Tyler Green
I am a fantasy basketball enthusiast and this article will go through the top 5 studs and duds of the fantasy season so far. I am in a 9-category standard league so I will be basing my article around that. A stud is someone who dropped in the draft and has paid off for their owners. For example, Steph Curry would not be a stud because, even though being the best fantasy player, everyone knew he was going to be amazing. A dud is someone that was drafted early and has been a huge disappointment. Unfortunately, I have a couple duds but hopefully you didn’t.
Studs
Kyle Lowry
Season Avg (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .412 | .808 | 1.9 | 17.8 | 4.7 | 6.8 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 2.5\ |
Season Avg (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .413 | .887 | 2.6 | 20.6 | 4.9 | 6.5 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 2.9 |
Currently, Lowry is ranked the 6th overall fantasy player. His average draft position was at the beginning of the third round. Jumping up two rounds in value is already impressive enough but the fact that he has jumped into first round value makes it even better. Lowry has most improved on his defensive stats. Lowry is 3rd in steals per game, which shows that he is being aggressive on the defensive end while still being a 20 point scorer. To sum up, if you picked Lowry pat yourself on the back and hope he doesn’t fall off after the all-star break like last year. Go raps
Rajon Rondo
Season Avg (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .426 | .397 | 0.4 | 8.9 | 5.5 | 7.9 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 3.1 |
Season Avg (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .459 | .500 | 0.8 | 12.0 | 6.5 | 11.6 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 4.0 |
After Rondo’s failed attempt in Dallas, his career has come back to life in Sacramento. His average draft position was 108th overall. Now he leads the league in assists. In addition, the categories that have always plagued him are now pretty average. He is shooting 46%, which is amazing for Rondo. Also he is almost hitting 1 three a game. So overall, Rondo has improved a LOT since being in Dallas and is back to his Celtic ways…as long as you don’t mind about his turnovers.
Andre Drummond
Season Average (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .514 | .389 | 0.0 | 13.8 | 13.5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
Season Average (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .523 | .362 | 0.0 | 17.9 | 15.7 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 2.2 |
Drummond is leading the league in rebounds with ease. But we knew he could rebound, the most impressive thing is his scoring. He is scoring 18 points a game on 52% shooting. Usually big men shoot well, but he is an anomaly because of how many shots he puts up. He can have a big impact on your FG%. Unfortunately, his FT% is so terrible but if you are in a point’s league he is a top asset. His 2 steals and blocks a game makes him that much better. Congrats if you drafted him (and your punting FT).
CJ McCollum
Season (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .436 | .699 | 0.9 | 6.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.8 |
Season (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .447 | .802 | 2.5 | 21.0 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
CJ McCollum’s average draft position was in the 8th round. At this point in the season he is posting late second round value. He is one of the biggest steals of the draft because most 20-point scorers are off the board early. In addition, he is distributing the ball at a very serviceable rate and he is 11th for threes per game. He has thrived in his starting role in Portland and soared beyond the hype. If you took a gamble on one of the biggest steals in the draft, congrats.
Kemba Walker
Season (2014- 2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .385 | .827 | 1.4 | 17.3 | 3.5 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 1.6 |
Season (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .435 | .849 | 1.6 | 19.5 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 2.2 |
This is very surprising to me. Kemba has established himself as one of those “inefficient players you do not want to own”. Things really turned around for him in 2015-16 because he is shooting a career high 44% from the field. Scoring 20 points on 44% is not bad at all. He is ranked the 14th best player and his average draft position was 81st. That’s great value and if you drafted him you are probably in good shape.
Honourable Mentions – Isaiah Thomas, Hassan Whiteside, Demar Derozan, Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Chris Bosh, KAT, Danilo Gallinari, Draymond Green
Duds
Danny Green
Season (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .436 | .874 | 2.4 | 11.7 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
Season (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .368 | .842 | 1.4 | 7.2 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
This is easily the biggest dud of the season. His average draft position was in the 6th round and last year he cracked top 50 value. He went down in every category except for turnovers. That’s bad. To add on to this he is making 10 million a year. To sum up, if you drafted green, I’m sorry.
Kyle Korver
Season (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .487 | .898 | 2.9 | 12.1 | 4.1 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
Season (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .418 | .848 | 1.9 | 9.6 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
Obviously, the best thing about Korver is his threes per game, but more importantly he did it at great percentages. He was a valuable asset last year that could win you a category. Unfortunately, he has gone down in most categories, especially threes and percentages. His poor play has made him a droppable player. In my opinion, you should hold onto him, because he can get hot in a hurry, but he wont be as good as last year.
Ty Lawson
Season (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .436 | .730 | 0.9 | 15.2 | 3.1 | 9.6 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 2.5 |
Season (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .371 | .702 | 0.6 | 6.4 | 1.9 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.8 |
His average draft position was in the 6th round. Putting up 10 assists a game last year, picking him in the 6th round is more than justifiable. Going to Houston absolutely destroyed his career. He went straight to the bench after his first couple weeks in Houston and does not see any minutes. If you picked him thinking he was going to be better because of the new team, sorry.
Markieff Morris
Season (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .465 | .763 | 0.7 | 15.3 | 6.2 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 2.1 |
Season (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .381 | .700 | 0.7 | 10.5 | 4.7 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
With his brother out of town and the starting PF job Markieff looked like a major steal. Unfortunately, he crashed and burned. His FG% and points plummeted and eventually lead to his minutes plummeting. Every week for Morris gets worse and worse because of his minutes depleting. He should have been dropped a long time ago.
Nerlens Noel
Season (2014-2015)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .462 | .609 | 0.0 | 9.9 | 8.1 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 |
Season (2015-2016)
| FG% | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
| .504 | .571 | 0.0 | 10.8 | 8.0 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
Even though his stats are pretty similar, he is on this list because of his average draft position. He was drafted 29th. After the all-star break last year, Noel was averaging almost 3 steals and 3 blocks a game. Naturally, you think a rookie with those strong stats would have a better 2nd year. Unfortunately, due to many things like Jahlil Oakafor and being on the 76ers made him not lived up to the hype. So if you drafted him early, I’m sorry.
Honourable Mentions
Goran Dragic, Nikola Mirotic, Jeff Teague, Robin Lopez, David Lee, Kenneth Faried
The Blue and White 