Somewhat like Major League Baseball but without an altered ball, most NBA players almost have to provide some 3-pointers to offer big value in the fantasy world. In baseball, power is everywhere and rostering a hitter who does not possess much of it is a problem. Well, in fantasy hoops -- and, of course, it is all contextual -- it certainly helps when a big man who rebounds and blocks shots can also wander out behind the 3-point line and drain long-range field goals.
Sure, I will still draft Andre Drummond and Rudy Gobert early on because they are truly special rebounders who provide other stats, but Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic differentiate themselves in the first round -- and help fantasy managers in later ones not chase other stats -- with big-man numbers and modest 3-pointers. Hey, every little bit of statistical and positional versatility is a plus, right?
I used to annually feature Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic in this space, and then he started hitting 3-pointers and everyone else caught up to the fact he was underrated, and now he is going in the second round of ESPN ADP. Oh well, he is still a worthy pick in that round and yes, he keeps finding his way onto my teams, whether they are mock drafts or not.
We do try to look past the first few rounds for players who belong on my 2019 version of the "Do Draft" list, however. This is the opposite of the recently published "Do Not Draft" list, which featured players such as Chris Paul, Kristaps Porzingis and several new LA Clippers who I believe are and will continue to be selected a bit too prematurely in ESPN average live drafts. This list below is for the players who I think are not valued well enough, and 3-pointers are a theme, yet again.