Three Burning Fantasy Basketball Questions (Mar. 30)
Every week, D.J. Foster will tackle three burning questions in the Fantasy Basketball world. Topics for today: Fantasy basketball's MVP, fantasy basketball's LVP, and the best and worst value picks of the draft.
1. Who is fantasy basketball's MVP?
The obvious answer here might not be the correct one.
Stephen Curry is the clear-cut NBA MVP. He's basically broken basketball with his impossible long-range shooting efficiency. No one can touch Curry's stats. He wins you a category (5.0 3PM) all by himself, and in nearly every type of league with every kind of scoring system, he's far and away the best player this year.
But should value come into play? It either took the first or second pick of the draft to land Curry, and while this level of dominance couldn't be expected, you obviously drafted him with high hopes. Someone like Karl-Anthony Towns, who you could have selected as late as the 5th round, provided top-10 value at a tricky position with a much lower pick.
Did I talk you into that?
I hope not. Fantasy basketball's MVP is Stephen Curry, and it's not close. I can't remember the last time we saw a fantasy basketball season this consistently great. Now if only he blocked shots...
2. Who is fantasy basketball's LVP?
This one is a little trickier. We touched on it a few months ago, and the consensus seemed to be that Rudy Gobert was having the most disappointing fantasy season.
Gobert's ADP was right around the 18th pick, so the disappointment is understandable. It's hard to recover from burning an early round pick like that. Most player rating systems have Gobert outside of the top-100, thanks in large part due to injuries and inconsistent minutes.
There's a decent case to be made for Anthony Davis. If you selected him over Stephen Curry, for example, you likely burned your shot at a title before the season even began. Davis was still a top player when he was healthy, but not having him for the postseason at all is brutal for head-to-head leagues.
Most player rating systems still list Davis as a top-25 guy this year, despite the missed games. But when you consider that you could have taken literally any other first round pick and been better off, it stings.
Serge Ibaka was another high pick who didn't really live up to his usual standard.
In my mind, you have to lean towards someone who played a lot but just performed poorly. Eric Bledsoe was a worse pick than Derrick Rose because he missed more time, but he was much more effective in his minutes.
So who ya got?
I'll stick with Gobert, but there's an interesting case to be made for multiple top picks this year.
3. Who was fantasy's breakout star?
Think of the breakout star award as a mix between the NBA's Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player award. We're looking for someone who became a massive fantasy contributor that either wasn't one in the past or wasn't expected to be one.
The leader for the real MIP award is also a great candidate for fantasy. Blazers SG C.J. McCollum was receiving some hype on draft day, but his ADP was still right around the 80th pick with guys like George Hill, Trevor Ariza and other known entities.
McCollum blew those limited expectations out of the water this season, averaging over 20 points a game while staying fully healthy in the process. McCollum has returned top-25 value, and has established himself as one of the very best scoring guards in basketball.
Karl Anthony-Towns and Kristaps Porzingis deserve mention for their brilliant rookie seasons. It's hard to see either of them slipping out of the first two rounds of drafts for a long, long time.
Kemba Walker and Giannis Antetokounmpo both played much better than expected as well. There are lots of options here, but I'm sticking with my guy McCollum.
Thanks as always for reading, and I hope you enjoyed our fantasy basketball coverage this season.
