subject: Nba Tickets - Top 10 Fantasy Players For 2010-11 [print this page] It might be fantasy football season now, but fantasy basketball leagues are starting to open up. Let's take a look at an early Top 10 player projection, listed in order.
Kevin Durant, Small Forward, Oklahoma City Thunder: With LeBron James now sharing the ball with two other star players in South Beach, Durant vaults into the top spot among fantasy players. Durant led the NBA in scoring last season at the tender age of 21, averaging a shade over 30 a game. As far as a single player goes, he's probably the biggest draw for NBA tickets in the league, as he's become a household name over the past year.
In addition to his scoring, fantasy owners will reap the benefits of his great percentages and get solid production in every other category as well. I don't think you can take anyone else number one this year, as Durant's reliability and upside are both off the charts.
Chris Paul, Point Guard, New Orleans Hornets: Expect a big year from CP3. A lot of people handed Deron Williams the title of "best point guard in the league" with Paul sidelined for a good chunk of the 2009-10 campaign, and that can't sit well with the New Orleans guard. When healthy, Paul could be the top fantasy player in the game; he's that robust of a producer. He scores, racks up the assists like few others and rebounds exceptionally well for his position.
LeBron James, Small Forward, Miami Heat: He can't slide any further than this, can he? LeBron was fantasy gold on the Cavs, but it's hard to gauge exactly what his numbers are going to look like with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the floor with him. His scoring will probably decrease, but his assists could go up. He's still an elite fantasy option.
Dwyane Wade, Shooting Guard, Miami Heat: While his overall usage will go down, I expect him to continue to be the go-to guy on the Heat. I think he'll lead the team in scoring and do so extremely efficiently. There are just too many weapons to worry about in Miami that Wade could have a field day getting to the rim. He could end up being a better fantasy option than LeBron, but probably not.
Kobe Bryant, Shooting Guard, Los Angeles Lakers: I'm not ready to take him out of the Top 5 yet. He may be slowing down a bit, but he showed us that he's far from done last season. He produces in every category, which allows him to remain in my Top 5.
Dirk Nowitzki, Power Forward, Dallas Mavericks: Dirk is one of the more underrated fantasy players. He shoots great percentages and is a double-double machine that provides threes as well. He's a unique fantasy commodity.
Stephen Curry, Point Guard, Golden State Warriors: Curry showed himself to be a fantasy stud in his rookie season, averaging 18 points, six assists and five boards per game. He also added two steals per game, great percentages and nailed two threes per contest. He should do even better in 2010-11.
Pau Gasol, Power Forward, Los Angeles Lakers: Gasol is another underrated fantasy player. He contributes in every category aside from threes and is one of the better big men from a percentage standpoint.
Deron Williams, Point Guard, Utah Jazz: Williams is a fantasy force and will continue to be barring injury. He's a safe pick toward the end of the first round.
Josh Smith, Forward, Atlanta Hawks: Smith fills up the stats sheet and should be extremely valuable as long as he continues to play within himself.
