Point Guards
RANK | NAME | Team | # Games | Analysis |
1 | Russell Westbrook | OKC | 4 | Top player in the game with a full slate of games this week? Yes please! |
2 | James Harden | HOU | 3 | Even with one less game, Harden continues to be THAT much more dominant in all areas, even with a ton of other skilled guards and shooters on his team. |
3 | John Wall | WSH | 4 | Wall will not be able to take rest games because he is the glue of the Wizards offense and it does not run the same way with him off of the court. |
4 | Stephen Curry | GSW | 4 | Curry continues to look to drive to fake out defenders and he has been seeing a bit more openess in the paint to get easy lanes to the basket. |
5 | Isaiah Thomas | BOS | 4 | Thomas continues to not only shoot the ball well and with extremem confidence, but he has been balancing his act a bit and making sure to look for defensive holes in the paint. |
6 | Kyrie Irving | CLE | 4 | Even though Irving does run out of gas when his minutes hit the upper 30's, he continues to be one of the best drivers in the game and is great at drawing contact and extending plays. |
7 | Eric Bledsoe | PHX | 4 | The Suns have made moves meaning that Bledsoe will continued to be relied on to handle most of the offense. The Suns are trying to give younger bigger players a chance to learn. |
9 | Chris Paul | LAC | 3 | Paul is back and playing a ton of minutes again and fantasy owners who have been waiting patiently for him to be at full strength will get paid off down the stretch. He is still an elite guard. |
10 | Damian Lillard | POR | 3 | Lillard handles so much of the offense and Portland did not fully help themselves up front and Lillard will need to do what he always does and take over the game himself. |
11 | Goran Dragic | MIA | 4 | Now that the Heat are as close to full strength as they have been for most of the year, Dragic can return to being more of a playmaker and his assists should impove down the stretch. |
12 | Kemba Walker | CHA | 3 | Walker moves down a bit without the fourth game, but he can still be relied on to handle the majority of the Hornets scoring himself and he will still be the main playmaker. |
13 | George Hill | UT | 4 | There are games Hill will have in which you will see nothing but scoring because he is the ultimate bailout option when the other guards are slashing. His assists will be higher vs good defense. |
14 | Mike Conley | MEM | 3 | Conley is another guard who is excellent at extending plays in the air. He draws a lot of contact when he drives and he is still able to get tear drop openings from mid range. |
15 | Dennis Schroder | ATL | 4 | Schroder has stepped up his scoring, but it remains a challenge figuring out which Schroder we will see per night because he has quiet nights and has improved his passing. |
16 | Jrue Holiday | NO | 3 | Even with two talented big men in the middle Holiday will do a ton of creating from the perimeter and both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins set solid screens for easy layups. |
17 | Jeff Teague | IND | 3 | Teague continues to be a good shooting option off the ball and he has been solid at finding space for himself right outside the paint and can hit the knock down jumper. |
18 | Derrick Rose | NY | 4 | It is hard to tell when Rose will have a big game because he is a lot slower than he used to be, but at this point he should be motivated to audition each night for a big long-term contract. |
19 | Ricky Rubio | MIN | 3 | Rubio has improved his scoring throughout the season and LaVIne being out gives him more shots, but he is more of an assist and steals guy and will score only in great match ups. |
20 | Marcus Smart | BOS | 4 | Even if Avery Bradley plays the full slate, Smart will still see a lot of minutes as it will take a bit for Bradley to get back in the swing of things. He is used to playing deep into games. |
20 | Reggie Jackson | DET | 3 | Being that he was not traded, things can only go up for Jackson as he has been shooting the ball inconsistently. If he sticks to being a play maker and looks to drive more, it will raise his shooting percentage. |
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Shooting Guards
RANK | NAME | Team | # Games | Analysis |
1 | DeMar DeRozan | TOR | 4 | With the full slate, DeRozan returns to the top spot and he should be even more productive with Kyle Lowry hurting. |
2 | Gordon Hayward | UT | 4 | Hayward continues to prove that he can be an all around force. He can hit the knockdown jumper, but has been driving a lot more this season and has done a good job setting up Rudy Gobert. |
3 | Bradley Beal | WSH | 4 | Beal has improved his game throughout the season and remains healthy. He has been driving the lane more through the middle and moving on the court more in general as Wall drives the lane |
4 | Klay Thompson | GSW | 4 | Thompson gets his chunk of shots because of the attention some of his teammates get on the perimeter and like Curry, he looks to cut back door when the lane is free. |
5 | Nicolas Batum | CHA | 3 | Batum moves down the list just a little with the lack of fourth game, but of all of the guards listed above him, he is the most consistent rebounder. |
