The NBA season begins in about a month, which means it's time to start thinking about which players to consider in fantasy basketball drafts. Whether the stakes are large sums of cash, who cleans whose house for a month, or simply bragging rights, there's nothing more exhillerating than claiming victory amongst office co-workers, family or friends.
Before the fantasy basketball season begins, fantasy team owners should consider how to prepare for their league draft. It's crucial to first understand how the league settings are constructed. Does the league use rotisserie style scoring, head-to-head, points based, or other? The players owners choose to draft might greatly depend on those criterion. Click here for more information on the various types of fantasy basketball scoring systems.
Here are the top 20 players to consider for rotisserie style leagues that use points, rebounding, assists, steals, blocks, threes made, turnovers, field goal percentage and free throw percentage.
- Kobe Bryant - He's leaner, meaner and ready to lead fantasy teams to victory.
- Dirk Nowitzki - Like Marion, his stock might not be so high if turnovers aren't factored.
- Shawn Marion - He fills a stat sheet like none other, while contributing great percentages and low turnovers. However, because he might be traded, his value is decreased.
- LeBron James - Burnout and free throw percentage might be a concern.
- Kevin Garnett - Points might decrease, but boards, assists and field goal percentage could see slight boosts.
- Gilbert Arenas - High turnovers, but fills a stat sheet in other areas.
- Steve Nash - Great assists, great percentages.
- Jason Kidd - Triple-double threat every night.
- Amare Stoudemire - He's healthy and should be considered one of the league's top fantasy big men.
- Rashard Lewis - Should be a monster in Orlando.
- Dwayne Wade - Great stats, but high turnovers and serious injury concerns might be enough to pass on him this high.
- Pau Gasol - He's healthy and has two great passers feeding him the ball in Mike Conley and Juan Carlos Navarro.
- Yao Ming - Incredible percentages, great scoring, boards and blocks, but near top of league for turnovers and serious injury concerns.
- Chris Paul - Assuming he's healthy, he's one of the league's top point guards.
- Marcus Camby - He's been relatively healthy the last couple of seasons and is great for boards, blocks and steals.
- Tim Duncan - He's still one of the league's best post players.
- Vince Carter - With Krstic and Magloire rebounding, Carter should have another big season.
- Josh Smith - A small forward who blocks like a big man.
- Andre Iguodala - He's the new "AI" in town and brings with him a versatile game.
- Chris Bosh - Nice, solid big man, but comes with injury concerns and not enough blocks.
