Fantasy Basketball 2015: 1st-Round Mock Draft and Top Team Names to Consider
The start of the 2015-16 NBA season is on the horizon, which means it's officially time for prospective fantasy basketball owners to start poring over stats and evaluating which players could serve as the best cornerstones for their franchises.
While sleepers will wind up solidifying fantasy rosters as the season progresses, it's early-round studs who can buoy a team single-handedly and offer stability throughout the course of the upcoming campaign.
So with some of the game's most dominant statistical machines in our crosshairs, here's a look at a fresh first-round fantasy mock draft for a standard 10-team league:
| 1 | Anthony Davis | PF | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 2 | Stephen Curry | PG | Golden State Warriors |
| 3 | James Harden | SG | Houston Rockets |
| 4 | Kevin Durant | SF | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 5 | DeMarcus Cousins | PF | Sacramento Kings |
| 6 | Russell Westbrook | PG | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 7 | LeBron James | SF | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 8 | Chris Paul | PG | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 9 | Damian Lillard | PG | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 10 | John Wall | PG | Washington Wizards |
Kevin Durant, SF, Oklahoma City Thunder
Kevin Durant told reporters he's "ready to go" during Sept. 28's media day, per the Oklahoman's Anthony Slater, so he should be locked in as a top-five pick as draft season gets going.
The scoring maestro left owners in shambles last season after foot injuries limited him to appearances in just 27 games, but one injury-riddled year shouldn't drop him down draft boards.
Durant has led the NBA in scoring in four of the last six seasons, and he's remained wildly efficient despite averaging 19.1 shots a game over the course of his career. Including last year's small sample size, Durant has shot better than 50 percent from the field each of the past three seasons. He's also topped 40 percent shooting from three during two of those campaigns.
In other words, Durant is in prime position join the 50-40-90 club for the second time in his career.
The 2013-14 MVP also attempted 9.9 free throws per game during his last healthy season. That mark would have ranked No. 2 overall behind James Harden last year.
Tack on roughly seven rebounds, four assists and a steal per night, and Durant is one of the most complete players in fantasy.
DeMarcus Cousins, PF, Sacramento Kings
DeMarcus Cousins is an anomaly. Star big men have long scored and rebounded like the Sacramento Kings superstar, but few have ever handled the ball and posted defensive numbers quite like the 25-year-old.
Last season, Cousins averaged 24.1 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.7 blocks. Those figures weren't just impressive within the context of the 2014-15 campaign. They were also historically significant.
According to Basketball-Reference.com, Cousins joined Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and George McGinnis as the only players in league history to average at least 20 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and 1.5 steals for a single season.
If Cousins replicates those tallies, he'd join Barkley as the only players to post them more than once. In other words, don't bank on a repeat.
But even if Cousins doesn't reach those plateaus again, he can still dominate. He's averaged a double-double in three of his five NBA seasons, and during the 2012-13 season, he fell 0.1 rebounds short of doing so.
Now a sure bet to average 20 points and 10 boards, Cousins is a safe mid-round pick with a bit of upside thanks to his ability to stuff several columns in the stat sheet.
Damian Lillard, PG, Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard a first-round pick? You bet.
With LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum out of the picture in Portland, the Blazers point guard should be given the reins to run the team's offense as he sees fit.
"There just aren't offensive threats beyond Lillard and McCollum," CBSSports.com's Matt Moore wrote. "[Meyers] Leonard can stretch the floor, but you're not going to see him go for 30 points more than maybe once a season. Maybe the only player with the ability outside of the guards to put up numbers is Ed Davis, whose numbers last year were surprisingly strong."
That leaves Lillard, who could legitimately compete for an NBA scoring title along with Durant, Harden and Russell Westbrook.
A volume scorer at heart who lives for long-range theatrics, Lillard averaged a career-best 21 points and 6.2 dimes last season. And for the second season in a row, more than 42 percent of his total attempts came from deep.
While the efficiency wasn't always there—he shot a career-worst 34.3 percent from three—Lillard converted 64.2 percent of his shots around the rim. That number represented a 13 percent improvement from the season prior.
Lillard's pure shooting percentages should plummet given the higher number of shots he's slated to take, but his per-game averages should skyrocket as the Blazers turn to him as their primary on-ball playmaker.
Top Team Names
If you're still in search of a team name to impress the other owners in your league, check out a few of our favorites below:
- Batum Goes the Dynamite
- The Big Deng Theory
- Ibaka Flocka Flame
- Better Call Gasol
- The Monstars
- The Price is Dwight
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
