As seen on www.fantasybasketballmoneyleagues.com:
These are the outdated rankings we discussed on the latest edition of the FakeRoundball Roundtable podcast. I posted this just in case anyone wanted to follow along as they listen.
These rankings are all based on rotisserie scoring format. They are not based on points leagues, head-to-head scoring or dynasty formats. Writing a list for those formats would drastically changed its complexion.
Without further ado, here is how I rank players for the 2013-2014 season:
- LeBron James – His incredible FG% mixed with the fact that he’s basically a point guard that rebounds like a center give him the slight edge
- Kevin Durant – Most people would take him number one overall and I couldn’t argue much
- Kevin Love – In the best shape of his career and I believe his injury was of the freak nature. Should go back to 22+ PPG, 14ish REB and 2+ 3PM
- James Harden – All around monster with darkhorse chance at scoring title
- Chris Paul – Will most likely lead league in assists with Rondo hurt along with great percentages and near league lead in steals. Not a lot to dislike
- Stephen Curry – Greatest shooter of this era will put up monster lines as long as the ankle holds
- Kyrie Irving – Elite scoring guard that still has upside to take his game up another notch
- John Wall – Averaged over 20 PPG after the All-Star break once he was healthy. Will produce nice numbers across the board with ability to lead guards in blocks as a nice perk
- Paul George – News that Granger will miss three weeks is great news for George owners. Will be a monster regardless but scoring could see small downtick if Danny ever comes back
- Serge Ibaka – The king of blocks will benefit greatly from Westbrook missing at least a month. Oh by the way, he has one of the sweetest 17 foot jumpers in the NBA
- Derrick Rose – Love him and looks like he’s back to his old self. Only thing that worries me is the fact that the Bulls will look to rest him a handfull of games to assure they don’t overwork him
- Anthony Davis – One of the few who will rebound, block and score with great percentages. Has the upside to finish well higher than this inflated position
- Nicolas Batum – One of those guys that’s a better fantasy player than reality. His mix of 3PM, AST, STL and BLK makes him worth a pick this high
- Al Jefferson – His ankle looks ready to roll for opening night
- DeMarcus Cousins – Finally getting along with a coach. If that continues, last year’s numbers may be his floor
- Marc Gasol – Could theoretically be ranked higher but scoring and rebounding upside just aren’t high enough despite his elite AST for a big man
- Al Horford – Will bore his owners to nearly 20 and 10 everynight
- Paul Millsap – Finally free of the Al Jefferson and Derrick Favors time-share, Millsap has big minutes all to himself for the first time in his career
- Carmelo Anthony – Scores a lot but has missed less than 11 games just once in the last five seasons
- LaMarcus Aldridge – Only player in basketball besides Durant to go 20+ PPG and 1+ BLK last season. Robin Lopez could eat up some of his rebounds but still as solid as they
- Damian Lillard – Hard to expect a guy who put up 19 PPG and 6.5 AST as a rookie to go through a sophomore slump. Don’t sleep on his excellent three point shooting ability either
- Mike Conley – Quietly puts up top 20 numbers just about every year because of the AST/STL/Percentages combo
- Monta Ellis – Dirk and Monta should help one another get open looks at the basket
- Kawhi Leonard – Extremely fantasy friendly game and I think Popovich wants him to take and run with the role as the second option in the offense moving forward
- Larry Sanders – Finished second in the NBA in blocks in just his first season starting and nearly put up a double-double for the year. Should at least get points over the double digit mark this season
- Derrick Favors – Utah didn’t mind letting go of Millsap and Al Jefferson because it’s about time this kid got unleashed
- Pau Gasol – Best passing big man in basketball will need to play like an All-Star for this team to make the playoffs. Will be without Kobe to begin the season and who knows when he’ll be back
- David Lee – First name 20, last name 10. Numbers will suffer slightly if Bogut ever gets completely healthy
- Kemba Walker – Improved his FG% by 6% from year one to year two. If efficiency can continue to improve, could easily move up on the board
- Joakim Noah – Bad groin and lingering plantar fasciitis have me worried there will be plenty of DNP’s. Love him otherwise
- Brook Lopez – Center that does everything great but never learned how to rebound
- Ricky Rubio – Sleeper pick to lead the league in assists
- Jeff Teague – Arrival of Dennis Schroeder doesn’t worry me as they’ve already said the two of them may play on the court at the same time
