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Despite being traded to Cleveland in the offseason, Niang figures to play a very similar role for his new team. Having never ranked inside the top 150 in standard leagues, Niang serves primarily as a floor-spacing depth piece. He played 78 games in the 2022-23 season, averaging 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 three-pointers in 19.4 minutes per night. Although the Cavaliers will need him on the floor, he will be competing with the recently-acquired Max Strus, as well as Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade. Now aged 30, Niang probably has the lowest ceiling of all those names, outside of possibly Wade. All things considered, Niang should be viewed as nothing more than a potential streaming candidate when in need of some quick perimeter production.
Niang saw the biggest role of his career last season with Philadelphia following four seasons in Utah. He saw 22.8 minutes per game and averaged 9.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists while notably hitting 2.1 triples on 40.3 percent shooting. While he still may be an every-game rotation player this season, he has more competition for minutes, as, during the offseason, the 76ers brought in P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, who both play forward. Considering he ranked just 277th in per-game value last year in a better situation, Niang can be avoided even in most deep formats this season.
Niang held a small but consistent rotational role with the Jazz last season. He appeared in all 72 games and averaged 6.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 16.0 minutes while notably shooting 42.5 percent from three -- his third straight season over 40 percent. In the offseason, he opted to join the 76ers on a two-year, $6.7 million deal. Niang again figures to be the primary backup at power forward -- this time to Tobias Harris rather than Royce O'Neale. Ultimately, it's unlikely anything changes in terms of Niang's fantasy value, and he'll only be relevant in very deep leagues.
Niang returned for his fourth NBA season overall and third season with Utah in 2019-20 and had a career year. Across his first two seasons with the Jazz, he topped out at 8.7 minutes but saw that playing time increase significantly to 14.0 minutes in 2019-20. He also achieved career highs in points (5.9), rebounds (1.9), threes (1.4) and assists (0.7). While Utah dealt with the absence of Mike Conley to start the season and the loss of Bojan Bogdanovic to end it, Niang played consistent minutes throughout, giving a good indication that he'll likely remain a regular part of the team's rotation in 2020-21. Niang should see similar playing time this season, which will likely lead to similar production. He's not a guy to draft in 12-team leagues this season, but he can be a viable fantasy contributor in deeper leagues if he maintains his 2019-20 pace.
Following a storied career at Iowa State, Niang was nabbed by the Pacers in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft. While not an athletic specimen, the 6-foot-9 Niang impressed the Pacers in summer league contests and training camp with his playmaking skills, but he generally struggled to translate that ability into meaningful production as a rookie. Niang went on to appear in just 23 contests at the NBA level, averaging just 4.0 minutes per game while shuttling frequently between the Pacers and the G League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants. With Niang failing to make the strides the Pacers had hoped for in his development as a power forward, he was waived in July to free up roster space. Golden State inked Niang to a one-year, partially guaranteed deal in August, but the 24-year-old again appears destined for extensive time in the G League in his second professional season, this time with the Santa Cruz Warriors.