By: Andrew Katz
For the record, these rankings only take into account present performance and projected performance for the rest of the 2007-08 season.
On the bubble:
John Salmons – Expect production to decline as Kings’ big three return.
Brad Miller – See above
Danny Granger – Has seen numbers slip since O’Neal’s return.
Pau Gasol – Until he gets out of Memphis, he’s just not going to play like should
Andrei Kirilenko – Uh, Oh…production down and here come the injuries
Vince Carter – Get ready for it, it’s that time of the year where Vince crashes and burns and takes entire fantasy teams with him.
50) Kevin Durant – Improving as both an NBA and Fantasy player every month.
49) Mike Dunleavy – Can’t ignore it any longer, he’s gonna be a quality contributer for the rest of the year.
48) Ron Artest – He does everything and looks to be getting his injuries and is likely to be dealt to a contender…assuming he avoids the orange and blue.
47) Tim Duncan – Yup, you can forget the days where Timmy was a top 10 Fantasy player, this is his home now.
46) Devin Harris – Point guard for a great offensive team, Devin’s averaging 6 dimes and 2 steals a game, and it can only be expected that his role will increase as the season goes on.
45) Samuel Dalembert – Most underrated center in fantasy: 11/10 and 3 blks a contest. In some leagues he’s still on the waiver wire.
44) Antawn Jamison – Only him and Bosh average 20/10 and 2 or less TOs.
43) Michael Redd – Probably out for the rest of the week, but his team appears to finally be starting to gel meaning some of the pressure to force things may come off Redd’s back.
42) Carmelo Anthony – Dear Melo, cut the TOs and you will be a top 15 player. Love, Andrew
41) Grant Hill – No signs of any sort of injury and has been nothing but stellar playing in this Suns’ lineup.
40) Joe Johnson – Please see entry under NBA Keepers for Joe Johnson. Yes, it is happening and yes, he is becoming a fantasy star.
39) Rashard Lewis – Magic are allowing Rashard to be Rashard, which entails three 3’s a night.
38) Tyson Chandler – Last month: 13 pts/14 Rbs. And he’s a historically a second half performer. Scary.
37) David West – If the Hornets stay pat, he could fall into the 40-50 range, but if they trade for some veteran help to alleviate SOME of the pressure from him and Paul, the 20-30 range is more conceivable.
36) Rasheed Wallace If you’re looking for a relatively cheap, sure thing, Sheed’s your man.
35) 33) Jermaine O’Neal – Seems to be completely back from his injury, no reason to doubt him now.
34) Jason Richardson – A 3 point machine! The Bobcats letting him shoot until he’s content, and surprisingly, he’s doing so very efficiently. He’s putting up solid numbers across the board.
33) Mo Williams – You got me Mo, I’m finally a believer. Putting up sick numbers the last month: 19/7/2 (Pts, Rbs, Stls.)
32) Brandon Roy- Just get him on your team before it becomes an impossibility.
31) Jose Calderon – TJ’s hurt again! TJ’s hurt again! I know it’s cruel, but I’m a Calderon owner and his nine assists and less than 1.5 TOs a game is something that no other point guard brings.
30) Deron Williams – As the Jazz went in the W-L columns this past month, so went their players’ fantasy numbers.
29) Josh Howard – So solid, ignore the recent slump fantasy-wise.
28) Gerald Wallace – An outstanding last month. A complete toss-up though if he will be a top 20 or top 50 guy for the rest of the season.
27) Jason Kidd – Trade for him now while owners may have yet to catch onto his recent surge in value. The Nets have won five in a row and Kidd’s playing with a passion previously unseen this entire season.
26) Dwight Howard – I feel as if I might be overrating him (even though many people value him in the top 10.) This guy just works too hard though not to be able to fix his glaring flaws (TOs, FT%.)
25) Rudy Gay – Will probably we top 20 by year’s end, even on a dismal team he plays with a fiery passion (ironic, isn’t it?) night in and night out.
