Fantasy Basketball 2015: Latest Rankings for Top NBA Players and Sleepers
If your fantasy basketball league hasn't drafted yet, you're running out of time. The 2015-16 regular season kicks off Tuesday night, ending a long slog of an offseason that felt far longer than four months. The DeAndre Jordan saga that kept website clicks running through early July feels like a lifetime ago.
As it stands, we've managed to get through the preseason without too many major injuries. Tyreke Evans underwent knee surgery earlier this week, and Derrick Rose is recovering from an orbital fracture. But otherwise, we've had a relatively clean injury sheet. Compare it to last season, when we were wondering how the Oklahoma City Thunder would do without Kevin Durant, and the relatively small number of injuries is promising.
It also helps us avoid making too many changes in the overall fantasy rankings. Minus a few movements—mostly related to Evans and some preseason trends—this is a largely similar outlook to the preseason. With that in mind, here's a look at position-by-position rankings and analysis of some sleepers who could wind up changing the outcome of your league.
Positional Rankings
Point Guard
| 1 | Stephen Curry |
| 2 | Russell Westbrook |
| 3 | Chris Paul |
| 4 | Damian Lillard |
| 5 | John Wall |
| 6 | Eric Bledsoe |
| 7 | Kyle Lowry |
| 8 | Victor Oladipo |
| 9 | Jrue Holiday |
| 10 | Reggie Jackson |
| 11 | Ty Lawson |
| 12 | Jeff Teague |
| 13 | Isaiah Thomas |
| 14 | Derrick Rose |
| 15 | Kyrie Irving |
| 16 | Mike Conley |
| 17 | Goran Dragic |
| 18 | Brandon Knight |
| 19 | Kemba Walker |
| 20 | Tyreke Evans |
Shooting Guard
| 1 | Stephen Curry |
| 2 | James Harden |
| 3 | Klay Thompson |
| 4 | Paul George |
| 5 | Jimmy Butler |
| 6 | Gordon Hayward |
| 7 | Eric Bledsoe |
| 8 | Kyle Lowry |
| 9 | Victor Oladipo |
| 10 | Jrue Holiday |
| 11 | Reggie Jackson |
| 12 | Bradley Beal |
| 13 | Kyrie Irving |
| 14 | Andrew Wiggins |
| 15 | Goran Dragic |
| 16 | Dwyane Wade |
| 17 | Brandon Knight |
| 18 | Kobe Bryant |
| 19 | Kemba Walker |
| 20 | Tyreke Evans |
Small Forward
| 1 | LeBron James |
| 2 | Kevin Durant |
| 3 | Klay Thompson |
| 4 | Paul George |
| 5 | Kawhi Leonard |
| 6 | Carmelo Anthony |
| 7 | Jimmy Butler |
| 8 | Gordon Hayward |
| 9 | Andrew Wiggins |
| 10 | Draymond Green |
| 11 | Rudy Gay |
| 12 | Nicolas Batum |
| 13 | Tobias Harris |
| 14 | DeMar DeRozan |
| 15 | Tyreke Evans |
| 16 | Danilo Gallinari |
| 17 | Khris Middleton |
| 18 | Giannis Antetokounmpo |
| 19 | Kyle Korver |
| 20 | Chandler Parsons |
Power Forward
| 1 | Anthony Davis |
| 2 | LeBron James |
| 3 | Kevin Durant |
| 4 | DeMarcus Cousins |
| 5 | Blake Griffin |
| 6 | Paul George |
| 7 | Carmelo Anthony |
| 8 | Chris Bosh |
| 9 | Serge Ibaka |
| 10 | Paul Millsap |
| 11 | Pau Gasol |
| 12 | LaMarcus Aldridge |
| 13 | Kevin Love |
| 14 | Draymond Green |
| 15 | Rudy Gay |
| 16 | Hassan Whiteside |
| 17 | Derrick Favors |
| 18 | Al Jefferson |
| 19 | Al Horford |
| 20 | Nerlens Noel |
Center
| 1 | Anthony Davis |
| 2 | DeMarcus Cousins |
| 3 | Chris Bosh |
| 4 | Serge Ibaka |
| 5 | Marc Gasol |
| 6 | Rudy Gobert |
| 7 | Nikola Vucevic |
| 8 | Andre Drummond |
| 9 | Brook Lopez |
| 10 | Pau Gasol |
| 11 | LaMarcus Aldridge |
| 12 | DeAndre Jordan |
| 13 | Dwight Howard |
| 14 | Hassan Whiteside |
| 15 | Derrick Favors |
| 16 | Al Jefferson |
| 17 | Al Horford |
| 18 | Nerlens Noel |
| 19 | Jonas Valanciunas |
| 20 | Tim Duncan |
Sleeper: Isaiah Thomas, Boston Celtics
Suffice it to say, the Phoenix Suns' three-headed point guard monster didn't work out last season. The team struggled as no one could decide who should dominate the ball when, and two of the three (Goran Dragic and Thomas) were gone by the deadline. Dragic's now a member of a veteran Miami Heat squad that boasts one of the league's most promising starting lineups, while Thomas is back to plying his trade as a microwave-scoring sixth man extraordinaire.
