From a fantasy sports point of view there have been some players in the first week of the NBA that have contributed to your teams success more than others. But it is usually not the usual household names that lead to weekly victories [Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Chris Paul], but the guys who are falling under the radar that end up winning you the head-to-head weeks. Here are some notes from the first week of the season to steer your fantasy basketball team to stardom.
Through October 30th who leads the NBA in scoring? Luis Scola. But the guy who is 10th on that list and is only owned in 72% of leagues is Ben Gordon. Gordon is not going to do much else for your team other than scoring, but for a guy who is not owned in ¼ of leagues, Gordon should score enough points per week to keep your team afloat if that is a category you are lacking in.
Outside of the “Big Three” in South Beach, who is the best Miami Heat player to own on your fantasy basketball team? Depending on how deep your league is and sometimes the format, James Jones is a great pick up because he has been playing over 25 minutes a game and is currently tied for 2nd in 3 point field goals made. Until Mike Miller comes back from injury in a few months, James Jones will be a great 3-point option for Miami night in and night out.
What is the key to deep league fantasy basketball success? I think it is finding guys who get the most minutes for good rotation teams. For example, when you look at minutes/game statistics you start to notice a player such as Aaron Afflalo, who is a shooting guard for the Denver Nuggets. Afflalo is currently averaging over 34 minutes a game and is being taken extremely deep in leagues, when it should definitely be noticed he is also averaging 14 points, over 3 assists, a steal and over 2 rebounds. Another guy that needs to be noticed right now in terms of minutes played and where he is in his team’s rotation is Anthony Parker. Parker is averaging over 30 minutes a game right now for Cleveland with 10.7 points, 3.7 assists, over 1.5 steals and 2.7 rebounds. The Cavaliers are going to be a very profitable team to pay attention to in terms of fantasy basketball because of the absence of LeBron James and the need to find a new identity; look for guys like Anthony Parker to fill those holes.
