. But he's easily the highest-upside player on the roster, so Orlando should give him every opportunity to operate as a primary playmaker.
. But he's easily the highest-upside player on the roster, so Orlando should give him every opportunity to operate as a primary playmaker.
Fantasy-wise, Smith has top-100 upside in 2022-23, but his ceiling will ultimately be determined by whether he can supplement his scoring, rebounding and 3-point shooting with adequate defensive numbers .Unlike Smith, Murray was on the short list of rookies who definitively boosted their stock at Summer League. Murray topped 20 points in all four of his appearances, lending credence to the notion he’ll be able to hit the ground running in the NBA after a dominant sophomore year at Iowa.
With all of that said, I'm not fully convinced Ivey will be a startable fantasy asset as a rookie. As noted above with Mathurin, it's difficult for rookie guards – especially shooting guards – to return top-100 value early on. Playing alongside Cunningham, Ivey likely won't generate a ton of assists – he averaged only 3.1 per game as the No. 1 option for Purdue – and he was never a high-steals player in college.