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EDIT: 10/12/2018 - 2:12 AM
With the fantasy basketball season just around the corner, RotoBaller has you covered with our experts' fantasy basketball rankings. We've put together a top-200 ranking to help you with your upcoming drafts.
But that's not all! Our writers have taken the time to break down the various tiers of our rankings to ensure you have as much information as possible heading into draft season.
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including NBA Writer of the Year, Best NFL Series, MLB Series, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!Below are is the rankings analysis for the first three tiers of the rankings.
Fantasy Basketball Rankings - Tiers One to Three
| Tier | Rank | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Anthony Davis | NOR |
| 1 | 2 | James Harden | HOU |
| 1 | 3 | Karl-Anthony Towns | MIN |
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Durant | GSW |
| 1 | 5 | Stephen Curry | GSW |
| 1 | 6 | LeBron James | LAL |
| 1 | 7 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | MIL |
| 1 | 8 | Nikola Jokic | DEN |
| 1 | 9 | Kawhi Leonard | TOR |
| 1 | 10 | Russell Westbrook | OKC |
| 2 | 11 | Victor Oladipo | IND |
| 2 | 12 | Damian Lillard | POR |
| 2 | 13 | Paul George | OKC |
| 2 | 14 | Joel Embiid | PHI |
| 2 | 15 | Jimmy Butler | MIN |
| 2 | 16 | Ben Simmons | PHI |
| 2 | 17 | John Wall | WAS |
| 2 | 18 | Chris Paul | HOU |
| 2 | 19 | Kyrie Irving | BOS |
| 2 | 19 | Rudy Gobert | UTH |
| 3 | 21 | Jrue Holiday | NOR |
| 3 | 22 | Andre Drummond | DET |
| 3 | 23 | Donovan Mitchell | UTH |
| 3 | 24 | Kyle Lowry | TOR |
| 3 | 24 | Bradley Beal | WAS |
| 3 | 26 | Kevin Love | CLE |
| 3 | 27 | Kemba Walker | CHA |
| 3 | 28 | Khris Middleton | MIL |
| 3 | 29 | Draymond Green | GSW |
| 3 | 30 | Devin Booker | PHO |
| 3 | 31 | Eric Bledsoe | MIL |
| 3 | 32 | LaMarcus Aldridge | SAS |
Tier One - Fantasy Basketball Rankings Analysis
This year’s first-round selections shouldn’t be a big surprise. You can’t really go wrong, with no bad picks in the top 12-15 range.
However, I would say that I probably made a mistake in ranking Damian Lillard too low in my own initial rankings (13th). With the news of Russell Westbrook’s fourth knee surgery in the past 5 years, I'm just a tad bit scared that all those rim-rattling power dunks have had a negative effect on the landing of those knees of his. Now, I’m not doubting the “Brodie” at all, as I fully expect him to beat his timetable to return to beast mode form. However, the durability and the offensive freedom Lillard possess tells me I should have him back into the top 10 over Westbrook. It’s worth noting that RWB isn’t as appealing as his triple-doubles suggests in nine-category leagues.
Another person I’d probably bump down is Kawhi Leonard. Sure, he’s one of the NBA’s best two-way players and is a top-five player in both real life and fantasy when healthy. However, he’s moving into a new system, new team, new coach, and played a mere 9 games last year. Owners shouldn’t expect an immediate first-round value return, so the likes of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Paul George, and even Victor Oladipo are looking more and more attractive by the day.
And if you thought about picking anyone else than James Harden or Anthony Davis with the first or second pick in your draft, don’t. Those two players should be in another tier of their own, really. Just don’t do it. Don’t be that guy.
Tier Two - Fantasy Basketball Rankings Analysis
The turn of the second-round selection should feature at least one Sixer, depending on how you want to build your team. If you happen to have the 12th pick in a snake, standard league draft, you could very well select both Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid to get off to a tremendous start.
Paul George receives a boost from the Westbrook injury, but he’s bound to be even better this season anyhow with Carmelo Anthony signing with the Rockets. Jimmy Butler, wherever he might go, will still possess top-10 upside. Getting Jimmy Buckets in the second round would likely be a great value pick. And nope, going to the Heat would diminish his value and he should not fall out of the top-20 range in any draft.
I’m not huge on Kyrie Irving this year, as I think Boston has too many mouths to feed and they will monitor his minutes all year long. Although I think he’ll still be great and flirt with top-20 numbers all year, I think his upside is capped, unlike in previous seasons. I’m not sold on Rudy Gobert having a monster season, as I think you would need to punt points to really get the best value from him. It’s very likely you’re going to have to pair him with a scoring machine like Anthony Davis or James Harden to really make it work, so he’s falling more into the top-30 range in my draft board rather than top-20.
Lastly, I love Chris Paul to death and I always suggest that we should not penalize players for being injured the previous season, or season(s). However, I understand it’s increasingly hard to trust Paul now since he’s becoming more and more fragile. Believe it or not, CP3 was still ranked 9th in nine-category leagues last season, despite playing only 58 games. He’s as good as they come in fantasy, finishing in top-10 overall for 11 consecutive seasons. He’s still a bonafide fantasy point god. So no, I wouldn’t let Chris Paul slip out of the top-20 range, and definitely not the top-25 range. You simply need gambles to win in fantasy and you should never go into a draft hating on players because they burned you the previous season(s).
Tier Three - Fantasy Basketball Rankings Analysis
This tier is where it starts to get interesting, as you will likely pick players to pair up with your first round and second round selections to form a solid team. You can either choose to go balanced, punt, or simply go with the best player available. I always suggest getting the best player available since it would increase your chances to get sustainable value. Donovan Mitchell has been getting picked really early in most, if not all drafts this season, but I believe he belongs in the 25-30 range, rather than the 10-20 area where he’s being drafted at. I just don’t see a gigantic leap in production this season when teams are going to be zoned to stop him. Would I be surprised? No, but I would rather bank on studs like Bradley Beal, or Eric Bledsoe - who both finished ahead of Mitchell in last year’s nine-category rankings.
I’m a believer in Kevin Love this season, and I believe he’s going to have a huge year. He won’t quite be like the Kevin Love from the Timberwolves, but he has a great chance to smash that ADP and finish in the top-15 when it’s all said and done.
Kemba Walker is an interesting player this season, and early preseason suggests the Hornets will play at a much faster pace. He’s underrated in a sense that he plays for a small market team, but much like Khris Middleton - both Walker and Middleton serves as a great safety picks with a hint of upside in the late second-round.
Devin Booker seems closer to a return, and he hasn't been ruled out of the season opener. It's likely you can still get him at a slight discount since I do believe he will have a terrific year. Don't let him slip out of Round 3.
Lastly, Eric Bledsoe is a phenomenal point guard to target in Round 3, and he holds top-20 upside. He was solid in the last two months of last season, finishing #14 in 9-category leagues. His second year in Milwaukee could be even better.
