Maxi Kleber

Kleber is an excellent complement to Luka Doncic in the Mavericks' lineup. His floor spacing and solid defense allow him to play power forward and even small-ball center. Last season, he averaged 7.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 blocks in 24.6 minutes. His three-point shooting was down to only 32.5 percent, but he has been an above-average outside shooter throughout his career. Kleber shot 47.6 percent from three on 4.5 attempts over 14 playoff games. Due to this, he should progress back towards his normal shooting percentage of 35 to 40 percent from three. With the additions of Christian Wood and Javale McGee, he might see a slight decrease in his minutes. However, if he can shoot a high percentage from three, he will find minutes due to his floor spacing. Kleber will be a viable option in deeper leagues that value three-point shooting, blocks, and rebounding.

Kleber continued to occupy a sixth-man role in the frontcourt for the Mavericks last season. He's also been a great insurance policy for when Kristaps Porzingis suffers an injury. He saw 26.8 minutes per game last season and averaged 7.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 combined steals-plus-blocks. That led to him ranking 194th in per-game fantasy production. Kleber's role shouldn't change dramatically heading into 2021-22. However, there's a chance for a slight decrease, as the Mavericks added Moses Brown and Reggie Bullock during the offseason, who could potentially steal a few minutes from Kleber. Ultimately, Kleber is a low-usage offensive option who gets a bump when players ahead of him are injured, so he doesn't serve much of a use in anything but deep fantasy formats. In a best ball format, it could make sense to draft Kleber if you also drafted Porzingis earlier.

The German big man continued to improve in his third career NBA season, posting career highs across the board. While he started in just 21 of his 74 games, he played 25.5 minutes per game, up significantly from his 21.2 minutes the previous season. His points per game jumped from 6.8 to 9.1, corresponding to a jump from 11.6 to 12.8 on a per-36-minute basis. Kleber's usage rate remained quite low at 13.9 percent, but his shot breakdown and effectiveness changed. He shot 4.3 three-pointers per game, up from 3.1 in 2018-19, and increased his percentage from beyond the arc from 35.3 percent to 37.3 percent. That doesn't appear to be a fluke but rather a reflection of an overall improvement in his shooting stroke, as his effectiveness at the free-throw line jumped significantly for the second straight season, coming in at 84.9 percent. His non-scoring contributions were modest, as his 5.2 rebounds per game ranked just fifth on the team, but a 6-foot-10 big man with his ability to knock down threes at a high clip should remain a useful rotation player going forward.

Kleber recorded career highs in points (6.8), rebounds (4.6), combined blocks/steals (1.6) and threes (1.1) across 21.2 minutes in his second season with Dallas. The big man defends well, can stretch the floor with his three-point shooting and can play forward or center. Those abilities landed him a four-year, $35 million extension this offseason to stay with the Mavericks. Though Kleber played the most minutes of his career last season, his role may shrink in year three given the acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis. Kleber will battle Dwight Powell for the starting center job, but Powell seems to have the inside track. Kleber could see more run if Porzingis isn't fully healthy, but for now, the former seems to be the odd man out in the frontcourt. As a result, he can likely go undrafted in standard leagues.

Kleber surprisingly pushed for a sizable role in the frontcourt as a rookie. He picked up 36 starts across 72 games, though that didn't necessarily turn into standard league production for Fantasy purposes. Kleber still only averaged 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds across 16.8 minutes. Looking forward to the 2018-19 season, Kleber could find playing time even harder to come by. The Mavericks added star center DeAndre Jordan this offseason and also bring back Dwight Powell and Dirk Nowitzki in the frontcourt. In addition, Harris Barnes often gets run at the power forward position, so Kleber is likely only going to get spot minutes for much of the year. Go ahead and avoid Kleber for Fantasy purposes in his second season.