2008-2009: BIG BOARD TOP 20

[Sephiroth]

Sephiroth's Big Board TOP 20 for 2008-2009 Fantasy Basketball Season

1. Chris Paul - Ultimate fantasy player.
2. Lebron James - Only thing keeping him from undisputed #1 is poor FT%.
3. Kobe Bryant - Does it all and does it well.
4. Dirk Nowitzki - Big man that can help out with threes.
5. Shawn Marion - Had a rough 07-08 season with trade and shutdown at end of season - will get back on track as Wade's sidekick.
6. Amare Stoudemire - Lots of points, high percentages (FG% & FT%), blocks...consistent player.
7. Steve Nash - Typical Nash line: 17/3/11 while bringing fantastic FG and FT percentages.
8. Caron Butler - The new 'Shawn Marion' of Fantasy Basketball.
9. Marcus Camby - 13 boards, 3 assists, and 3 blocks (nearly 4) per game from a C makes me salivate. Still has questionable 'injury tag' though. If you manage to draft both CP3 and Marcus Camby - you can sleep your way to a championship.
10. Kevin Garnett - Numbers in 07-08 were low but KG shot at nice 54% FG clip and still get that steal and block per game. Had 7 blocks against CHI on Dec. 8 2007.
11. Gilbert Arenas - Agent Zero has the edge on Baron with a career 80% FT percentage whereas B-Diddy is at 69%.
12. Baron Davis - Lots of threes and lots of steals.
13. Allen Iverson - Has been doin' it his entire career. 27/3/7 and has cut down on TOs.
14. Dwyane Wade - Had an afwul 07-08 season but with new sidekick Shawn Marion, life will be easier for D-Wade.
15. Danny Granger - Had an amazing year with 19/6/2 while contributing a steal and a block per contest...oh, wait, can't forget about the 2 3PM/gm. One more thing - he is also SG/SF/PF eligible!...amazing.
16. Jason Richardson - Does exactly what you want from a SG...but come on now - three 3pters per game is unreal (made the most in the NBA in 07-08).
17. Carlos Boozer - 20/10/3 with 54% FG is nice.
18. Al Jefferson - Second only to D12 in double-doubles.
19. Yao Ming - Had one of his best seasons until injury shut him down.
20. Rashard Lewis - Was ranked 12th overall at the end of the 07-08 season in Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues.

[hamncheese]

How come you left Elton Brand off? He was a top 10 player and should come back from his injury.

[Sephiroth]

Brand is definitely a top 25 fantasy player but I honestly don't know what to expect from him after his surgery.

He had a great year 05-06 where he was the 2nd best fantasy player but I see him dropping off to the 20-30s in terms of ranking next season. He could have made my top 20 but there are a group of guys that have really stood out this season.

[kiz5]

Camby is going to be a year older next year. I definitely won't be using a top 10 pick on him. However, if possible, I'd die to have the 1st pick in a 12 team league next year, and try and get LeBron (1st), Jefferson (24th), and Howard (25th). I know it's probably not likely, but if I was able to pull that off ... I'd scrap FT% and dominate every other category in the league.

[Young_Star11]

My Top 15
1. Chris Paul - clearly the best fantasy player now, and for a few years to come!

2. Amare Stoudemire - look at those numbers after the Shaq trade. Has played two 82-gamers.

3. Kobe Bryant - will still be elite and will become even more better

4. Dirk Nowitzki - just love his consistency, his durability, his reliability

5. LeBron James - not a favourite of mine to be honest, if anyone is working to a strategy, take him higher

6. Shawn Marion - he'll step it up for a much improved Miami team next season. Not Phoenix-type numbers, but still impressive

7. Dwyane Wade - he'll be back with a vengeance. He'll be close to 100%

8. Kevin Garnett - look, I'd be overjoyed to take KG #8 in a fantasy draft.

9. Caron Butler - I like his game...a lot. Health is a big key, and I will probably drop him in mock drafts. However, his per-game numbers are too hard to resist

