Every Wednesday this season, I will publish my top-130 fantasy basketball rankings for the remainder of the season.
These rankings are based on season-long rotisserie formats. That means that players who excel in one or two categories will be ranked higher and those who fail miserably in percentages will be ranked lower than they would be in a points system.
So, a 3-point specialist such as J.R. Smith gets a bump, while a young star such as Andre Drummond, who misses a ton of free throws, sinks. You will want to adjust accordingly based on your league's scoring system.
These rankings are forward-looking. If you want to know where players stand based on what they have done thus far this season, check out the ESPN Player Rater.
My goal here is to give you an idea of how much I value each player for the rest of the 2015-16 campaign. In its most basic sense, I am asking myself if I would rather have Player X over Player Y through April. If so, I rank him higher.
As always, I value your feedback, so feel free to hit me up @AtomicHarpua.
I made major changes to my top 10 last week, but little has changed in my expectations for this group since then, so they remain the same. We'll have to keep an eye on the shoulder injury that has cost Kawhi Leonard the past three games -- he is listed as questionable for Wednesday -- but at this time it doesn't appear to be anything serious. If it does continue to be an issue, we can expect him to skip some games down the stretch, which would really hurt, because the San Antonio Spurs have a light schedule the rest of the way.
I'm not quite ready to move Karl-Anthony Towns into my top 10, but he is getting closer, leaping this week past John Wall, Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul to No. 13. KAT certainly is posting top-10 numbers -- in fact, top five on the Player Rater over the past month -- and has a wide-open door to maintain that pace the rest of the way. As he proves capable of maintaining these huge numbers, the rookie will continue to rise past proven veterans in my rankings.
Hassan Whiteside also made a jump into the top 15 this week. Earlier this season, I wrote that when it came to shot-blockers, I would rather have Rudy Gobert than Whiteside, but noted that an injury to Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade would change my thinking, because Whiteside would be leaned on more to score. Well, Bosh is out indefinitely, Wade is less than 100 percent and Whiteside is going berserk in the box scores. There is a boatload of risk in Whiteside, but his upside right now is sick and I would take him over Gobert.
As for Bosh, I'm not really sure how to rank him right now. My guess is that we are looking at a long-term and perhaps season-ending absence for Bosh. With that in mind, I can imagine scenarios -- such as a close race in an eight-team league -- where I would drop him. On the other hand, if he gets cleared to return in a week or two, you are going to feel pretty stupid having given him to an opponent via waivers. I think for now, we are going to have to simply hold on to him and hope for the best.
With all of that in mind, I placed Bosh at No. 68. I also moved D-Wade down to No. 66 because of his nagging injuries and Goran Dragic up to No. 65 because of his increased usage with Bosh out of the mix.
Despite news that Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott intends to start D'Angelo Russell the rest of the season, I didn't move him in my rankings. I already had factored into my rankings the expectation that he would get the nod eventually -- and the fact that starting doesn't necessarily mean he will see a huge boost in playing time. Louis Williams is still there and will see a significant role. Russell should be owned, but don't go overboard in your expectations for him.
For now, I'm keeping Markieff Morris in the top 100. I expect he will enter the Washington Wizards' starting lineup sooner than later, and considering how thin that frontcourt is, Morris should see a large enough role to churn out numbers worthy of fitting into lineups in most leagues.
Eric Gordon jumped into my top 100, as it looks like he should be back on the court soon. With Tyreke Evans done for the season and a starting gig waiting for him, Gordon (owned in just 43 percent of leagues) is worth adding now if you need scoring and 3s.
Dennis Schroder was a trade-deadline loser because the Atlanta Hawks didn't ship Jeff Teague out of town. His upside will remain capped, but I still think he is a player worth keeping on your rosters for now. To begin with, Teague is dealing with a sore wrist, so it's possible that malady could open up things for Schroder. Plus, even in a backup role, Schroder could carry enough value to make a difference down the stretch. I actually moved him up a bit this week.
Thanks to the deadline trade that shipped Morris to the Wiz, Mirza Teletovic will see a reliable role down the stretch, so he returns to my top 130 at 122. He offers plenty of upside as a big man who drops 3s.
Also returning to my rankings is Bobby Portis. He has been playing well and it appears that Nikola Mirotic remains at least a couple of weeks away from returning to action. It's at least possible that Portis could hit his stride and force his way into an impact role even once Mirotic returns. He is a nice wild lottery ticket to have rostered if you have the space.