The Fantasy Basketball All-Stars: Western Conference

Categorized as: Author: Erik, Fantasy Basketball, NBA All-Star Weekend
Posted on: February 13th, 2010

Patrick gave me first pick of which conference to choose. Without really giving it much thought, I just quickly replied: “I’ll take the West.”

As I was sorting through the stat sheet Patrick handed me to draft (select) from, I realized, “How the heck can I beat a team that has LBJ, Wade, Rondo (my pet NBA player this season)?”

After further inspection, I understood the dilemma of polarizing the NBA into East and West. Each conference has distinct disadvantages in terms of fantasy-depth in certain positions. Patrick already complained about the East’s lack of depth at the PG position. I, on the other hand, had difficulty filtering for solid SG and SF picks for the West.

It’s going to be interesting, to say the least, how the simulated results will end up panning out. Without further ado, let’s get this wild West Show on the road!

Starters

Steve Nash (PHO – PG) Game Adjusted 9-Cat Rating (GAR): 10.7

This choice was an example of a “Chris Paul Conundrum“. Chris, in spite of playing in only 38 games so far this season ended up with a GAR of 12.0. It was kind of an OCD-moment for me, but I wanted to pick players who played in at least 40 games this season. Add to that the fact that Paul is going to remain out of commission for even more time, I just couldn’t make the move to slide him into the starter’s role he would normally deserve.

In the end, I opted to give Steve Nash and his age-defying fantasy season the honor of starting. He’s also the real-life West All-star’s starter, so that helped too. Let’s give him some credit. His stats are better than last season across the board, with the exceptions of  turnovers which are currently up by 0.4 and steals which are down by 0.2. Throw in the fact that most of his owners don’t really care about his turnovers in the first place, it’s a very welcome sight to see him average 18.3 PPG, 11.1 APG, 1.8 3PPG, 0.5 SPG, 51.9 FG%, and 93.9 FT% so far.

Kobe Bryant (LAL – SG) GAR: 11.9

Kobe may be missing the real-life all-star game due to injury, but as far as fantasy basketball is concerned he deserves a nod to start for the West’s squad. We know that he’s just getting extra rest for his hurt ankle because the Lakers seriously want him back as close to 100% down the stretch and heading into the playoffs.

Kobe gets props for being the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer. He also gets brownie points for his resilience and competitive spirit. The man has a busted finger, which initially gave his fantasy owners a scare, and yet he came back after a few poor-shooting games as strong and as dominating as ever. How can anyone resist his averages of 28 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.4 3PPG, 1.7 SPG, and solid percentages?

Kevin Durant (OKL – SF) GAR: 13.6

His pre-season fantasy hype is well deserved. The Durantula IS the future! He’s carrying the Thunder straight into playoff contention. He’s doing more of everything this season. Yes, unfortunately committing more turnovers in the process. His number three on GMTR’s player rater and doesn’t look like he’s about to slow things down. 29.8 PPG at 48.5 FG% and 88.1 FT% is just crazy. He’s improvement in other categories such as his 7.4 RPG, 1.5 3PPG, and 1.4 SPG are all welcome improvements to his line. The Eastern team may have LeBron James, but as far the West is concerned KD is our BIG GUN.

Dirk Nowitzki (DAL – PF) GAR: 12.7

Time and time again, Dirk has been the model of reliability, consistency, and efficiency as far as fantasy basketball power forwards are concerned. He’s even been honored/challenged with the task of containing LeBron in the All-star Game. There’s not much more to add, he’s right behind Durant in GMTR’s player rater at number four and has just been quietly solid throughout this season. His stats are down from last season, with the exception of his blocks which are 1.1 BPG. Go Dirk show ‘em some D! There are, however, few contenders who can say that they do what Dirk brings to the table at less than two turnovers a night (1.9).

Tim Duncan (SAN – C) GAR: 10.8

Yes, he’s boring to watch. Yes, even in all-star games. But when you see how his FT% is holding up so far at 75.0%, which by the way is great in terms of Tim-Duncan-standards, you can’t help but appreciate his solid game so far this season. He’s managed to cull his turnovers and keep them at an impressive 1.8 average.

Stack those significant improvements in those categories with his current averages of 19.4 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.8 BPG, and 52.7 FG%; and you’ve got a shoe-in for fantasy’s Western conference starting center.

