One Big Fantasy Question For All 30 Teams: Central Division

The 2020 NBA offseason keeps moving forward at a breakneck pace. A unique NBA Draft followed by rapid free agent signings has led to a number of interesting personnel situations throughout the NBA.

After answering one big fantasy question for each team in the Atlantic Division earlier in the week, we now move to the Central.

Chicago Bulls

Outside of drafting Patrick Williams with the number four pick -- a relatively surprising move -- Chicago didn't make any major personnel moves. But the Bulls hired a well-qualified coach in Billy Donovan and finally gave the front office a much-needed facelift.

How does a new coaching staff and offensive system affect the fantasy outlook for Zach LaVine?

Last year, Chicago ranked 18th in possessions per game, while Donovan's Thunder ranked 20th. I lead with this stat because I've heard some say that Zach LaVine is finally "unshackled" now that Jim Boylen is gone. LaVine's usage rate of 31.7 percent ranked ninth in the NBA, a noticeable difference compared to Oklahoma City's highest-usage player, Chris Paul, who ranked 64th at 23.3 percent.

LaVine also ranked seventh in the league in field goal attempts per game at 20.0. Are there really more shots available? On the positive for LaVine, Kris Dunn is gone with no obvious replacement, meaning LaVine may have a chance to play slightly more minutes. The high-scoring guard is only 25 years old, so there is room for improvement during his upcoming fourth season.

Donovan is clearly a more competent coach than Boylen, so Chicago should naturally be more competitive. And Donovan might have the advantage of a healthier line-up. Wendell Carter again suffered injury issues and missed 22 games in 2019-20. Otto Porter played in only 14 games. Lauri Markkanen was again hobbled and missed 15 contests. If those three can return to health, it would mean less reliance on LaVine. That would be good for Chicago, but bad for LaVine's fantasy managers.

LaVine ranked 32nd last season in 9-category leagues a season ago. He may grow to become a better player this season, but don't expect LaVine's fantasy ranking to make a dramatic leap.

Bonus question: Will Carter stay healthy and deliver on the potential he showed briefly last season?

Cleveland Cavaliers

So who's excited for Isaac Okoro?! That's not my one big question, I'm just being snarky. In fairness to the Cavs, their defense was atrocious last season, and Okoro is vicious on the defensive end (1.8 steals-and-blocks per game as a freshman at Auburn). It makes sense to grab a player of Okoro's ilk when you're all in on the young backcourt of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, which leads us to…

Is Collin Sexton a legitimate future fantasy stud?

It feels weird to say good things about a Cavaliers player, doesn't it? But consider these facts about Sexton:

• Last year, his second in the league, Sexton improved his field goal percentage from 43.0 percent to 47.2 percent, despite increasing his FGA from 14.7 to 16.7 per contest
• Despite Garland's addition to the starting lineup, Sexton maintained his 3.0 assists per game
• He improved from 0.5 steals to 1.0 steal per contest
• For two years in a row, he's hit 1.5 triples per game and shot roughly 84 percent from the charity stripe
• He's only 21 years old

My theory is that NBA fans are still adversely affected by Sexton's rocky start to 2018-19, when he was a 19-year-old rookie. I'd argue even a rookie-year Magic Johnson would have struggled on that awful, 19-win Cavs team.

In 9-category leagues, RotoWire forecasts Sexton as roughly a fourth or fifth-round pick in 2020-21.  That may not  be star status, but it's pretty darn good for a player many fantasy analysts had little faith in not too long ago. Keep in mind that when the Cavs switched coaches from John Beilein to J.B. Bickerstaff, Sexton's minutes went up from 32.1 to 36.7 minutes per game. I think Sexton probably lands somewhere in the middle this season. If he can become even a slightly better distributor, Sexton should see his fantasy ranking improve for a third straight season.

Bonus question: Will Andre Drummond repeat the 2.9 steals-plus-blocks he averaged last year with the Cavs?

Detroit Pistons

There's being active in trades and free agency, and then there's what the Pistons did over the last week-and-a-half. And hey, why not? They were going nowhere. After the dust settled, here is the presumed starting five in Detroit: Derrick Rose, Delon Wright, Jerami Grant, Blake Griffin and Mason Plumlee. And expect young fellow-Frenchmen Sekou Doumbouya and Killian Hayes to see plenty of developmental minutes off the bench.

Does any Pistons player end the year ranked inside the Top 100?

