Fantasy basketball: 4 breakout candidates ready to take a leap

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PG Elfrid Payton, Pelicans

Elfrid Payton has maintained fantasy relevance by dishing out 6.4 assists per game for his career. That's impressive considering the hodgepodge of talent he played with on the Orlando Magic for most of his 300 career outings. Imagine what Payton's assist totals will look like now that he'll be lobbing the ball to Anthony Davis on the fastbreak.

Beyond assists, however, Payton's offensive contributions have been a work in progress, especially from deep; he's connected on just 29.8 percent of his 3-point attempts for his career. Some are holding out hope that sheering his notably front-heavy hairdo will improve his accuracy, but that seems far-fetched.

Payton is already a plus steals threat, but the defensive presences of Jrue Holiday and Davis will allow him to gamble more often without completely blowing up the Pelicans' defense. That should lead to more steals, and, in turn, easy scoring and assist opportunities for him in transition.

theScore Ranking: 85 Overall, PG30
FantasyPros ADP: 75 Overall, PG30

SG/SF Tim Hardaway Jr., Knicks

After Kristaps Porzingis went down with a torn ACL in early February, Tim Hardaway Jr. averaged 18.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, one steal, and 2.4 made 3-pointers over his final 24 appearances. Someone is going to have to carry the New York Knicks' offense with Kristaps Porzingis' season up in the air. THJ is the logical beneficiary of the Unicorn's prolonged absence.

Hardaway Jr.'s competition for perimeter scoring touches comes mostly in the form of lottery busts (Emmanuel Mudiay, Trey Burke), veteran role players (Courtney Lee), and still-developing projects (Frank Ntilikina). He'll effectively operate as the Knicks' score-first point guard for long stretches.

With Hardaway Jr. just one season into the four-year, $71-million contract he signed last summer, the Knicks have no reason to hold the volume scorer back.

theScore Ranking: 50 Overall, SG20
FantasyPros ADP: 84 Overall, SG28

SF Taurean Prince, Hawks

Taurean Prince helped more than a few fantasy owners to league victory last year. Over his final 31 games, the Atlanta Hawks forward put up 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.8 3-pointers per game. In one four-game stretch, which included two playoff teams in the Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks, Prince averaged 30.8 points, eight rebounds, and 4.3 assists. Simply put, he was an absolute monster down the stretch.

Last year's leading Hawks scorer, Dennis Schroder, was shipped out in the Carmelo Anthony salary dump. The team effectively replaced Schroder with rookie Trae Young, but the turnover-prone Oklahoma product is likely a few seasons away from really being trusted to run the first-team offense. First-year head coach Lloyd Pierce could look to Prince to shoulder the offensive burden as a point forward while Young acclimates to the NBA.

theScore Ranking: 64 Overall, SF21
FantasyPros ADP: 89 Overall, SF28

PF/C Myles Turner, Pacers

As the Indiana Pacers made waves last season, thanks in large part to the revelation of Victor Oladipo, center Myles Turner took a step back, seeing his points, rebounds, and blocks per game fall after setting new career highs in 2016-17. Still, there's plenty to like about Turner and reason to think that his own fantasy breakout could be around the corner.

Despite upping his 3-point attempts from 1.4 per game in Year 2 to 2.4 per game last year, Turner's shooting percentage from beyond the arc improved to a career-high 35.7 percent on the season. Though he came into the league as an interior-minded center, it's grown increasingly likely that Turner could shine as a stretch five.

On the defensive end, look for the 22-year-old's block totals to rebound closer to the 2.1 per game average he recorded in 2016-17. With a full season to improve his defensive chemistry with Oladipo, Turner should have more success in cutting off perimeter players at the rim.

Look for Turner to set a new career-high in scoring - more than 15 points per game - and contribute solid rebounding numbers and great block totals, as well as great 3-point totals from the center position. If he puts it all together, he can absolutely finish the year as a top-40 fantasy player.

theScore Ranking: 66 Overall, C22
FantasyPros ADP: 58 Overall, C18