There were a number of incredibly disappointing fantasy players this season, but I’m going to dissect the biggest letdowns. Starting with Brooke Lopez, here we go!
Analysis: Going into this season, fantasy owners had some pretty high hopes for the better Lopez brother. Over his rookie and sophomore seasons Lopez was very consistent and showed the potential to be one of the better big men in the league. There were two serious flaws in his game that really hurt his value and caused him to be such a bust this season. Lopez seemingly forgot how to rebound, averaging 6 boards a game. That’s a drop of 2.8 boards from last season. I don’t think anybody could have predicted that, when they drafted him. Losing that many boards when you expected his boards to climb was absolutely painful. Lopez’s assists and blocks were down too hurting his value even more. The bottom line is that Lopez was expected to have a breakout year, or in the very least make a substantial jump, but he did neither. He improved his scoring numbers, but lost out in his percentages a little. The minor jump in scoring does not account for the drop-offs in the other categories mentioned.
Next Season Projection: I think the addition of Deron Williams will help Lopez find his game once again. Playing with one of the best players in the game and undoubtedly having a better win percentage will keep Lopez motivated and productive. I expect next season to be the breakout season we were expecting this year. After this bad season Lopez might fall quite low in your fantasy draft, be sure to pick him up when he does.