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Here are fantasy basketball experts André Snellings, Eric Moody, Eric Karabell and Jim McCormick to offer their biggest takeaways on the first two months of the NBA season.
Which 2-3 players would make the biggest jump in the rankings today compared to where they were when you drafted them before the season?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander makes the biggest jump at the top of the draft, and I don't know that it's close for second. SGA entered the season as a promising young player with durability and other question marks, and currently is playing at a top-5ish level. Donovan Mitchell made a leap, because I thought he'd cede more production to Darius Garland and the talented Cavs, but instead he's retained his high-usage/high-production style. Mikal Bridges has also made a massive leap, from fringe top-100 to solidly top-50 through the first two months. -- Snellings
Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the players who would make a significant jump. His season averages are 31.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.8 SPG and 1.1 BPG. Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged a whopping 53.7 fantasy points per game this season. The second is Lauri Markkanen, who is having a career-best season. He's averaged 22.2 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 2.2 APG this season. Considering Markkanen's average draft position before the season, his 38.8 fantasy points per game have been a pleasant surprise. -- Moody
There was a roundtable recently focused on which players might be able to sustain hot starts, with the likes of Lauri Markkanen and Brook Lopez among them. Both stand out as players who would rightfully leap in updated rankings, as Markkanen has continued to score and rebound at breakout rates while Lopez is suddenly Alonzo Mourning protecting the paint. Of players who went late or undrafted, Bol Bol and Kelly Olynyk also stand out as stellar values thus far. It's been a fun season so far for unique frontcourt contributors. -- McCormick
Lopez and Kelly Olynyk were draft day afterthoughts but now they are valuable options for roto and points formats. Lopez missed most of last season after back surgery and Olynyk offered little production for the Pistons. Each fellow is on the wrong side of 30 and neither scores nor rebounds all that much. Why would anyone covet them? Well, Lopez offers a valuable combination of blocked shots (nobody averages more) and 3-pointers, while Olynyk delivers steals and 3-pointers. They shoot well. They score and rebound some. They show up most every night. They have to be top-75 players for the mid-season drafts, at the least. -- Karabell
Which 1-2 big-name players would you steer clear of given their ADP if you redrafted today?
LeBron James will have missed seven of the Lakers' 24 games, good for a 30% clip. While he's still posting gaudy overall numbers, there are simply too many paths between injuries, rest, and the Lakers' potential to struggle for James to continue to miss enough games to limit his overall fantasy impact. Kawhi Leonard is another obvious name given the expectation to miss games down the stretch and how slow this reintegration has gone. Of players without health concerns, I'd be fine fading Nikola Vucevic, as he's endured another steep decline in shooting and scoring volume, which compromises the value of a center who isn't a traditional rim protector. -- McCormick
Rudy Gobert and Chris Paul are two big-name players who immediately entered my mind. Gobert is still in his prime, but his statistical production has been down this season playing along Karl-Anthony Towns. This season, Gobert hasn't quite reached the heights he reached last season. Last season, Paul averaged 14.7 points per game and 10.8 assists per game. In each of his last three seasons, he played 65 games or more. Paul has been sidelined for a month with a heel injury and could face a minutes restriction upon his return. He's averaged 9.5 PPG and 9.4 APG so far this season. -- Moody
I wrote this before the season, but I am still steering clear of LeBron James and Anthony Davis if I have to secure them with one of my first two picks. The numbers are great, but the durability is not. James turns 38 later in December and he has played in only 72% of Lakers games since joining the club five years ago. He's not getting more durable, missing nearly half of November's games. Tough to be a top-10 player that way. Davis is on an historic run lately of scoring, rebounding and blocking, despite his own back injury, but he is even more brittle than James, having played in 63% of Lakers games over his four seasons. Do you think these Hall of Famers will play throughout March with the Lakers under .500? I don't. -- Karabell
There are several top players that have been felled by injury, which hindsight makes clear, but in particular I'd steer clear of Damian Lillard and Kawhi Leonard. Lillard because the situation in Portland is still murky...they feel like a team transitioning to a rebuild, with some exciting young talent in the backcourt, and Lillard as the older vet that also is dealing with injury doesn't seem to fit. Leonard, I've already written on...the Clippers need him healthy and producing for the postseason, but seem content to burn much of the season without expecting much from him at all. It isn't clear, at this point, at what point (if ever, this season) Leonard might be expected to produce commiserate with his talent level. -- Snellings
Knowing what you know now about positional depth, injuries, etc. around the NBA, what's your best advice for those who are drafting their fantasy basketball teams now?
I like to build a strong base of assist-providing point guards and rebound-heavy big men, ignoring the hollow scorers such as Klay Thompson -- and there are lots of others -- because one can always find scoring and 3-point makers on the waiver wire. It's tough to find someone capable of six-plus assists or nine-plus rebounds out there, so secure them early and if it means streaming your shooting guard/small forward spots, so be it. Cleveland's Darius Garland and Chicago's Nikola Vucevic are examples of players that do not cost top-20 picks, but one can build a fantasy roster around them with other stars. -- Karabell
Position-wise, I'd point out that there is only one small forward-eligible player in the top-10 of my rankings, Jayson Tatum, and the next two highest-rated SFs are older superstars with injury risks in LeBron James and Kevin Durant. So, not only is Tatum having an MVP-caliber season, but position-wise he's a lot more scarce than the centers and point guards that I have ranked around him. Similarly, I have a couple of teams where I don't have legitimate strength at power forward, either. Thus, when in doubt on the redraft, it behooves one to address both forward positions early in the draft because the fall-off in available talent is steeper there than at the other positions. -- Snellings
Remember to value versatility and specialists in category formats. Whether it's before or during the season, it's easy to overlook the players who either do one thing well or do a bit of everything, but might not be found among the leaders in scoring. Names such as Franz Wagner, Olynyk, and Bruce Brown come to mind as glue guys who can fill stats sheets and help complement your fantasy superstars in building a balanced approach. Defensive specialists Nic Claxton and De'Anthony Melton are often underpriced in drafts and can carry you in scarce categories, meanwhile, volume shooters such as Malik Beasley and Kevin Huerter help gain an edge in this space-and-pace-minded era. -- McCormick
My advice to those drafting would be to wait on point guards and centers. Each of these positions has a lot of depth. One position that doesn't have an abundance of options is small forward. In fantasy drafts, I would prioritize that one early. -- Moody
Previous expert roundtables from this season
Who has been the top waiver wire pickup so far this season? (Dec. 7)
Are Brook Lopez, Bol Bol and Lauri Markkanen here to stay? (Nov. 30)
How to best navigate injury-riddled rosters? (Nov. 25)
Where would Shai Gilgeous-Alexander be picked in a re-draft? (Nov. 23)
Who is your favorite player to roster this season? (Nov. 16)
What would you do differently if you could redraft today? (Nov. 9)
Who is fantasy basketball's most underrated player? (Nov. 2)