NBA Fantasy Basketball Report
Midseason fantasy basketball player analysis
NBA fantasy basketball owners are just about midway through their seasons, and Suite101 is on the spot, with our review of the Top 10 fantasy basketball players.
Whenever reading any sort of ranking of NBA players offered by an NBA fantasy basketball site or magazine, it is crucial to understand that there are many kinds of NBA fantasy basketball leagues with different scoring structures.
Depending on what scoring structure your fantasy basketball leagues use, you might not find such rankings very helpful. For instance, if you are participating in a rotisserie style league, you need to pay close attention to what STAT CATs, or statistical categories, the league is set up for. A player’s fantasy basketball value can rise or fall depending on what statistics are factored in.
This being said, here are Suite101's picks for the Top 10 NBA fantasy basketball players so far. It’s based on what each player has done so far this season, what they’ve done lately and potential for the rest of the season:
- Shawn Marion, Phoenix Suns: Even with Amare Stoudemire healthy, Marion covers enough STAT CATs to make a major impact on your NBA fantasy basketball team.
- Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timber Wolves: He’s thrilled that the NBA has returned to using the old ball, and Garnett's numbers reflect that.
- Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards: An argument could be made that he’s number one on this list if your league doesn’t factor turnovers. Gilbert Arenas is having an NBA MVP season.
- Lebron James, Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron's numbers down across the board from last season, but down for LeBron James is huge in NBA fantasy basketball leagues.
- Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers: Despite missing some games early in the season, Kobe is back and just as lethal as ever.
- Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns: Once again, Steve Nash is an early candidate for the NBA MVP award, which would be his third straight. What’s so scary is that his points, assists and three point shooting has improved from last year!
- Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets: Every year before the season starts, NBA fantasy basketball experts claim Jason Kidd’s numbers will start to decline heavily as his minutes decline. Yet, Kidd is averaging slightly more minutes this season than last season and is averaging a near triple-double (13.4 ppg, 8.2 rbpg, 9.0 apg).
- Dwayne Wade, Miami Heat: Dwayne Wade's turnovers are a lot to stomach and he could stand to shoot more three pointers, but his points, assists, high percentage/high volume shooting and 1.2 blocks per game is enough for fantasy owners to salivate over.
- Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets: Vince Carter's NBA fantasy basketball numbers are sick: 25.0 ppg, 5.9 rbpg, 4.0 apg, 2.1 threes per game, over 80% from the line while taking 7.1 attempts per game. All this while averaging about 2.5 turnovers. Don’t forget! Carter is playing for a new contract this off season.
- Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks: Nowitzki hasn’t had the best season of his career, but unlike many other stars, he’s been healthy and consistent.
Phil Partington is a senior writer for Fantapedia.net. Phil and Fantapedia are, "The un-athletic, number-crunching fantasy sports geeks who do the fantasy basketball dirty work so you don’t have to."
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