6 | C.J. McCollum | POR | 3 | McCollum is the other portion of the Portland offense and due to lack of other Forwards and Centers who can score consistently, McCollum looks to create from mid range. |
7 | Devin Booker | PHX | 4 | Booker is other portion of the Suns offense and with P.J. Tucker gone, he will have to stay on the elbow more until change of possesion to get long rebounds. |
8 | Dwyane Wade | CHI | 3 | Wade has been consistent from a scoring and assist stand point and he WILL rebound. He is one of the few players who can rest at any given time and screw fantasy players. |
9 | Dion Waiters | MIA | 4 | It can be argued that Waiters is the Heat's most reliable shooter. He doesn't have as much of a complete game as other options, but he has been able to take over from long and mid range. |
10 | Tyler Johnson | MIA | 4 | Johnson will attack the basket a big more than Waiters and is a bit of a better ball handler. He has been very effective coming off of the bench and can rotate to both guard spots. |
11 | Wesley Matthews | DAL | 4 | Matthews will continue to create from the elbow and he can use his size to back down other guards and he will wait for long rebounds as well. He is good at stepping through screens. |
12 | Avery Bradley | BOS | 4 | Still dealing with the Achilles injury, but all signs point to Bradley playing this week and with the full slate we have to rank him, but are unsure about his restrictions. |
13 | Victor Oladipo | OKC | 4 | Dealing with back soreness and already questionable for his first game of the week. |
14 | Patrick Beverley | HOU | 3 | Pat-Bev is explosive and that will give him a bit more of an edge as a change of pace option for the Rockets and he will continue to slash and get a healthy amount of playing time. |
15 | Lou Williams | HOU | 3 | Williams will get time coming off of the bench and can rotate to both guard spots, cut back door and hit the open corner three-pointer. |
16 | Eric Gordon | HOU | 3 | Gordon is more likely to lose minutes because he is a bit more scoring dependant than the other guards. He can drive, but not as quickly as the other two. The other guys play better defense. |
17 | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | DET | 3 | KCP will be relied on a bit more when it comes to shooting because of how bad Reggie Jackson has been shooting from the field. He will help out on the perimeter with steals. |
18 | Gary Harris | DEN | 3 | Harris will get his chunk of shots due to how erratic Emmanuel Mudiay is from the field and he will have chances to create from the elbow with the ball. Denver utilizes all of their shooters. |
19 | Sean Kilpatrick | BKN | 3 | Even with Jeremy Lin back in, the Nets will bring him back slowly and at least for this week, Kirkpatrick should be able to score in double figures consistently and rotate to PG. |
20 | J.J. Redick | LAC | 3 | With Chris Paul back, Redick returns to more of a running and shooting role as he has been great at reading screens and he will tire out defenders and that will keep him on the court longer. |
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Small Forward
RANK | NAME | Team | # Games | Analysis |
1 | Kevin Durant | GSW | 4 | Durant moves up because his all-around game has not been impacted at all since he went to the Warriors and continues to play deep into games and gets time to create with the ball. |
2 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | MIL | 4 | The Greek Freak will have to continue to play multiple positions each game and he will get a bit a breather when Khris Middleton eventually is able to take on a full workload. |
3 | LeBron James | CLE | 4 | LeBron is sick and that has kept him out of action and he could be in danger of missing at least one game this week. Status uncertain. |
4 | Carmelo Anthony | NY | 4 | Coming off of a clutch game-winning shot and Kristaps Porzingis being banged up should give 'Melo even more opportunities to produce, even if Porzingis plays. |
5 | Kawhi Leonard | SAS | 3 | Leonard will continue playing one of the most effective two-way games in basketball and use his new-found shooting range to burn defenders for three. |
6 | Jimmy Butler | CHI | 3 | Butler will need to command the ball from the elbow down the stretch and he will have to use his size to attack immediately rather than simply posting. |
7 | Paul George | IND | 3 | George does not call for the ball as much as other stars, but he will stay in the lane and keep plays alive and he is still one of the best perimeter defenders in the game. |
8 | Otto Porter | WSH | 4 | Porter has been majorly productive and has widened his shooting range throughout the season and will never lose minutes because of HIS strong perimeter defense. |
9 | Robert Covington | PHI | 4 | With Joel Embiid still out and Ersan Ilyasova traded away, Covington is going to get a ton more shot opportunities down the stretch and has improved both sides of his game in the last month. |
10 | Harrison Barnes | DAL | 4 | Barnes will get even more time with the ball with Deron Williams out of the way and he has been a 20-point scorer and will be the 1A option along with Dirk Nowitzki and he plays great D. |
