NBA Draft Kit: Northwest Division Positional Battles

Holy guacamole there is a lot of amazing young talent in the Northwest. Start with back-to-back Rookies of the Year in Minnesota, a ballsy backcourt in Portland, the return of a darn high draft pick in Utah, a sophomore sensation at the point in Denver, and a possible redemption scenario for yet another highly drafted guard in OKC, and clearly the cup runneth over with young baller talent in the small-market division.

All that high-powered youth means we've got a lot of potential to figure out, as well as some serious playing time battles. Read the tea leaves properly, and the Northwest could bring you fantasy stardom.

Denver Nuggets

Denver just did a nice job of clearing up a log jam AND acquiring assets by dealing Frenchman Joffrey Lauvergne to OKC for two second-round picks. That opens minutes for centers Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic, both of whom are better rim protectors than Lauvergne. It also makes space for rookie Juan Hernangomez, who quickly went from draft-and-stash to play-now after an impressive summer league showing (10.2 points, 8.2 boards, and 1.8 assists in 27 minutes per game). There is some serious talent collection going on in the mile-high city.

Now what do should they do at the two?

Shooting Guard:Gary Harris, Will Barton, Jamal Murray, Malik Beasley

Despite drafting Murray with the seventh overall pick in this year's draft, Denver GM Tim Connelly insists that Harris is still viewed as the Nuggets' starting shooting guard. I suspect Connelly doth protest too much. Harris' sophomore numbers were a pedestrian 12.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and a nice 1.4 made threes from 32 minutes per game over 76 appearances. Fantasy-wise, he's a great source of cheap threes, but Harris' game focuses on defense first, hence the nice 1.3 steals per game. Murray and Barton are his opposite: shoot-first bombers. Both could force Harris to be a starter in name only, gobbling up minutes when the Nugs need buckets. Barton will see time at both the two and the three, seeing time at SF when Denver players small ball with Danilo Gallinari at power forward. Murray grabbed headlines as the no. 7 pick, but remember he is only 19 years old and needs time to develop.

In some ways, the Nuggets are the Celtics of the West: lots of young, versatile assets with not enough minutes to go around. One must assume that come February, like Boston, they'll package a mix of one veteran, one young gun and one of their two 2017 first-round picks for a coveted star.

Minnesota Timberwolves

This July I was in Las Vegas for Summer League and the annual RotoWire company meeting. I'm at the Aria, racing to an elevator, when, I swear on all things holy, ROY Karl-Anthony Towns is actually holding the elevator door for me. Seriously. He was the nicest guy in the world; in fact, so nice, I had to immediately tweet about it:

Just shared an elevator with ROY @KarlTowns . Class act, says he likes the Coach Thibs.

— Ken Crites (@KenCrites) July 11, 2016

Point Guard:Ricky Rubio, Kris Dunn, Tyus Jones, Zach LaVine

Fans of the Free Zack LaVine movement can rejoice, as the dunk champion will finally get starter minutes and a set position at shooting guard. But the T-Wolves' point guard situation is foggy with the addition of Dunn, the fifth-overall pick this year, who seems to be everything that Rubio is not. Dunn was a career 45 percent shooter in college; Rubio is an NBA career 37 percent shooter. Dunn plays fierce defense; Rubio plays soft European defense. (Side note, both average 2+ steals per game). In Rubio's defense, he's a much better free-throw shooter than Dunn (Rubio shot 85 percent from the line last year, Dunn shot 69 percent). At 25-years-old and two more affordable years of contract control, Rubio still has plenty of value. T-Wolves brass are hoping the two PGs can coexist, with Rubio even mentoring Dunn. Dunn's presence certainly lowers Rubio's fantasy value heading into the new season. Jones' value will also take a hit, as it is very unlikely he repeats the 16 minutes per game that he enjoyed during his rookie season.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Wow, this will be a very different Thunder team. Most sports books already assume the NBA MVP battle is a two-horse race between Stephen Curry and new unquestioned lead dog Russell Westbrook. Personally, I'm betting on Westbrook. Westbrook, newly acquired Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson and Steven Adams are clear starters, leaving the four spot up for grabs.

Power Forward:Ersan Ilyasova, Joffrey Lauvergne, Enes Kanter, Domantas Sabonis

Ilyasova started 56 games last year for Detroit and Orlando and is thus penciled in as the starter for OKC. The Turkish Thunder (his nickname well before moving to OKC) could provide some much-needed outside shooting to help OKC spread the floor. Ilyasova and Kanter seemed poised to share the position, until a late August trade brought Joffrey Lauvergne to Oklahoma. That makes things pretty muddy, as all three have upside. Kanter and Lauvergne will both get minutes at power forward and center, and maybe Ilyasova sees time at small forward when the Thunder need quick buckets. Remember too that Kanter still has three years left on his contract, at roughly $23 million per year. Kanter will play and probably improve his 12.7 points, 8.1 boards per game from last year. The Lauvergne trade probably slows down the development of Sabonis and possibly encourages the exit of Mitch McGary.

Portland Trail Blazers

Portland tried to sign a few different big-name free agents but had to settle for Evan Turner, expecting the six-year pro to evolve from sixth-man extraordinaire to starting small forward. There are no position battles of concern in Portland, as they'll head into the season with Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Turner, Al-Farouq Aminu and Mason Plumlee set as the starters. Newly acquired Festus Ezeli and Shabazz Napier will join bench stalwarts Meyers Leonard and Allen Crabbe. The Train Blazers have high expectations after last year's surprise 44-win season.

Utah Jazz

Did you catch the three-team trade involving the Jazz that occurred just before the draft? Utah sent the 12th overall pick to Atlanta, Atlanta sent Jeff Teague to Indiana, and the Pacers sent 30-year-old vet George Hill to the Jazz. Suddenly, a position of weakness for Utah has turned into a log-jam. Starters Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert are set. But who will get them the ball?

Point Guard: George Hill, Dante Exum, Shelvin Mack, Raul Neto

Remember Exum, that mysterious, exciting teenager from Australia that no one had seen play, but everyone had to draft? He played in all 82 games his rookie season but then blew out his knee in a summer Australian National Team game. Well, Mr. Exum is now 21 years old and anxious to return to the court. With Hill in the fold, he'll have an excellent veteran to help mentor him along and remove a lot of the pressure. It's assumed that Hill will start as the Jazz ease Exum back into play. What's nice about Hill is he can play both guard spots, so if Exum shines early, Hill can play some at the two to make room.

The loser in all this new player merriment is Mack, who burst on the scene late last season to provide Utah with 28 games of 31+ minute ball, averaging a surprising 12.7 points, 5.3 assists and 1.3 made threes per game. Those numbers will certainly drop this season unless Utah can find a trade partner. Neto also lingers with the Jazz – quick, name how many starts he had last season. Don't peak. If you said "53," you are correct and you are watching WAY too much basketball. Regardless of the starts, Neto's offensive production was modest (he quickly gave way to Mack) and he'll have to fight for minutes this season.