Fantasy Basketball 2-Week Frenzy Prediction (1-18 – 1-31)

Another 2-week Fantasy Basketball frenzy is coming up, which means another look into the future to try and help you put together the best lineup possible.

(Note: all stats as of 1/13)

Player 1 (7 games)
Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Kevin Durant, Danny Granger, Dirk Nowitzki

Each of these players ranks in the top 10 in the NBA in scoring average, with Anthony leading the way with 29.8 points per game (PPG) and Bosh bringing up the rear with a clean 24.0 PPG. However, Bosh is the top rebounder in the group with 11.3 rebounds per game (RPG). Nowitzki has the most blocks per game (SPG) at 1.27, while Granger leads in steals per game (SPG) at 1.62 and 3-pointers per game (3PG) at 3.1. While Durant doesn’t lead this group in any specific category, he is the third-leading scorer in the NBA and does a bit of everything. However, no one in this group passes the ball much. Anthony leads the players here with 3.3 assists per game (APG), and Durant is second at 3.0.

Player 2 (8 Games)
Kobe Bryant, Monta Ellis, Chris Paul, Brandon Roy, Dwayne Wade

An extremely talented group, several players here are dealing with injuries, although they haven’t kept them out for long. Bryant has a broken right index finger that he is playing for, but he also has back spasms. Wade is playing with an injured wrist, and Roy sat out much of the second half of a recent game with a strained hamstring. Other than that, they are great! But none of those illnesses should affect them for the next couple of weeks, so feel free to use any on your fantasy basketball roster. Note that every player except Paul is in the top 10 in the league in PPG, but he is the NBA leader in APG at 11.2 and second in SPG at 2.31. Ellis is third in that stat, with 2.30 steals per game.

Player 3 (7 Games)
Tim Duncan, Tyreke Evans, Antawn Jamison, Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph

This is a dynamic group that features players with several different abilities, but each player is averaging over 20.0 PPG, although Jamison leads the pack with 22.4 PPG, so the difference is small. Duncan leads this pack of players with 1.88 BPG, but even though he averages more than 10 rebounds per game, he’s not the leader in that category: Randolph is at 11.4. Randolph leads the NBA with 4.6 offensive rebounds per game, which makes a difference because it’s two points in this scoring system. Evans and Johnson are each averaging nearly 5.0 assists, but Evans leads with nearly 1.5 SPG.

Player 4 (8 Games)
Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Chris Kaman, Amare Stoudemire, Gerald Wallace

Welcome to the Land of Rebound. That’s the official name of this group, because they collect together like the IRS collects taxes. Howard leads the NBA in rebounds per game with 13.2, and Wallace and Gasol are in the top five in that category. While Stoudemire and Kaman aren’t at his level in terms of RPGs, they score at a higher rate and are the only two in this group averaging at least 20.0 PPG. Only Stoudemire isn’t averaging at least 1.0 blocks per contest among this collection of tall men, while Howard also leads the NBA in that stat, as he deflects nearly 2.5 shots per game. There are minor injuries to consider here, with Gasol (hamstring) and Kaman (back), but each should be fine and in their respective lineups before Monday.

Player 5 (7 Games)
Brandon Jennings, Tony Parker, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook

This is the assortment of bases in this particular fantasy basketball contest. Rondo leads this group with 9.7 assists per game (and leads the NBA in steals with 2.47 per game), but no player is averaging less than 5.9 assists. That player would be Parker, who is also dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, though he’s playing through it. Jennings is second in PPG at 18.0, behind Derrick Rose’s 18.6, but he has one big advantage: 3-pointers. He has almost 50 more than the runner-up in that stat among this group, Oklahoma City’s Westbrook. But Westbrook is also averaging more than one rebound per game more than any other player here.

Player 6 (7 Games)
Rudy Gay, Al Harrington, Corey Maggette, Paul Pierce, Rodney Stuckey

We score again with this group (as in points, pervert!), as they each average at least 18.1 PPG, with Gay’s 20.4 points per contest leading the pack. Gay also leads in steals at 1.54, while Stuckey is averaging 1.41 and Pierce is averaging 1.28. Pierce leads in competitive 3-point shooting, while Stuckey is averaging 4.4 APG, which is best in this group. As for rebounding, you can also chalk it up to Gay, who pulls down 6.3 rebounds per game, just ahead of Maggette and Harrington’s 5.9 per game.