11 | Jae Crowder | BOS | 4 | Crowder will get most of his production from slashing in the lane and hitting jumpers from right outside the paint. He does look to post often and on defense he sizes up defenders well. |
12 | Andrew Wiggins | MIN | 3 | With LaVine out, Wiggins will be taking the majority of the jumpers per game and get a lot of time to create from the perimeter. Wiggins will need to continue to attack more down the stretch. |
13 | Ersan Ilyasova | ATL | 4 | We will see how many shots Ilyasova gets per night, but he will earn his minutes based off defense and if he can be an efficient long-range rebounder and scorer, he will take time from Bazemore |
14 | James Johnson | MIA | 4 | Johnson will attack the basket a big more than Waiters and is a bit of a better ball handler. He has been very effective coming off of the bench and can rotate to both guard spots. |
15 | Wilson Chandler | DEN | 3 | Chandler can play multiple positions and he will play deeper into games down the stretch and even with most of the Nuggets healthy, he should not lose much playing time. |
16 | Danilo Gallinari | DEN | 3 | Gallinari was the top shooting option for most of the season and will return to that. The key is for Gallo to attack the rim more so he naturally has more time with the ball outside and inside. |
17 | Tobias Harris | DET | 3 | Harris has been dominant versus second units off the bench and he is goo at attacking the middle of the paint and has one-handed post moves that give him open looks to the basket. |
18 | Will Barton | DEN | 3 | Gallinari being back will hinder Barton a little bit, but of all of the Nuggets options, he is the most effective post player and mid-range defender and his defense should save some of the time. |
19 | Evan Fournier | ORL | 3 | Fournier continues to be the No. 1 shooting option for Orlando and he will follow his shots to try to grab rebounds, but he mainly gets caught up at the elbow. |
20 | Trevor Ariza | HOU | 3 | Ariza's playing time is safe because of his excellent perimeter defense, but be aware of him losing shots as the season continues due to the addition of Lou Williams. |
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Power Forward
RANK | NAME | Team | # Games | Analysis |
1 | Anthony Davis | NO | 3 | AD will still produce whether its from the elbow, inside, from the perimeter and he is hard to get by on defense due to his size and is the top option even with three games and Boogie Cousins. |
2 | Draymond Green | GSW | 4 | Green moves to the second spot as he IS the Warriors inside game and is excellent at keeping plays alive on the offensive glass. He is a reliable blocker and has a full slate. |
3 | Paul Millsap | ATL | 4 | Millsap will continue to be the top scoring option and with the addition of Ilyasova, he should be able to get more opportunities to post up inside. |
4 | Blake Griffin | LAC | 3 | Even with Chris Paul back, Griffin will still produce and hopefully he does not return to old habits of giving up on the drive and solely shooting from the outside. |
5 | Nikola Jokic | DEN | 3 | Jokic has been a huge force inside for the Nuggets, and with Kenneth Faried hurting, he should be able to grab even more rebounds this week. |
6 | Kristaps Porzingis | NY | 4 | Been dealing with an Ankle injury, but all signs are pointing towards him playing the full week. We can't predict soreness though, but he has no damage to the Ankle. |
7 | Serge Ibaka | TOR | 4 | We will see how many shots Ibaka gets from the perimeter moving forward, but for at least this week with Lowry's sore wrist, Ibaka will be taking more shots than normal. |
8 | Markieff Morris | WSH | 4 | Morris has developed a full mid-range game and gets fed a lot from Wall when he drives and draws the double. On defense, it has been hard to muscle him in the paint all year. |
9 | LaMarcus Aldridge | SAS | 3 | With Pau Gasol back, Aldridge will be playing more on the perimeter looking for open elbow jumpers. |
10 | Dirk Nowitzki | DAL | 4 | Nowitzki looks to be as close to full health as possible and with Deron Williams waived, he will get more time to create from the elbow and post for the rest of the way. |
11 | Greg Monroe | MIL | 4 | Monroe is stating to show that he may very well be able to fill in for the injured Jabari Parker, but the key is for him not to turn the ball over and be consistent in the post on both sides of the ball. |
12 | Julius Randle | LAL | 3 | Randle has been playing well in the paint and will look to attack the rim when he gets the ball rather than look for a shot. He will continue to draw a lot of contact. |
13 | Taj Gibson | OKC | 4 | The Thunder need help defensively and the veteran Gibson was a good piece to add. He's not flashy, but he will make baby hooks, draw contact and clean up the glass inside. |
14 | Trevor Booker | BKN | 3 | Booker will continue to be the Nets most reliable rebounder and he will score off of offensive rebounds and plays in the low post. |
15 | Gorgui Dieng | MIN | 3 | Dieng has not been as productive on the scoring front lately when it comes to consistency, but he is a good compliment to Karl-Anthony Towns and gets good positioning inside for boards. |
