If you had one fantasy basketball wish come true this holiday season, what would it be?
André Snellings: My fantasy basketball wish this holiday season would be continued health for the Philadelphia 76ers frontcourt. I have Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons or both on most of my teams this year as I bought in heavily on the young superstars representing The Process.
So far, they've been even more electric than I expected them to be, with Embiid expanding on his historic per-minute rate while playing more minutes and Simmons turning into a nightly triple-double threat as a rumored-to-be 7-footer at point guard.
However, Embiid has missed several games recently with a stated back issue, while Simmons seems to be fighting through a bit of a rookie wall in regard to his scoring. In addition to them being extraordinarily exciting to watch, as a fantasy manager their continued health and vitality would go a long way toward potential fantasy basketball championships this season.
Kyle Soppe: I'm asking Santa for increased playing time for Jordan Clarkson. I know they've got Lonzo Ball leading the way, but for fantasy purposes, can we get some more time with both of them on the court? That would likely mean fewer minutes for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and I think that makes sense, given the limitations on his offensive game.
If they are truly going to try to restore "Showtime," having multiple guards who can distribute seems like a good idea. Clarkson has a top-30 usage rate and plays in the fastest offense in the league, so the thought of more time on the floor makes me giddy. Am I asking for too much? Clarkson's minutes jumped by 23 percent in the second half last season and if I find that under the tree, I'll be more than happy.
Jim McCormick: My fantasy wish would be for Jason Kidd suddenly employ Mike D'Antoni's zeal for pace, spacing and ball movement.
The Bucks don't have two superstar point guards to rival James Harden and Chris Paul, but they do have a MVP candidate in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who happens to lead the NBA in minutes while sporting career highs across the board, including in true shooting and usage rate. Eric Bledsoe, meanwhile, was 36th on the Player Rater last season and would see a nice boost in fantasy value if Kidd decided to turn up the tempo.
The Bucks are 23rd in pace and yet seventh in offensive rating; the latter could potentially leap if this team celebrated transition play from their uber-athletic tandem of Antetokounmpo and Bledsoe. Imagine Khris Middleton lofting 40 percent more 3-pointers while Tony Snell, Mirza Teletovic, Malcolm Brogdon and Thon Maker become complementary spacing options. Jabari Parker's touch would only help. This roster is surprisingly well built for the modern game. This would be fun.
Joe Kaiser: My main fantasy basketball wish this season is simply for Embiid to avoid major injury and play close to 70 games this season. The NBA needs him and fantasy basketball is much more interesting with Philadelphia's star center on the court. The Embiid and Simmons tandem in Philadelphia is one of the best things the NBA has seen in a while and it would be devastating if Embiid goes down with a long-term injury after missing two full seasons and much of last season because of various ailments.