Sadly, it's a fair question. Griffin has had only one 70-game season in the past six seasons and is 31 years old. Rose is a year older and hasn't played a 70-game season since 2010-11. The newly signed Grant (three years, $60 million) is sure getting paid like a guy expected to play 70+ games and play them well.

Considering the 26-year-old Grant has averaged 75.7 games per season over his six-year career, a healthy effort seems like a safe bet. But can he make the leap from super role player to potential No. 2 option?

RotoWire projects Grant to finish comfortably inside the top-100 (85th in nine-category leagues). I agree with that assessment, based mostly on the fact that Grant stays healthy and could eventually be forced into a much larger role than he's accustomed to. Whether or not he can make the leap to legitimate top option is debatable, but who else can Detroit turn to? (Ironically, Jerami's father Harvey Grant was in a similar situation with the talent-challenged Washington Bullet's of the early 90's, as you can see here.) 

Bonus question: What is Mason Plumlee's fantasy ceiling if/when he plays starter's minutes?

Indiana Pacers

Myles Turner is still in a Pacers uniform, as is Victor Oladipo. Last year's Malcolm Brogdon sign-and-trade cost Indy its 2020 first-round pick. This is a long way of saying that very little changed for the Pacers. Their best hope for upside is a healthy Oladipo and improved chemistry between Turner and first-time-All-Star Domantas Sabonis. So, I have to ask…

What can the Pacers realistically expect from Oladipo?

I rostered Oladipo during his breakout 2017-18 season, but it's been all downhill since then. He's played 36 and 19 games, respectively, in the past two seasons due to a torn quad tendon that was still bothering him into the 2020 postseason. Perhaps more concerning than Oladipo's health issues, though, were offseason reports that he wanted out of Indiana. So now he's a sulking health risk? Yikes. 

After opting in at the last second, Oladipo quietly had a nice run in the Orlando bubble. Yes, he missed two games, but he also delivered 16.7 points, 4.7 boards, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.4 threes per game over 10 contests, including a four-game playoff sweep at the hands of Miami. While Oladipo's aggressiveness returned, he shot less than 40 percent from the field and totaled just 10 assists over those four playoff contests.

More time to recover should only help the 28-year-old, but he remains a risky proposition heading into 2020-21. The only way I'm drafting Oladipo is if he falls past the 8th round. And even then, I'm hoping for a hot start that I can leverage in a trade by Week 3.

[EDITOR UPDATE Dec 1:  Oladipo states "I never came out and said that I didn't want to play for the Pacers". ]

Bonus question: Will T.J. Warren's bubble breakout continue into 2020-21?

Milwaukee Bucks

Every move made by the Bucks was done to get Giannis Antetokounmpo to feel comfortable signing a long-term deal. In part, that means shifting the focus from a regular season roster to an effective playoff roster. Jrue Holiday, who has career playoff averages of 17.0 points, 5.5 assists and 1.6 threes per game, is undoubtedly an upgrade over Eric Bledsoe. But the playoff numbers only help DFS players. Let's focus on the regular season: 

After Milwaukee's Big Three, who has the most fantasy value?

For starters, our preliminary projections have Giannis ranked eighth, Holiday ranked 24th and Middleton ranked 38th in 9-category leagues for 2020-21. Yes, Holiday's dimes, steals and blocks make him more valuable than Middleton. 

But regarding the question above, the easy answer is Brook Lopez. But how many leagues still require two centers? Lopez is 32. Last season, he only shot 31.4 percent from behind the arc and he remains one of the worst rebounding centers in all of basketball. He also played two fewer minutes per game last year, compared to 2018-19. Will offseason addition Bobby Portis further eat into Lopez's minutes? On the positive, Lopez did post a career-high 2.4 blocks per game last season. 

Maybe I just have a soft spot in my heart for Donte DiVincenzo. Yes, the Bucks were ready to ship him to Sacramento in the failed Bogdanovic deal. And yes, he struggled in the bubble when it mattered most. But look at these per-36-minute stats:: 14.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 three-pointers. Wes Matthews is now a Laker, no longer blocking DiVincenzo at one guard spot. And DiVincenzo is only 23 years old -- there is plenty of room for development. Can he improve on last year's 33.6 percent three-point shooting? That's probably the big question for the Villanova product, as he should get plenty of catch-and-shoot opportunities with the starting unit. 

Lopez is the safe bet to have more value, but don't sleep on DiVincenzo.