Dwight Powell

Powell's starting center role is expected to be gone this season. JaVale McGee will reportedly be getting the nod at the five while Powell and Christian Wood come off the bench. Powell played in all 82 games last season and started 71 of them. Without the ability to adequately stretch the floor, it is unlikely he will play many minutes at power forward, either. Last season, he averaged 8.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.5 blocks in 21.9 minutes. Powell is still an effective lob threat when he and Luka Doncic run the pick-and-roll, shooting 67.1 percent from the field. He also provides solid rebounding, but his mediocre defense leaves him on the outside looking in, as McGee is slightly better at the things Powell excels at while Wood is a better all-around scorer. Unless injuries clear up the rotation ahead of him, it is unlikely Powell will receive anywhere near the amount of playing time he did last season.

After three straight years of playing 21-plus minutes per game, Powell slipped to just 16.7 in 2020-21. Powell started 37 of 40 games in 2019-20, but watched Maxi Kleber start 40 games, mostly at center, last season. As expected, the reduced playing time resulted in diminished counting stats for Powell. His 5.9 points per game last year were a five-year low. The Dallas lineup hasn't changed much for 2021-22, with the only meaningful roster alteration being Reggie Bullock replacing Josh Richardson. That means the 30-year-old Powell is probably looking at another year of modest bench-player production. As a result, Powell's current fantasy upside is limited.

Powell was in the midst of putting together another solid season at center for the Mavericks before he tore his Achilles in late January. He averaged 9.4 points on 63.8 percent shooting, 5.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 combined steals-plus-blocks in 26.5 minutes, acting as a pick-and-roll threat with Luka Doncic. All indications are that Powell should be ready to go for the 2020-21 campaign. Assuming that's the case, he should occupy a similar role as he did last season, though it's possible he'll see somewhat of a minutes decrease given how good the Mavericks looked with Kristaps Porzingis at center. Ultimately, Powell is probably worth a late-round flier in standard fantasy leagues but is probably more suited for deeper formats.

The 45th overall pick out of Stanford in the 2014 NBA Draft, Powell's role has been consistently growing year-to-year. He saw a career-high 21.6 minutes per game last season, and he drew 22 starts across 77 appearances. While Powell's season numbers (10.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.5 APG) don't jump off the page, it's important to look at what he accomplished as a starter. In his 22 starts, he averaged 14.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and a combined 1.7 blocks/steals. Maybe most impressive is his efficiency, with Powell shooting 64.6 percent from the field as a starter, plus 44.4 percent from three and 73.8 percent from the charity stripe. With DeAndre Jordan signing in Brooklyn during the offseason, Powell figures to transition into a full-time starting role during 2019-20. As a result, his fantasy value should hit a new high. He's a relatively low-usage player, but will be a strong contributor in the field-goal and free-throw percentage categories as a big man.

Powell was in and out of the starting lineup all year for the Mavericks in 2017-18, as the frontcourt rotation changed on a night-to-night basis depending on the opposing matchup. That said, it still allowed Powell to put together the most productive season of his career. The 6-foot-11 big man averaged 8.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals across 21.2 minutes, while shooting 59.3 percent from the field. That didn't put him on the radar in the majority of Fantasy leagues, but for basketball purposes alone, he was a solid option for Dallas that could play multiple frontcourt spots. Despite his efforts, Powell's potential upside took a significant hit this offseason, with the Mavericks opting to sign star center DeAndre Jordan in free agency. Jordan will immediately slot into the starting five, which means Powell will translate back into a full-time reserve role. Look for Powell's workload to take a slight hit as he works behind the likes of Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Harrison Barnes, so he can once again be avoided in the bulk of leagues.

Powell continued to progress during his third year in Dallas, averaging a career-high 17.3 minutes as a key reserve in the frontcourt. For the most part, he was stuck behind Dirk Nowitzki and Harrison Barnes at the power forward spot, although he occasionally helped out as a small-ball center. He finished the season averaging 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds, while shooting 51.5 percent from the field. That translated to a slight increase in his scoring totals, but he failed to progress as a three-point shooter and still remains somewhat limited offensively. With the Mavericks bringing back nearly everyone in the frontcourt from a year ago, Powell's role isn't expected to change much. Dirk Nowitzki is only getting older and could have his workload scaled back, although that shouldn't result in any drastic changes for Powell. He'll likely remain one of the top reserves at both power forward and center, but that still only affords him minutes in the upper-teens or low-20's on most nights. For that reason, Powell's Fantasy upside will continue to be nearly non-existent in anything but the deepest of leagues.

In his second NBA season, Powell emerged as a consistent role player off the bench, averaging 5.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game. The Mavericks rewarded the 25-year-old with a four-year, $37 million contract in the offseason, essentially offering a vote of confidence in him as a building block for the future. Powell is expected to step into a larger role in 2016-17, but he'll still be stuck behind veteran Dirk Nowitzki at the power forward spot. Nowitzki's production has yet to drop off, and until that happens, Powell may have a difficult time carving out high-end minutes. However, if Nowitzki finally regresses this season or sustains an injury, Powell's fantasy stock would increase significantly.

The 24-year-old Powell joined the Mavericks mid-season as a part of the failed Rajon Rondo trade. After appearing in just five games with Boston, Powell appeared in 24 games with Dallas and made regular appearances for the team's D-League affiliate. Overall, he averaged 3.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, 0.3 assists, and 0.2 blocks per game in 10 minutes of playing time in his rookie season. Powell finished the year shooting a respectable 46 percent from the field and 76 percent from the free-throw line. He did turn some heads this summer as he was named to the All-NBA Summer League Second Team after averaging 18.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 steal in six starts for Dallas' summer league squad. Powell also joined the Canadian National Team over the summer, gaining valuable experience off the bench. He remains a project in his second season in the league, and the Mavericks have encouraged him to extend his range to earn an increased role in the system. Powell should see a bump in minutes with Dallas' depth behind Dirk Nowitzki looking a bit thin.

Dwight Powell was the taken with the 45th pick overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2014 NBA Draft. He was subsequently traded to Cleveland along with Brendan Haywood for Scotty Hopson and cash. The 23-year-old power forward spent four years with the Stanford Cardinal where he led the team in scoring as a junior with 15 points per game and was second on the team last year at 14 points. Powell has a nicely diversified game and can score in a variety of ways. His range didn't extend well to three-point land in college, and he was only 10-of-39 (26 percent) on three-pointers as a senior. He had four double-doubles in 2013-14 and scored 28 points (Nov. 11 against BYU and Feb. 1 vs. Arizona State). As competition got stiffer, fouls became a problem for Powell. In the last four games of the season, he accrued four fouls in each game and fouled out of the win over New Mexico in the NCAA tournament with just three points. The Canadian will join fellow countryman Tristan Thompson in the Cavaliers' frontcourt but will likely spend the majority of his season in the D-League with the Canton Charge.