- Ty Lawson – Bad groin has him questionable for opener and solid backup PG Nate Robinson can ease help ease his minutes
- Kobe Bryant – No one knows when he’ll return but it will probably be soon because he’s Kobe Bryant
- Deron Williams – The Nets are going to take their sweet time resting Deron Williams’ ankle until it is 100%. That could be a little while
- Eric Bledsoe – All he needs is minutes to produce. He found a boatload of them in Phoenix
- Rudy Gay – Carmelo Anthony-lite added 20 pounds of muscle in the off-season. Could be poised to up his rebounding and paint scoring numbers with a bigger body
- Nikola Vucevic – Doesn’t have much more upside than last season but we were satisfied with those numbers
- Roy Hibbert – Don’t let his first half fooled you: he recovered in the second half to the tune of 15.7 PPG on 50.8% with 8.2 REB and 2.5 BLK. I expect those kinds of numbers to continue
- Thaddeus Young – Philadelphia is a wasteland so Young should get all the run he can handle
- O.J. Mayo – 20+ PPG absolutely within reach on an untalented Milwaukee team. Should spend plenty of time handling the ball too considering how unpolished Brandon Knight is
- Gordon Hayward – Babyface should be the team’s primary perimeter scorer and fills the stat sheet on a nightly basis
- Tony Parker – Won’t give you many threes or steals but will score and score efficiently
- Dirk Nowitzki – Obviously on the downturn of his career, Dirk can still give you his signature PTS/REB combo
- Jeff Green – Don’t forget 2008 when he averaged 16.5 PPG, 6.7 REB, 1.0 STL and 0.4 BLK. Also gives you over 1.0 3PM as a big man which is a nice touch
- Dwyane Wade – Likely will be rested at times and is declining every year
- Russell Westbrook – After having arthroscropic knee surgery, if you draft him it will be a waiting game. Not very many negatives when healthy
- Victor Oladipo – Rookie with fantasy game resembling that of Dwyane Wade in his prime. Question is how close he comes to his ceiling in year #1
- Brandon Jennings – Jennings’ jaw has literally been wired shut which will cause him to miss at least four regular season games. When he comes back, will be playing with most talented team he’s ever been a part of. I assume that means his efficiency will go up but his overall fantasy numbers may suffer some
- Blake Griffin – The first free throw killer on the list doesn’t kill you quite as much as Dwight but he doesn’t block as many shots or rebound as well either. Easier to get out of a FT% hole with Blake than Dwight though
- Dwight Howard – You basically can’t finish first if you own Dwight Howard in rotisserie formats. You probably will finish in the money however with his combination of FG%, PTS, REB and BLK. Draft at your own risk and see if you can become the first to not finish last in FT% while owning him
- Greg Monroe – Addition of Josh Smith should lower his numbers a decent amount but still a good player
- Josh Smith – Another FT% killer that should have drops across the board playing alongside Monroe and Drummond
- Bradley Beal – Solid source of threes but hard to put much higher after 14 PPG in rookie season with full workload
- Goran Dragic – Not 100% sure how to feel about him playing alongside another PG (Eric Bledsoe). Team wants to play faster and have Dragic run the break so there’s that
- Tobias Harris – Emerged at end of last season, expect it to continue into this year
- Tim Duncan – Old faithful nearly at the end of the line. Missing plenty of games a virtual lock
- Kyle Lowry – Game is roto friendly as he does literally everything but playing with a splint on his shooting hand for at least six weeks which should effect his numbers
- Chris Bosh – Wildy inconsistent but will no doubt have his share monster games especially when Wade misses his fair share of games
- George Hill – If you miss on all the top point guards, not a terrible alternative but doesn’t assist enough for anyone’s liking
- JaVale McGee – This athletic freak should have the best year of his career now that the coaching staff seems committed to get him starter’s minutes on a nightly basis
- Jonas Valanciunas – I think Val takes the next step up this season but still doesn’t make him elite. His blocks will be the main reason you take him this highly as he could easily go over 2.0 per game
- Andre Drummond – Love his game but the 37% FT is hard to overcome in rotisserie. Defensive monster for those who decide to draft him
- Jrue Holiday – Should see downtick in assists and points considering Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon like to dominate the ball
- Ryan Anderson – Big part of the rotation despite ritualistically coming off bench and coach Monty Williams said he’s comfortable with a small lineup including Anderson and Davis in at the same time
- Kevin Martin – Great source of points, threes and especially free throw shooting with a great percentage at a high volume. Needs to stay healthy which is a crapshoot, but reunited with Coach Adelman who he seemed to like playing with and is committed to him as part of the offense
