2014 Fantasy Basketball Rookie of the Year
With the recent conclusion of the NBA regular season Fantasy Alarm's own Mark Kaplan and myself are going to hand out our End of the Season Fantasy Awards with an eye towards next season. We recently handed out our Fantasy MVP and now it is time for our Rookie of the Year. (click on items in blue to be taken to linked pages).
Mark Kaplan's 2014 Fantasy Basketball Rookie of the Year
This was a no brainer as Michael Carter-Williams had an impressive season and
was easily the most productive rookie. He averaged 16.7 points(40.5 FG%/70 FT%), 6.2 rebounds, 6.3
assists, 1.9 steals, 0.6 blocks per game this season. That stat line is even more impressive considering
that LeBron James is the only other player in the NBA to average 6 plus rebounds/assists per game this
year. MCW does it all and I expect his FG% to rise next season which should lead to bump for his scoring
average. Mc-Dubs made a name for himself in his rookie season, and will be rising up draft boards next
year.
Michael Pichan's 2014 Fantasy Basketball Rookie of the Year
Kaplan nailed it, but before I give you my 2014 Fantasy Rookie of the Year here is a look at my preseason picks for the award.
My Preseason Rookie of the Year Favorite was Victor Oladipo
My Preseason Darkhorse for the Rookie of the Year was Vitor Favorani
If we gave out the award after the first couple of games I would have looked like a genius as Faverani was a beast averaging a double-double of 12.5 points and 10.5 rebounds with 4.5 blocks in 31.9 minutes through the first two games of the season, but it was all downhill after that. To my credit we made our preseason picks before the season, hence the title “preseason picks,” but boy did that go from great to idiotic in a hurry as Faverani lost his starting job by November and fell from fantasy relevant to fantasy irrelevant faster than Donald Sterling’s comments landed him with a lifetime ban.
While my sleeper pick of Faverani was a bust, my top preseason pick for rookie of the year in Victor Oladipo was not far off, but going against Da True Guru's pick of MCW as fantasy rookie of the year would be a stretch, and you know me by now I never go chalk and almost always think outside the box, but as much as I tried to find another rookie to defend for the award (i.e. Gorgui Deng) I just could not find a logical leg to stand on. And boy did I try, as you can see in the table below. I thought maybe Dieng's late season success would trump MCW, but it did not.
As you can see, even with how much of a fantasy orgy it was with Gorgui at the end of the season it still did not match what MCW was able to bring to the table the last month of the season. MCW's April stats jump out even more if you consider he had to deal with the proverbial rookie wall as he started all 70 games he played in while Oladipo started in 44 of 80 games and Dieng made 15 starts of the 60 games he saw limited action before Nikola Pekovic went down later in the season.
Make sure to bookmark our NBA article's page so you have it going forward as there will be plenty of fantasy basketball content throughout the summer including more Fantasy Awards, DFS recommendations, NBA Draft and Summer League coverage, as well as strategy sessions to help you be on top of the competition going into the 2014-15 Fantasy Basketball season. In addition follow Kaplan on twitter @DaTrueGuru and my self @FantasyNomad.
Player News
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Donovan Mitchell has been diagnosed with a re-aggravation of a left ankle injury and will be a game-time decision for Game 5.
Mitchell didn’t return after halftime of Sunday’s blowout loss, and Ty Jerome started in his place for the second half. The Cavs were getting stomped 80-39, but apparently the injury is more serious than initially thought, and his absence in the second half was more than precautionary. If he’s unable to go, Jerome would likely get the starting nod as Cleveland faces elimination at home down 3-1 in the series.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Donovan Mitchell has been diagnosed with a re-aggravation of a left ankle injury and will be a game-time decision for Game 5.
Mitchell didn’t return after halftime of Sunday’s blowout loss, and Ty Jerome started in his place for the second half. The Cavs were getting stomped 80-39, but apparently the injury is more serious than initially thought, and his absence in the second half was more than precautionary. If he’s unable to go, Jerome would likely get the starting nod as Cleveland faces elimination at home down 3-1 in the series.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that Giannis Antetokounmpo “has not made any firm decisions, but for the first time in his career, he is open-minded about whether his best fit is remaining in Milwaukee – or playing elsewhere.”
No surprises here, as rumors of Antetokounmpo’s future with another team swirled as the season came to a close. Milwaukee finished the regular season 48-34 as the fifth seed in the East, and the Bucks were knocked out of the first round in a gentlemen’s sweep to the rival Pacers. With Damian Lillard out for most if not all of next season, the Bucks may choose to trade Antetokounmpo in the offseason and get a jumpstart on the impending rebuild. Fantasy managers should keep a close eye on an Antetokounmpo trade this offseason, as his future plans will be one of the biggest headlines heading into the 2025-26 season and could drastically shift fantasy values for a few other players.
Obi Toppin provided a boost off the bench with 20 points (9-of-14 FGs), five rebounds, two assists and one three-pointer in Game 4 against the Cavaliers on Sunday.
Toppin has been a solid reserve for Indiana all season, but he hadn’t been as productive in the postseason until Game 4. This was the second-highest scoring playoff game of Toppin’s career, narrowly finishing behind his 21-point game against the Bucks last season. Toppin will continue to play a large role off the bench, but the odds of him reaching 20 points again are slim.
Myles Turner lit up the Cavaliers with 20 points (7-of-13 FGs), seven rebounds, three assists and four three-pointers in Game 4 on Sunday.
For the fourth time in Indiana’s last six games, Turner scored 20 points. This time, it only took him 22 minutes. Turner has been a big part of the offense recently, and the strategy is working; they are 4-0 when he scores at least 20 points during this postseason, and they’re 17-2 over the course of the entire season when he reaches 20 points. Turner will continue to feature heavily in the offense in Game 5 as the Pacers look to close out this series.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 21 points (9-of-10 FGs), six rebounds, three assists, one steal and two three-pointers in a 129-109 win over the Cavaliers in Game 4 on Sunday.
What a night it was for Siakam, who only missed one shot in the blowout win. He only played 21 minutes, but that was more than enough for Indiana to take complete control of this game. His dominant night has them just one win away from returning to the conference finals for a second straight season. Siakam hadn’t been a significant part of the offense in this series, but the strategy to get him going paid off on Sunday. He’ll look to stay hot in Game 5 on Tuesday with a chance to close out the series.