While the NBA community anxiously awaits which new Eastern Conference team will fall to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, the fact is most teams are already looking ahead to the 2019-20 season -- or, in the case of really sad-sack organizations like the New York Knicks, even beyond.
In the fantasy world, the percentage of current contenders is more minuscule, as the head-to-head playoffs approach well before the real ones. The bottom line is, fool yourselves all you want but in a keeper league, now is the time to investigate whether a few clicks to the free-agent pool adds a potential helper for the fall.
For example, one of my keeper teams is simply not going to win. There is a dominant team embarrassing us all, and I could blame John Wall and even feel a bit justified but ... I will keep scrapping for that money finish -- um, we win candy in that league -- while also punting away meaningless bench options that I will probably not rely on these final five-plus weeks for future choices that I could either keep or trade. It happens. Long sentences and being blunt with your team's possibilities. Looking ahead is not so bad. I do it every day.
Using ESPN ADP as our order and roster percentages as a guide -- let us say at least 50 percent available, though I guess most of those leagues are not keepers -- here are players I would consider snapping up now for the fall. Of course, I don't know what the keeper limit is in your league or whether your team is going for it or more Knicks-like, though ideally it is not as obvious in the tanking tendencies, as fantasy tends to police itself better than real life. Perhaps a name or two is not only out there in your league, but is an improvement as a keeper or asset.