- Enes Kanter – Kanter’s per-36 minute numbers resemble those of Gorat/Vucevic before they received a full workload so expect big things as a starter
- Spencer Hawes – No Noel means more of the same for a guy who averaged 30+ minutes per game, 12.5 PPG, 8.5 REB, 1.5 BLK and almost 1.0 3PM after the All-Star break
- Chandler Parsons – Points aren’t his specialty but unique combo of 3PM, REB, AST, STL and even some blocks is intriguing
- Zach Randolph – Double-double machine but future with Memphis is unclear and sometimes tends to give half an effort when things don’t go his way. Tends to slip in drafts, however, so don’t let that happen
- Luol Deng – Thibodeau will no doubt run Deng into the ground yet again this season. Must note that Thibs says he plans to limit Noah and Deng’s minutes some to keep them healthy
- Andre Iguodala – I expect a hit in production considering all the talent that needs minutes in Golden State. May produce a triple double or two but I don’t expect much scoring this season at all
- Tyreke Evans – His skill set should help Hornets’ playoff hopes but not quite enough 3PM to make him a fantasy stud
- Klay Thompson – Same concerns as Iguodala but I expect his offense to be more consistent
- Danny Green – Three point machine showed you his Jekyll and Hyde nature in last year’s NBA Finals
- Jimmy Butler – Earned his right to start this season and will get huge minutes. He will get steals in bunches along with a fair share of points/3PM and blocks. Serious candidate for a breakout season
- Gerald Henderson – A guard that doesn’t assist much but the points and steals with solid percentages make him well worth owning
- Ersan Ilyasova – Sprained ankle has him questionable for the opener but his double-double potential combined with three pointers is always fascinating
- Rajon Rondo – Tore his ACL last January so it could be a while
- David West – His down 2011 season seems distant after another signature West season
- Tiago Splitter – Downside of career for the big three in San Antonio means Splitter is on the way up
- Kevin Garnett – Garnett is shell of his former self which is still useful because his percentages are still great but will sit whenever Jason Kidd sees necessary
- Wilson Chandler – Hamstring injury will cost him at least the opener but Gallinari isn’t expected back until at least mid-way through the season so big minutes on the horizon
- Amir Johnson – Poor preseason doesn’t bother me because he produced nice numbers last season including over 1.0 STL and BLK with elite FG%
- Jose Calderon – Won’t put up big numbers but his percentages are outstanding despite very few shots and should give you plenty of assists
- Isaiah Thomas – In my opinion, Thomas is still the best point guard in Sacramento but will probably take a while for him to prove it to the coaching staff………just like every season
- Kyle Korver – Elite three point shooter sees enough minutes to give you just enough of everything else to start him on a weekly basis
- Wesley Matthews – Drafting C.J. McCollum was a bummer but he’s out for a while and Matthews has been cleared for the opener after suffering an irregular heartbeat
- DeMar DeRozan – I’ll gladly take the points but needs to start hitting threes to truly move up in the fantasy world
- Nikola Pekovic – Nightly double-double threat doesn’t add the defensive stats we love as fantasy owners
- Evan Turner – Assists and steals are the name of his game as he doesn’t score all that much or do it efficiently
- Paul Pierce – Pierce’s watered down numbers are still damn good but the Nets are so deep he won’t need to lead the team on a nightly basis
- Raymond Felton – If you missed on point guard early, Felton is nearly the last useful one on the board
- Eric Gordon – Can never stay healthy but has flashed before. If he could ever play 82 games, would be a top 60 producer
- Marcin Gortat – Projections don’t change much in move from Phoenix to Washington
- J.R. Smith – Coming off knee surgery and an unrepeatable season so if you’re expecting a repeat you’ll be disappointed
- Alec Burks – Numbers all across the board make him a sneaky sleeper pick
- Brandon Knight – Point guard that doesn’t assist like one but if he took his game to the next level it wouldn’t surprise me
- Kenneth Faried – J.J. Hickson‘s arrival caps his upside but still one of the most exciting players in the game
Guys who just missed the cut: Tyson Chandler, Aaron Afflalo, Tristan Thompson, Steve Nash, Carlos Boozer, DeAndre Jordan, Dion Waiters, Caron Butler, Andrew Bogut, Grevis Vasquez, Jameer Nelson, Reggie Jackson, Markieff Morris and Miles Plumlee
Let me know your thoughts on my updated fantasy basketball top 100 rankings by commenting on this article or hitting me up on twitter.
Author: Ricky Sanders, @RSanders85
