Shaedon Sharpe

Portland took a big swing on Sharpe with a 2022 lottery pick, but the 19-year-old hit the ground running and was essentially a rotation player from Day 1. Now entering his age-20 season, Sharpe will be counted upon to take on a much larger role after the Trail Blazers traded Damian Lillard to the Bucks this offseason. For much of his rookie season, Sharpe was limited to 15-to-20 minutes per night off the bench - a role in which he was still able to show plenty of encouraging flashes. But the final 10 games of the regular season, when Portland finally turned Sharpe loose, are what fantasy managers are still dreaming about. During that stretch, Sharpe started all 10 games and posted 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 3.1 made threes in 35.9 minutes per game. He shot 46.0 percent from the field while knocking down nearly 38 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Of course, it's worth noting that Lillard, Jerami Grant, Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons were inactive for all 10 of those games, so Sharpe was truly acting as the Blazers' No. 1 option. With Simons and Grant - as well as No. 3 pick Scoot Henderson - entrenched on the roster, Sharpe will move back to more of a complementary role, but he should be in line to start on the wing and earn major minutes on a nightly basis. For fantasy purposes, Sharpe should be a solid source of points, threes and rebounds while chipping in some assists and steals.

A late-riser up the prospect charts, Sharpe was essentially off the radar until late in high school. And while he committed to play collegiately at Kentucky, he never saw the floor, opting to sit out the year to better prepare for the NBA. That's created an air of mystery around the Canadian wing, who went No. 7 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft to the Trail Blazers. Sharpe's minimal Summer League action before suffering a labral tear in his left shoulder - he's expected to be ready for camp - adds to the mystery. Sharpe compares his game to Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that his strengths are ballhandling and perimeter shooting. However, he's a better vertical athlete than the pair, sporting an unofficially-measured 40-plus-inch vertical leap. That athleticism also allows him to make contortionist layups that other shooting guards can't. His off-ball defense is lacking, but, in theory, strong NBA coaching can fix that. He at least has the physical tools to be disruptive on that end. But, for as much potential as he has, it's not clear if he'll play enough as a rookie to be fantasy relevant. Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons are starting in the backcourt, and Sharpe will have to compete against Gary Payton, Josh Hart and Keon Johnson for backup minutes. A best-case scenario is probably a sixth-man role, but that's pretty optimistic. For now, Sharpe is a better target in keeper/dynasty leagues.