NBA Fantasy Draft Prep: Names And Stats That Matter

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Apr 15, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) dribbles in the first quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Oklahoma City Thunder beats the Minnesota Timberwolves 138-113. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Categories Matter (mostly)

To find sleepers and duds, we need to look at all nine categories:

  • FG Percentage
  • FT Percentage
  • Three-pointers made
  • Points
  • Rebounds
  • Assists
  • Steals
  • Blocks
  • Turnovers

The turnovers category has always been an afterthought when I draft. Russell Westbrook led the league with 4.4 turnovers last season, but that’s not going to prevent him from being a first-round choice.

There were 107 players who averaged less than 1.5 turnovers last season, but a large portion of those were bench players who will have little to no effect on your fantasy team. When conducting this analysis, I omitted turnovers, but will mention any noteworthy turnover stats where applicable.

Next: Benchmarks Matter