Thomas averaged 19.0 points, 5.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 21 regular-season games with the Celtics. While those numbers weren't quite what he was putting up in Sacramento, they're huge for a guy who's going to go three or four rounds too low in most drafts.
Thomas, even when he's not at peak efficiency, fills up the stat sheet. He hit more than two threes per game after arriving in Boston, adds roughly a steal per night and is a career 44.1 percent shooter.
Here is the list of players who averaged at least 19 points and five assists while draining at least two threes per game last season: James Harden, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving.
Draft Thomas a round ahead of where he's expected to go and feel smart about it later.
Sleeper: Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic
This is the year we're all expecting Oladipo to make the proverbial leap. The second overall pick in 2013 has made strides in each of his first two seasons but hasn't gotten all the way there as a two-way force.
He averaged 17.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals last season. Those counting stats alone make him a fantasy force. He was one of just 16 point guards to average a 15-4-4 stat line, was the youngest player on that list and contributed defensive stats in ways most others didn't.
The big leap for Oladipo will—or at least should—come via increased efficiency. He showed a slight uptick in 2014-15, improving to a 43.6 percent shooter overall and 33.9 percent from deep. The latter statistic put him right on the cusp of league average, and Oladipo spent all summer looking to make another jump forward.
"I pretty much can shoot it better now and that opens up a lot of things for me,’’ Oladipo said, per John Denton of the Magic's official website. "That opens up the mid-range (shot), it opens up the lane for driving. There’s a variety of stuff now that I have in my arsenal. And it’s easier to draw defenders when you can shoot. They’ve got to come and play you and when you can drive they have to come and play you. And that’s what gets other people on the team open."
If Oladipo's work translates on the court, he could become a 20-5-5 guy without a real uptick in usage. The players who can do that are few and far between, so finding them is a must on draft night.
Sleeper: Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves
Because duh. Every NBA writer has been warning fans of Wiggins' impending breakout all summer. He showed vast improvement on both ends of the floor while playing internationally for Canada and has shown flashes at times despite struggling from the floor in the preseason.
The Timberwolves, broken down by injuries throughout 2014-15, will have a more well-rounded supporting cast in place for Wiggins this season. Ricky Rubio's back and ready to drop dimes, Nikola Pekovic will occupy space inside and even Zach LaVine should be improved after moving to his rightful position at shooting guard.
Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns are the centerpieces to Minnesota's rebuild, but it's really the former who will be relied upon this season. He averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game as a rookie. Those are fine numbers, yet Wiggins still doesn't fill up the stat sheet enough. If he doesn't improve as a rebounder and ball-handler, it's possible he becomes little more than a DeMar DeRozan clone.
"I worked a lot on ball handling, shooting," Wiggins said during the preseason, per Marcus R. Fuller of the Pioneer Press. "Become a bigger threat all over the floor."
A 31 percent shooter last season from deep, finding more consistency in his shot will be paramount to Wiggins making the leap everyone's predicting.
