge factor next season for fantasy owners as Zach Randolph’s role and productivity continues to decline.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks thought they had landed themselves DeAndre Jordan; however, the well documented reversal saw Jordan resign with Los Angeles in the end. The Mavs and Mark Cuban still see the need to try and get Dirk Nowitzki some help and to that end they signed Wesley Matthews and the recently bought out Deron Williams. Matthews was a good signing as he will benefit nicely from the floor spacing and offensive schemes in Dallas. So long as he returns healthy, he will continue to be a producer in the shooting guard category.
As for Deron Williams, he and fantasy owners alike, will be looking for a resurgence. Williams figures to compete for starter minutes and he could very well take the helm as the starter before too long. Williams will probably start the season off as a bargain given his production and state of affairs he left behind in Brooklyn. If Williams is getting starter minutes and is sitting in the bottom third in terms of point guard pricing; there could be real value there.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans welcome two new players from free agency as those are Alonzo Gee and Kendrick Perkins. Neither of these two players figure to add much in terms of fantasy value as they are really just bench depth at this point point. Everyone knows that this team is all about Anthony Davis and until Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans or Jrue Holiday can step up and become that consistent second option, this team remains entirely one dimensional.
San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs had a huge offseason as they first procured the services of Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili. Not satisfied with the return of these three the Spurs set out and added David West and LaMarcus Aldridge as well. First off, West is still a very serviceable power forward who will certainly see time off the bench for the team. West’s fantasy value will take a hit here for certain as he simply won’t get the same kind of minutes or looks that he was accustomed to in Indiana.
The acquisition of Aldridge was obviously a huge one for the Spurs. Aldridge is coming off his two best years as a pro and he will now be paired with Leonard and tasked with carrying this franchise. I definitely see a ‘feeling’ out period between coach Popovich, the Spurs and the offense here and as a result of that, Aldridge won’t be putting up 20-plus points per night to start like he has been. Give it a couple months though and Aldridge will be well acclimated and his stats should bounce back to nightly double-doubles.