16 | Zach Randolph | MEM | 3 | Randolph continues to test Father Time and has been productive on both sides of the ball. He starts at the elbow and creeps his way inside as soon as the ball is put up. |
17 | Thad Young | IND | 3 | Young's wrist is healthy and he will return to playing solid on the ball defense and will be a steals help and he will attack the basket with force on offense. |
18 | Ryan Anderson | HOU | 3 | Anderson will get some time to create with the ball as he does have the ability to drive, but often resorts to the pick and pop, drawing out bigger defenders. |
19 | Marcus Morris | DET | 3 | Morris will continue to look to slash inside and draw contact. He is very diligent in the post and will not go for too many shot fakes and will help out on the glass. |
20 | Al-Farouq Aminu | POR | 3 | By default, Aminu wil have time with the ball to attack the rim. He is a complete attacker and he will draw contact. He is limited otherwise on offense. On defense, he can be relied on for rebounding. |
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Center
RANK | NAME | Team | # Games | Analysis |
1 | DeMarcus Cousins | NO | 3 | True test to see if Boogie can be JUST as productive with a three-game slate as he has been all season, except, this week, he has Anthony Davis playing the shorter slate with him. HUGE TEST! |
2 | Hassan Whiteside | MIA | 4 | Whiteside will continue to bulldoze his way in the paint as he is one of the hardest players to stop when on the drive. We can always rely on him for scoring, rebounding and blocks. |
3 | Karl-Anthony Towns | MIN | 3 | Towns is still one of the most dominant Centers in the league and he will have time with the ball and get even more shots with LaVine out, especially from the perimeter. |
4 | Rudy Gobert | UT | 4 | Gobert has developed a complete inside game with post moves, up and under moves and he continues to be a menace on the glass and he is a huge reason the Jazz are the best team defensively. |
5 | Dwight Howard | ATL | 4 | Howard continues to be productive as he always is with points, boards and blocks and has been committed a bit more this season on defense. |
6 | Al Horford | BOS | 4 | Horford will continue to produce mainly from the perimeter as he is very dangerous from the outside. He will look to attack, but shooting off of the high screen is his specialty. |
7 | Andre Drummond | DET | 3 | Always one fo the top rebounders in the game, but moves down a bit due to limited offense and lack of fourth game. |
8 | Marcin Gortat | WSH | 4 | We can never expect Gortat to have a huge scoring night, but he gets the job done inside and commits himself to the glass and putbacks consistently and the Wizards have a very tight rotation. |
9 | Marc Gasol | MEM | 3 | Gasol creates both in the post from the elbow and spots up for three and is an effective post defender and can always be relied on for boards and blocks. |
10 | DeAndre Jordan | LAC | 3 | Jordan is a one-way player with a shorter slate, however, with Paul back on the floor, he should see more ally-oop opportunities. |
11 | Nikola Vucevic | ORL | 3 | Vucevic will get even more time with the ball due to Serge Ibaka being off the team and how raw Bismack Biyombo is on offense as he has great footwork in the post and will clean up the glass. |
12 | Jonas Valanciunas | TOR | 4 | Valanciunas does have a strong mid-range game, but in order to keep up with the amount of plays he gets on offense due to the Ibaka trade, he has to force himself inside more and gain positioning. |
13 | Brook Lopez | BKN | 3 | Once Jeremy Lin is able to run the floor a bit more, Lopez may have a better chance of cutting inside due to the passing upgrade, but we all know he loves playing on the elbow especially on defense. |
14 | Myles Turner | IND | 3 | Turner gets the job done inside and fights for rebounds, but it is his strong mid-range shooting that will mess with the opposition on defense and the Pacers balance their possesions very nicely. |
15 | Steven Adams | OKC | 4 | Enes Kanter is back, and even if he takes some of Adams minutes, Adams is gritty, the better defender and is a volume producer and the Thunder will ultimately stick with him in close games. |
16 | Tristan Thompson | CLE | 4 | Thompson continues to be more of a rebounding help than scorer. His playing time is safe and will be a tad more productive with Kevin Love out on offense. |
17 | Pau Gasol | SAS | 3 | Gasol will create from the elbow and grab longer rebounds from the top of the paint. He is good at setting the screen at the elbow giving the Spurs guards room to drive. |
18 | Mason Plumlee | DEN | 3 | With Kenneth Faried hurting, it will give Plumlee more playing time even for the next couple of games. Plumlee is known more for his offense than defense and Jokic is dominating, he won't see the ball. |
19 | Enes Kanter | OKC | 4 | Kanter is back and there will be a chunk of playing time saved for him because of his long-range shooting ability. Adams is the better defender and Kanter knows he is No. 2 on the depth chart in OKC. |
20 | Nerlens Noel | DAL | 4 | The good news for Noel is that there is zero competition at the position for him and should be able to play a lot of minutes down the stretch IF HE CAN STAY HEALTHY. That's a big IF. |