Player 7 (8 Games)
LaMarcus Aldridge, Baron Davis, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, Kevin Love

This is a group full of very different types of players who each average between 15.3 PPG (Love) and 18.0 PPG (Iguodala and Jefferson). As a point guard, Davis leads this group in assists with 8.1 per game, though his 1.81 SPG is second only to Iguodala’s 1.95. Love is the best rebounder in the group at 12.5 per game, which is second in the NBA, and Jefferson is second in the group at 9.7 goals ahead with 1.03 GPG.

Player 8 (7 Games)
Andrew Bogut, Marc Gasol, Al Horford, David Lee, Brook Lopez

Another group where the big men roam free, this collection of centers is led in rebounds per contest by Lee, who has 10.9 per game, with Lopez trailing at 9.6 per contest. Fantasy basketball would be nothing without blocks, so even though Lopez is behind when it comes to the boards, he leads the pack with 2.0 BPG, just ahead of Bogut’s 1.9. Lopez is also solid on PPG, averaging 18.6, though he trails pack leader Lee, who has 19.0 PPG.

Player 9 (7 Games)
Trevor Ariza, Caron Butler, Luol Deng, Yi Jianlian, Josh Smith

Only Ariza is proficient on 3-pointers, giving him the upper hand in that regard, but his 5.7 RPG is the lowest average of the bunch, and he’s the only one not averaging at least 6.5 boards. Ariza leads in SPG with 1.79, but every player except Jianlian is averaging at least 1.0. Smith is the leader with 8.0 RPG, followed by Deng’s 7.7, and Smith also blocks 2.13 shots per game, with Deng and Jianlian also blocking at least one shot per contest. Smith’s 14.7 PPG is the lowest average in this group, which is marked by Deng’s 17.4 scoring average.

Player 10 (8 Games)
Michael Beasley, Rashard Lewis, Troy Murphy, Jason Richardson, Lou Williams

This is an emerging three-point group, with Lewis, Murphy and Richardson each in the top 20 in triple hits per contest. Beasley doesn’t hit 3s regularly, but he’s second in the group in RPG at 6.7, behind Murphy’s 9.6. Williams is the clear leader in assists per game at 4.3 and is second in PPG at 15.5, which is second only to Beasley’s 16.1 scoring average. Williams is also averaging 1.35 steals per game, the only player in this group to average at least 1.0 steals or blocks per game.

Player 11 (7 Games)
Brendan Haywood, Kenyon Martin, Kendrick Perkins, Luis Scola, Jason Thompson

Scola leads this group in scoring with an average of 14.6, followed by Thompson at 14.2. Haywood is last with a 9.6 scoring average, but his 2.19 blocks per game lead this group and are third in the NBA. Fans of fantasy basketball will also be happy to know that Haywood leads this group with a 10.5 RPG average, though none have an average lower than 8.2 (Perkins).

Player 12 (7 Games)
Ray Allen, Wilson Chandler, Jamal Crawford, Chris Douglas-Roberts, JR Smith

This group doesn’t have a huge difference in scoring averages, with Crawford leading at 17.1 points per game and Chandler bringing up the rear at 15.0 points per contest. But Chandler’s 5.6 RPGs are by far the most, with Douglas-Roberts in second place at 4.3. Douglas-Roberts and JR Smith are also the only players in this group to average at least 1.0 steals per game. Smith leads in 3PG, but right behind him is Allen, unsurprisingly. Allen leads at ten cents per contest, but with only 2.9.

Player 13 (8 Games)
Elton Brand, Marcus Camby, Lamar Odom, Emeka Okafor, Thaddeus Young

This is not a group that I would classify as high scoring. Young leads the way with 14.1 PPG, but Camby and Odom are averaging less than 10.0 points per contest. However, he doesn’t strictly rule them out for that. Each has rebounding acumen, with Camby leading the way with 11.4 RPG (sixth in the NBA), while Odom knocks down 9.9 boards per contest, which is the same rate as Okafor. Camby also hits 2.08 shots per game, with Okafor behind him at 1.76 and Brand following behind at 1.26. Young, Brand and Camby also average at least 1.0 steals per contest.

Player 14 (8 Games)
Corey Brewer, Stephen Curry, Raymond Felton, Andre Miller, Jameer Nelson

No one will ever mistake the players in this group for being scoring champions, because they average between 11.7 PPG (Nelson) and 12.9 PPG (Felton). However, one thing they can do is serve the rock. Felton leads with 5.2 APG, and only Brewer isn’t averaging at least 4.4 assists. However, Brewer leads the pack in rebounds per game at 4.0 and is third in the pack in steals at 1.4 per game, behind Curry’s 1.76 average and Felton’s 1.83.