Bench

Jason Kidd (DAL – PG) GAR: 11.2

He was chosen to replace Kobe in the real-life game, so I see no reason to exclude him from our little make believe version. He’s heading down that road of fantasy decline, but as far as this season is concerned you still can’t ignore a player who is giving your fantasy team 2.0 3PPG, 1.8 SPG, and 9.3 APG.

Deron Williams (UTA – PG) GAR: 8.7

I passed up guys like Chauncey (9.4 GAR) and Baron (9.7 GAR) to accommodate D-Will into the all-star squad. Why? Well, in spite of his having to deal with a number of assorted injuries this season, Deron represents the future of the PG position as far as fantasy is concerned. I’ve got two “old guys” already running at point and I feel it was time to inject some youth in the lineup. Deron has been the “Chris Paul consolation” PG pick in fantasy for a couple of years now, and I feel that IF this kid can stay healthy, he will be a huge difference-maker for many fantasy teams. He’s a popular pick and is representative of that aspect of the selection process. Players aren’t voted into the all-star game based on their stats alone. Just ask, Allen Iverson owners about that…

Brandon Roy (POR – SG) GAR: 8.2

It would be just wrong to pick a team without a backup SG, and in spite of Roy’s missing some significant time, he did make my 40 games played minimum, on the dot. He is/was Nels’ pet fantasy pick coming into this season and I can see why. Prior to his hamstring injury, Roy was contributing a Kobe-lite stat line for his fantasy owners. 23.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.4 3PPG, 1.0 SPG, 48.5 FG%, 79.2 FT%, 2.2 TOs. He’s expected back soon and those numbers will definitely provide a huge swing for his fantasy owners’ teams.

Carmelo Anthony (DEN – SF) GAR: 8.9

As I mentioned, the Western conference fantasy depth at SG and SF is rather thin. Melo was in the thick of the MVP race before injuries derailed that campaign. He’s back now and was just barely able to make my 40-games-played minimum. He is still allegedly hurting, which isn’t good news for his owners; but as far as fantasy is concerned I can’t deny his percentages-impact for many fantasy teams out there. 29.2 PPG at 46.3 FG% and 85.6 FT% is superb; but add to that the fact that Melo chips in 6.4 RPG, 1.0 3PPG, and 1.4 SPG a night just makes him awesome.

Marcus Camby (LAC – PF) GAR: 11.0

I must say that I am very impressed on how he’s been able to stay relatively healthy so far this season. *Knocks on wood* We are all aware of the “Camby Phenomenon”. He give you Top 20 fantasy value when he’s healthy, the only caveat to Marcus’ situation is the big looming “IF” that actually hangs over his ability to stay healthy. For now, this defensive maven has managed to play in 51 games so far. That’s 51 games where his owners are just loving his averages of 12.1 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 1.9 BPG, 3.0 APG, at an impressive ratio with his 1.3 TO/G.

Zach Randolph (MEM – PF) GAR: 10.0

It’s been awhile, welcome back Zach! Talk about your comeback fantasy basketball player… Zach Randolph truly deserves his first-time, real-life all-star selection. It even shows in his fantasy performance. Bottom line is that Z-Bo has fit well with his new team, the Memphis Grizzlies. He’s playing some of the most inspired basketball we’ve seen him bring to the court in a really long time. Considering how late so many owners got to nab him in fantasy drafts, Randolph’s averages of 20.5 PPG, 11.6 RPG and solid percentages have turned him into an impressive draft-steal indeed.

Marc Gasol (MEM – C) GAR: 10.4

His brother Pau, is playing in the real game, but Pau’s missed too many games to be considered in the fantasy-version of this contest. One good Gasol deserves another. Marc just been killing it in fantasy as a very late-round pick in this season’s fantasy draft. His performance-to-date has far exceeded his fantasy average draft position (ADP). We projected him to improve this season, but few experts saw him averaging 14.9 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 1.1 SPG, and 1.6 BPG. His significant improvement in the blocks category makes it easy to throw some props his way. What better way to give him some fantasy-basketball-love, than to include him in Fantasy’s all-star selection.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Marc Gasol, Marcus Camby, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Zach Randolph