Fantasy Basketball Exit Interviews: What's next for the 4 play-in teams that missed the postseason?

Watch: Norman Powell is an unrestricted free agent. Herro is owed $33 million in the final year of his contract. Expect the Heat to be aggressive in the trade market to get what they can for Herro and do their best to upgrade the roster to appease Adebayo.

Los Angeles Clippers (42-40)

The Clippers turned their season around after trading James Harden and Ivica Zubac, finishing 42-40 as the 9-seed before falling to the Golden State Warriors 126-121 in the play-in. They led by 13 in the fourth quarter before Stephen Curry took over, finishing with 35 points and burying a dagger 3 with 50 seconds left, as only Steph does.

• The real story was Kawhi Leonard, who turned in one of the most reliable campaigns of his career. Top five in 9-category leagues, top 10 in both High Score and points formats. He was healthy and efficient despite his increased shot volume. Certainly worthy of a second-round pick, albeit risky.
• The cap situation is interesting. John Collins is an unrestricted free agent. Club options for Brook Lopez, Jordan Miller, Bogdan Bogdanović and Kobe Sanders. Derrick Jones Jr. is up for an extension. Big opportunity ahead for Yanic Konan Niederhauser.
• Darius Garland was slow to find his footing, but looked good by the play-in. The handle, twitchiness and tough shot-making were there. Think he’ll be a good PG with or without Kawhi in fantasy heading into next year.
• Bennedict Mathurin is a restricted free agent. I doubt the Clippers are matching offers beyond $25M per year. His numbers were pretty consistent between Indy and L.A., with slight gains in assists and steals and a drop-off in 3s and efficiency since joining the Clippers.

Watch: Leonard has one year and $50 million left on his deal. If he re-signs, he's a first-round value who will likely go later in drafts next season. The Aspiration situation doesn’t seem worrisome until it does.

Golden State Warriors (37-45)

The Dubs live in the play-in. Even after a 37-45 record, they made it for their third straight season. The Warriors beat the Clippers 126-121 to stay alive, then ran into Jalen Green and the Phoenix Suns. Green dropped 36 points and Curry was shut out all night, losing to the Suns 111-96.

• Curry will take the offseason off to rehab his right knee. After only seeing him for 43 games this season, the injury risk is too high at his age to see him as more than an early-to-mid second-round pick.
• Gui Santos broke out. He’ll be a draftable guy next year, along with Brandin Podziemski. For all the hate on Podz, he gets around 5 boards and 4 assists a night and has upped his scoring in every season.
• Jimmy Butler gets a mulligan. Draymond Green turns 36 in the fall. He’s looking undraftable. Kristaps Porziņģis is an unrestricted free agent with a heightened injury risk in fantasy.

Watch: Expect Golden State to be active in free agency and the trade market. Any addition reshapes the fantasy outlook beyond Curry and Butler.

Charlotte Hornets (44-38)

The Hornets were the hottest team in basketball coming into the play-in tournament. Unfortunately, they fell short, getting blown out by the Magic 121-90 for the 8th seed in the East. The Magic went up 38-16 after one quarter and it never got closer than 20 the rest of the way. This squad is loaded with talent, and its young core has proven it can be a problem going forward.

• LaMelo Ball staying healthy all year was the foundational win. He was still a top-50 asset despite playing fewer minutes. The late-season burst showed what the ceiling looks like when he's locked in. He’s still a third-round type of player with upside for more if he plays 70 games again. Most don’t realize that he was second in total 3s (272) this season, in just 28 minutes per game.
• Kon Knueppel had one of the best rookie seasons in history — 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game while leading the league in total 3s and sporting a 63% TS is tough. He's a top-50 target next season.
• Brandon Miller is that consistent fifth- or sixth-round wing who makes sense in fantasy. Coby White's sixth-man role looks good on him. The value isn’t as high as Chicago, but he’s still worth drafting.
• Moussa Diabaté's defense is already there. Improving his offensive game would move him up the list of young bigs who could be next up in fantasy. He was a top-80 guy in 9-cat over the final two months of the season.

Watch: Miles Bridges is on an expiring deal and could be moved this summer. If Charlotte gets creative there, it opens rotation minutes elsewhere. Kon's development arc is the most exciting thing on this roster heading into next year.