Welcome back to NBA Fantasy Breakout – the 10-part series where I present you with the players who I think are going to have breakout fantasy seasons. In case you missed them, here are my previous picks:
#6 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist SF Charlotte Hornets
So back to second year players we go. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist turned 20 this month. That alone should clue you in to why I feel that he has massive upside as a NBA player and a fantasy performer for this upcoming season. How many players at 19 can start in the NBA? Not only did Kidd-Gilchrist start but he held his own as a rookie. There really is only one weakness in his game at this point; the ability to knock down an outside jumper. This is glaringly obvious from 22 percent from three last year and 26 percent in his one year at Kentucky. The thing about Kidd-Gilchrist is that he is a mature enough young man to realize this is not his strong point. He only attempted nine threes all of last year. I would imagine that most of those were late in the shot clock or end of quarter shots. Below are his rookie season stats and his per 36’s as well:
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 2012-13 Statistics
| G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | %FT | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| 78 | 77 | 26.0 | 3.6 | 7.9 | 0.46 | 0.75 | 5.8 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 9.0 |
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 2012-13 Per 36 Statistics
| G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | %FT | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| 78 | 77 | 36.0 | 5.0 | 10.9 | 0.46 | 0.75 | 8.1 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 12.5 |
Kidd-Gilchrist will provide you with a little of everything in terms of fantasy except, as mentioned, three point shots. He only played 26 minutes per game as a rookie. Even without vast improvement in his game from last year he should be a guy that you can start every night in fantasy if he can play in the 36 minute a game range. Though I expect him to show major improvements this season, especially with his jumper. Again, he just turned 20. He has a reputation for playing all out all the time and I fully believe that he has been in the gym shooting 1000’s of jumpers a day throughout the off-season. Kidd-Gilchrist is going on average 142nd in fantasy drafts. I believe that this is way too late and if you hold out from drafting him earlier and lose out, you will probably regret it by the time fantasy playoffs roll in.
The #5 player will be up tomorrow.
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References: www.basketball-reference.com
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