Fantasy Basketball 2016: 1st-Round Mock Draft and Best Team Names
The NBA offseason was littered with personnel shake-ups, which means fantasy basketball owners have a whole new set of questions to consider when it comes to first-round draft picks.
While Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry was previously tabbed as a potential No. 1 fantasy selection, Kevin Durant's arrival in the Bay Area has dinged both players' stocks and elevated Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook into the top spot in that conversation.
Factor in Houston Rockets star James Harden's position change to point guard under run-and-gun guru Mike D'Antoni, and there's plenty of justification behind picking the bearded wonder with this year's top pick.
With the regular season around the corner, here's an overview of a first-round mock draft for a standard 10-team head-to-head league:
| 1 | Russell Westbrook | PG | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 2 | James Harden | SG | Houston Rockets |
| 3 | Stephen Curry | PG | Golden State Warriors |
| 4 | Karl-Anthony Towns | C | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 5 | Kevin Durant | SF | Golden State Warriors |
| 6 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | G/F | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 7 | Anthony Davis | PF | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 8 | DeMarcus Cousins | PF | Sacramento Kings |
| 9 | LeBron James | SF | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 10 | Damian Lillard | PG | Portland Trail Blazers |
Top Picks to Target
There's no right or wrong answer in the Westbrook-Harden debate, so it comes down to a matter of preference.
With Westbrook, we know volume will be out of control, and NumberFire's Brad Leibfried pointed out a significant sample size to make that case in July:
"Even with Durant on his team, Westbrook already boasted one of the highest usage rates in the league at 33.1 percent last season. For the season, that number jumped to an insane 39.0 with Durant off of the floor last year. If he were to maintain that for an entire season, that would give Westbrook the highest usage rate of all-time, surpassing the 38.7 percent usage rate Kobe Bryant put up in the 2005-06 season.
The 2014-15 Thunder team is a great litmus test for how great Westbrook can be, as Durant was limited to just 27 games that year due to injury. In that season, Westbrook had the second-highest usage rate of all-time at 38.3 while positing 28.1 points, 8.6 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game.
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Oscar Robertson is the only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds per game, but it's not hard to imagine a world in which Westbrook meets those benchmarks with Durant out of the picture.
With Harden, statistical dominance is also in order, which is terrifying.
Harden has already led the league in points, free-throw attempts and free throws made, and D'Antoni's arrival in Houston should allow him to bolster those tallies.
The mastermind behind the "seven seconds or less" offense, D'Antoni has confirmed he will play Harden at point guard to maximize his playmaking capabilities.
"He's more or less responsible [for] giving rhythm to the team; that's what a point guard does," D'Antoni said, per ESPN.com's Calvin Watkins. "He's going to be on the ball and he's going to be distributing the ball, and it will take some adjusting. He's got a lot more responsibilities as a point guard."
Considering Harden joined Curry as the only players to post at least 2,000 points and 500 assists last season, fantasy owners should be salivating over potential Harden ownership.
One final top pick to target is Milwaukee Bucks swingman Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Now the Bucks' primary playmaker, Antetokounmpo should be in line for a breakout season at 21 years old after averaging 16.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per game and shooting 50.6 percent from the field last season.
To put those numbers into perspective, Paul Millsap, Andre Drummond, Anthony Davis, Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins were the only other players to average at least 15 points, seven boards, one steal and one block per game last season.
If we assume Antetokounmpo will continue his evolution into a foundational superstar and flirt with 20 points per game while taking on more ball-handling responsibilities, he could contend with Westbrook and Harden for the top fantasy ranking.
Best Team Names
Without further ado, here are some suggestions for team names as you continue to prepare for the start of the season:
- Kawhi So Serious?
- Trust The Process
- Everybody Loves Draymond
- Batum Goes the Dynamite
- Better Call Gasol
- James of Thrones
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.