24) Paul Pierce – Not to hate on Paul, but I don’t see his numbers improving from where they are now this season, and considering the amount of minutes he’s seeing nightly, there is a good chance that his stats will decline slightly.
23) Yao – Let’s face it. He’s not a top player and he’s never going to be. Deal him before everybody else realizes this.
22) Steve Nash – This a conservative ranking for Nash who is coming off a sub-par month for him, could end up top 10 in next week’s rankings if he plays accordingly.
21) Chris Kaman – An absolute animal. Thank God Brand’s done for the year. To be safe let’s just tear his other ACL right now.
20) Andre Iguodala – Too bad the Sixers are so awful, because he has top 10 written all over him.
19) Al Jefferson – Numbers have improved every month. 25/15 by year’s end? Sounds good.
18) Josh Smith – In a keeper league, I wouldn’t trade Marion for him. Why? Because he is Shawn expect 7 years younger.
17) Chris Bosh – Calderon’s favorite target, which basically means he’s gonna drop 20 a game easy to go with his 10 boards. 85 % from the line makes you want to hug him and (1/1/2 (Stl, Blk, TO) are nice too.
16) Hedo Turkoglu – I really like his game and it turns out he’s a perfect fit for the Magic. A lock for top 25 at the end of the year.
15) Andrew Bynum – Every night before I fall asleep I thank God for letting him fall into my hands. He’s been a top 25 player the last month and the best part about him is that he never turns the ball over because he only touches it right before he dunks. 17/14/3/2 (Pts, Rbs, Blks, TOs) for season’s end and a top 20 ranking doesn’t sound like a stretch to me.
14) Chauncey Billups – He’s going to be a top 20 player for the rest of the year. Love it. Accept it.
13) Dirk Nowitzki – Dirk’s starting to gain my confidence back as he shows the initiative to take over the leadership role on his own team (led Mavs in scoring last nine games.)
12) Carlos Boozer – Sure he had a down month, but I place full confidence in him to rebound (no pun.)
11) Dwyane Wade – Putting up crazy stats lately (28 pts 8 asts last mth.) Once the Heat fire GM Randy Pfund, maybe they’ll get Wade some actual help so he won’t have to force his way into 5 TOs a game.
10) Amare Stoudemire – No complaints here, Amare does everything you could want out of him.
9) LeBron James – You won’t see him crack my top 5 until either a) Danny Ferry decides maybe he should find LeBron some help or b) Mike Brown decides to sit the rest of the Cavs and the league agrees to credit LeBron with assists when he passes to him himself (probably the more likely of the two options.)
8) Kevin Garnett – His will to win allows him to put up outstanding fantasy numbers even on nights when he doesn’t score 20.
7) Allen Iverson – He’s put his team (the Nuggets and many fantasy teams) on his back and is delivering his most statistically efficient, yet dominant season yet. Averaging less than 3 TOs/game over the last month have led him to number 4 in the Y! game over that time span.
6) Kobe Bryant – It must be such a relief to be playing with Shaq, I mean Bynum.
5) Marcus Camby – If your team has solid shooters already in place, then he’s your best option.
4) Caron Butler – Gilbert may be out for the year!? Caron owners rejoice, you’ve just ensured yourself a top 10 talent for the rest of the year at least!
3) Baron Davis – Only player averaging 20 pts, 4 rbs, 8 asts, 2 stls.
2) Chris Paul – Only number 2 because it is a foregone conclusion that The Matrix will finish a top 3 fantasy player this year. (It is so tempting to put him 1 though, especially since I’m wearing my CP3 jersey for the title game tonight.)
1) Shawn Marion – Last month: 15 points, 8 rbs, 2.5 asts, 1.6 stls, 1.9 blks, 0.8 TOs. This sort of line makes you have to wonder, does Shawn play in a high-roller league where he drafted himself when he was rookie and kept him ever since. What else would possess someone to be that kind of all-category player? He is not human.
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