Uncategorized

2014-15 Fantasy Basketball Weekly Leaders: Who’s Hot?

Russ KD cover

In this article we will be going over the top 10 players in each major statistical category (excluding percentages). We will list and review each category to give you the best analysis for your fantasy basketball league. Everything you need to know about the hottest players of the week.

Points
1. Russell Westbrook, OKC 33.0
2. James Harden, HOU 31.3
3. Carmelo Anthony, NYK 29.0
4. Kyle Lowry, TOR 28.0
5. LeBron James, CLE 27.0
5. Dwyane Wade, MIA 27.0
7. LaMarcus Aldridge, POR 26.0
8. Damian Lillard, POR 25.8
9. DeMarcus Cousins, SAC 25.5
10. Marc Gasol, MEM 25.3

Analysis:
Westbrook has been the greatest source of points this season. When he’s healthy of course. Melo has also bounced back with a great week. He should start finding himself near the top of this list more often. Wade has really stepped up as well with all the injuries in Miami. There are a ton of familiar faces on this list, most of these guys will stay on or close to this list all season. Gasol may be the biggest surprise. Points are starting to shape up and while occasionally you’ll find a Nick Young type on this list on a hot week, it’s becoming consistent. What will be interesting is how much Kevin Durant is used when he returns and what kind of effect he has on Westbrook.


Assists
1. James Harden, HOU 10.3
2. Mo Williams, MIN 10.0
3. Brandon Jennings, DET 9.5
4. John Wall, WAS 9.3
4. Manu Ginobili, SA 9.3
6. Rajon Rondo, DAL 8.8
7. TY Lawson, DEN 8.5
8. Jrue Holiday, NO 8.3
9. Stephen Curry, GS 8.0
10. Blake Griffin, LAC 7.8

Analysis:
If Harden can stay anywhere near the top of this list, he may emerge as the top fantasy player in the league. What a week for him. The only real head scratcher here is Griffin at No. 10. It’s not often he makes an appearance on this list. People who drafted Ricky Rubio must be so frustrated right now if they didn’t scoop Williams. It will be fun to watch how good Rondo will be in Dallas. So far so good.

Rebounds
1. DeAndre Jordan, LAC 15.3
2. Tyson Chandler, DAL 14.8
3. Rudy Gobert, UTA 14.0
4. Kenneth Faried, DEN 13.5
5. Andre Drummond, DET 13.0
6. Nikola Vucevic, ORL 12.3
6. Mason Plumlee, BKN 12.3
8. Dwight Howard, HOU 11.7
9. Greg Monroe, DET 11.5
10. Steven Adams, OKC 11.3

Analysis:
Same familiar faces atop this list. Faried had a monster game that got him on here and Gobert is emerging as a real player in Utah as is Plumlee in Brooklyn. Adams has been very good as of late in OKC and has been DFS gold thanks to his cheap price tag. Anybody who played on Christmas knows what I’m talking about.

Blocks
1. Anthony Davis, NO 3.5
2. Alex Len, PHO 3.3
3. Roy Hibbert, IND 2.8
4. Gorgui Dieng, MIN 2.7
5. Jimmy Butler, CHI 2.3
5. DeAndre Jordan, LAC 2.3
5. Marcin Gortat, WAS 2.3
5. Serge Ibaka, OKC 2.3
5. Pau Gasol, CHI 2.3
10. nine tied with 2.0

Analysis:
Davis is where he belongs in the No. 1 spot on the blocks list. Len has made a handful of appearances on this list this season. He is a nice stream for blocks. After a slow start in this category Ibaka is back to consistent block numbers. Blocks is one of the easier categories to stream due to many block specialists availability on waivers due to many shot blockers general lack of production in other categories. If you don’t have a consistent star continue to stream your blockers.

Steals
1. Russell Westbrook, OKC 3.3
1. Monta Ellis, DAL 3.3
3. Michael Carter-Williams, PHI 3.0
3. Chris Paul, LAC 3.0
5. Victor Oladipo, ORL 2.7
5. Stephen Curry, GS 2.7
7. Corey Brewer, HOU 2.5
7. Tony Wroten, PHI 2.5
7. Dion Waiters, CLE 2.5
10. five tied with 2.3

Analysis:
There are a lot of stars near the top of this list but as you get towards the bottom you can see why you can stream players for steals. Perhaps no one is a better quick pick up for steals than Brewer. It will be interesting to see how prominent a role he will have in Houston. There are plenty of solid steal guys available, hopefully you have some stars that grab them as well.

3s
1. Terrence Ross, TOR 4.5
1. Wesley Matthews, POR 4.5
3. JJ Reddick, LAC 4.0
4. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, DET 3.5
4. Damian Lillard, POR 3.5
6. five tied with 3.0

Analysis:
3s are the least consistent of the categories because of the nature of the 3-point shot itself. It’s the lowest percentage shot from the field. Ross got hot this week but he can’t average these numbers consistently. There are only so many Kyle Korver’s and Ray Allen’s in the league, but a Mike Miller can get hot at any moment and make this list. Many of these players can really hurt your shooting percentage as well. If you don’t have stars that hit 3s just hope somebody gets hot. Don’t go crazy over 3s if your squad doesn’t hit them with regularity. There is only so much you can do without negatively affecting the overall performance of your team.

Previous post

The Post Post-Hype Sleeper: Travis Snider

Next post

2014-15 Fantasy Hockey Daily Fix, December 29th