GMTR Valentine Series: I HEART Danny Granger!

Categorized as: Author: Erik, Fantasy Basketball, Indiana Pacers
Posted on: February 14th, 2009

Valentine’s Day, the day of hearts, the day of LOVE! It’s time we at GMTR talked about NBA players we LOVE, from a fantasy perspective of course. I will go ahead and kick things off in the series with an NBA player that I simply “wub, wub, wub to bits!”

For me, this year, I definitely have to say that “I HEART Danny Granger.”

The “I HEART Chris Paul” thing… that was just so last season. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t fault you for loving CP3, he’s still a fantasy stud, but Danny G is the latest  fresh and awesome fantasy monster to join the list of the fantasy elite this year!

At an average draft pick of 13.8, which translates to pretty much a 2nd-4th second round pick in a standard 12-man league, Danny (SG/SF, Indiana Pacers) is currently Yahoo-ranked 3rd based on season totals! He’s also 4th and 3rd in GMTR’s 8-cat and 9-cat player raters respectively. That right there folks, is AWESOMENESS to the nth degree!

Sadly, I didn’t get to draft Danny in any of my drafts at the start of the fantasy season. I was, however, able to trade my Josh Smith (pre-ankle injury Josh) for him in 2nd day of the season in one league. In another league, 3 weeks ago, traded Emeka Okafor and Josh Smith for Danny and Fransisco Garcia. So after all of that wheeling and dealing, I’m glad to say that I am one proud fantasy owner of the latest and hottest thing in fantasy basketball since, well Chris Paul and LeBron James.

So what’s there to love about Danny? Well he wouldn’t be where he is on fantasy basketball player rankings everywhere if he wasn’t a multi-cat monster.

Danny Granger: A Rashard Lewis with Benefits!

Let’s start with what he does best. There is only one player in the NBA who averages more three-pointers made per game than Danny G, and that’s Rashard Lewis. Shard’s knocking ‘em down from downtown at 2.9 per game while Danny’s raining down those bombs at 2.7 per game. It’s 0.2 less treys per game but at more categories contributed. Like I said, Danny is Rashard with benefits. It’s actually rare, not since the likes of Larry Bird, can fantasy managers consider building their team around a 3-point shooter. The bottom line with Danny nailing so many treys and contributing in so many other stats is that you need less guys to fill in to compete for the 3PTM cat. He makes small ball or well-rounded ball so efficient and easy to build around.

Ok, I’ve done the treys comparison with Rashard. Let’s do a 12 things I love about Danny Granger, just to put things into better perspective.

1. As I mentioned, he shoots only 0.2 less treys per game than Rashard Lewis.
2. He is currently blocking only 0.1 less blocks per game than Josh Smith.
   
3. He’s can score from anywhere on the court.
4. He’s been doing a heck of a job being the Lone Granger while Tonto has had to deal with knee problems.
5. He is averaging only 3.2 less PPG than LeBron James.
6. He is playing in the All-star game! I wish he decided to rest his aching knee instead though.
7. He has only 1 percentage point less than Kevin Martin in terms of EFT at 93%.
8. He is averaging the same TOs per game as Josh Smith and less than Kevin Martin by 0.1
9. He makes being a good player on a bad team look good and be fantasy viable.
   
10. I own him in 2 Yahoo fantasy leagues.
11. I called him out to have a HUGE fantasy year back in Points in the Paint.
12. He’s got clutch! Remember his game winner vs. Phoenix?

If we had to a post all-star weekend fantasy draft, then Danny Granger would be in everybody’s Top 4-6 options. What’s not to love?

Worried about his declining FG%? Well, it’s most likely a side effect of his knee bothering him. The sooner he gets to rest his knees, the sooner he can regain his above average (for a 3-point shooter) FG%.

Here’s to you Danny, thanks for stats, the cats, and those awesome games! … and for crying out loud, rest your knee so we can have more of those monster games!

By the way, I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Cheers!

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Tags: Danny Granger, Rashard Lewis