10. Yao Ming - a slightly homer pick. He played through injury this season and was still elite...

11. Elton Brand - perhaps a little hasty, but he will be great next season

12. Steve Nash - still has game, but beware, he might be slowing down

13. Baron Davis - keep him in GS. No injury worries. Team him up with Bron or Boozer

14. Allen Iverson - had a great fantasy season and will continue next season in the same vein

15. Gilbert Arenas - be watchful. Percentages will kill, and...he's mostly talk

[KalElen]

It's too early for this kind of lists since this off-season promises a lot of moves, but here's my list based on my formula and my thoughts on next season:
1. Chris Paul

[Curtis Lemansky]

Im very surprised to see Wade in top-15's.I wouldnt consider him drafting in the first two rounds next year.He is too much of an injury risk and his performance this year puts him around 60'ish range.Will he perform better next year? Most probably.Will he return to top-8 form(which he was two years ago? IMO it is a very long shot and he will probably end up around 30 next year

[DNYLkiller]

Rashard? Give me Rudy gay next year by a mile.

[amb1ent]

Anyone else think Dunleavy/Hedo will vault into the top 50? Granger/Gay into top 30?

[LakerFanMan]

Where's Josh Smith? I only saw him on one list. He's in the top 20 in my book, absolute fantasy monster.

[realsniper09]

Anyone else think Dunleavy/Hedo will vault into the top 50? Granger/Gay into top 30?

I would've thought that they are already there...

Gay and Granger would be ranked up there this season. Both provide almost identical stats and would be taken inside top 30 next year.
Dunleavy slightly better than Hedo this year because of TOs, but Hedo will get drafted a little higher, and both probably just inside the top 50.

And Smith should be top 15. I guess the FG% combined with no 3's hurts, along with the high attempts 70%FT shooting, but everyone knows where his strengths lie.

[Pmoney]

Look out for Kevin Durant next season..

24 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 1+ steal, 1+ block, 1+ 3 a game

Next year he will shoot a good percentage too, 46%+

[TradeMachine]

I would consider taking Wade top 5 next season. He's finally gonna be healthy, and have a re-tooled roster around him. I see him back in his 05-06 playoffs form.

[Young_Star11]

Anyone else think Dunleavy/Hedo will vault into the top 50? Granger/Gay into top 30?

Dunleavy and Hedo are both top-50 players. Dunny's a bit better IMO.

Granger's a top-20 player, Gay needs to improve a little bit more to become a top-20.

[Young_Star11]

Look out for Kevin Durant next season..

24 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 1+ steal, 1+ block, 1+ 3 a game

Next year he will shoot a good percentage too, 46%+

If he shoots 46% and doesn't improve in anything else (hard to see), he's a top-50 player.

If he improves in any other category, he becomes a top-30 type player.

He proved at the end of the season that he can shoot a good percentage.

[KalElen]

i wouldn't consider wade in top 10 because he is major injury risk and, for me, will continue to be until he plays at least 75 games for 2 consecutive seasons. durant's ceiling is seemingly sky-high, but he is gonna be so overfrafted next season. i'm sure he won't drop below 30 in most of the leagues and probably bellow 20 in many of those

[Young_Star11]

I'd gamble on Durant in the fourth-round of a 12-teamer. Wouldn't be a bad decision IMO.

Wade, definitely not first-round worthy. You can see why people would be a little sheepish there. Second-round, go for it. That's where I'd target him.

[Flipside]

Durant has the same type of potential as Raymond Felton did. The kind where they're either a really good deal or you grabbed him way too high. If you plan on taking him, make sure you don't have any injury prone players and you need solid steals on the end to make it work.

[Nowak008]

Guys like Jefferson and Durant I am sour on. Bad teams like theirs seem to always have players "injured".

[Flipside]

Sonics played Durant to the end this year. The Sonics are young and they're not as good so they won't win many games to begin with, therefore no tanking required.