NBA Fantasy Draft Prep: Names And Stats That Matter
By Jay Rosales
May 21, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) controls the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the second half in game two of the Western Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Roster Composition – Guards
There’s a reason why Pau Gasol was likely on more fantasy championship teams than Blake Griffin last season – multiple categories! When I’m putting together my team, I want players who hit three categories, at least.
This whittles our list of Guards down to 19:
- 5-cat (5) – Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving
- 4-cat (6) – Russell Westbrook, Jeff Teague, Damian Lillard, Eric Bledsoe, Mike Conley, Brandon Knight
- 3-cat (8) – John Wall, Mo Williams, Kemba Walker, Victor Oladipo, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Lou Williams, J.J. Redick
All of these players hit our points benchmark, except Mo Williams. All of them hit our FT benchmark, except Wall. The other three categories these players hit are 3-pointers, assists and steals.
There’s a good mix of players that you can target at various rounds. You need two of these guys, but ideally three. For those that performed well in fantasy last year, surely found value in mid-round, multi-cat players like Teague, Knight, and Butler.
Next: Roster Composition - Forwards/Centers