This Season's Fantasy Picks

As a lifetime basketball fan that has always dreamed of playing or coaching past the high school level there is no better feeling than putting together an all star fantasy team. Tonight we have the draft for our "bragging rights" league. I'll be honest, last year I stopped paying attention to my team after the first couple weeks because no matter what I tried to do I couldn't acquire a quality big man to give me some rebounding numbers. At the start of the draft all I saw were star players that I enjoy to watch rather than observing the numbers they actually produce. That's why I'm putting together a list of some of my top players at each position so I can stick to a system rather than just grabbing the best player at the time.

Point Guard

Chris Paul - We saw Chris hurt last year towards the end of the season which really hurt the Hornets. They got rid of Tyson Chandler which appeared throughout the season to be Pauls' greatest asset. Most of the highlights I saw of the Hornets consisted of Paul driving to the basket and either throwing an alley-oop to Chandler or faking the pass and taking a step back jumper. However, the Hornets did acquire Emeka Okafor who we saw contribute a great deal to the Bobcats. Essentially, they received a player that still can't shoot outside who rebounds about the same and can't shoot free throws. David West is still on the team along with an aging Peja, I'm thinking this season is going to be centered more around Paul than in years' past because of the terrible cast around him.

Deron Williams - Similar to Paul's situation Deron is definitely going to be the primary focus of the Jazz this season. It appears that the Bulls liked the way the Jazz lineup was meshed together and just took the core group out of Utah. They did acquire Al Jefferson which with the combination of Mehmet could provide a really interesting inside and out game. New acquisition Gordon Hayward could prove to be a great shooter to have alongside Williams, but I see Deron's points going up rather than his assists.

Dwayne Wade - I absolutely despise the new look of the Miami Heat, but I think it should be interesting to see the way the Heat lean towards. Much like the Celtics in their acquisition of the "Big 3" there has been a noticeable trend in different situations throughout the game of who they lean on. I'm thinking that Dwayne's points are going to go down a little bit, but he is a competitor and will get his points however he has to. I do see his assists going up, but again this all depends on who they're going to be running the patented NBA big and roll with. With Drama Mama James on his team we'll see how when it really comes down to crunch time who they lean on.

Jason Kidd - What else to say other than quality veteran? Despite the off court feuds with his wife Kidd is always a great pick up and will give you quality rebounds, steals, and assists. It appears as he gets older that his numbers have dropped, but he does tend to go through spurts where he'll catch a flame and start draining shots. When he's feeling it the triple doubles start showing up like acne on a steroid using body builder.

Rajon Rondo - Complete tool for trying to pick a fight with Hinrich in the Bulls vs Celtics playoff series, but man as he really came into his own. Completely different playing style and really able to explode. Still no jump shot which I find amazing at the NBA level, but is extremely aggressive and has a great supporting cast around him. Since the Celtics picked up O'Neal we'll see if this gives the Celtics more offensive possessions or if this is just going to slow their fast break offense down.

Rose, Jennings, and more to come...