Fansided

Fantasy Basketball: Is Russell Westbrook The Consensus Top Draft Pick?

By Dave Fuqua

facebooktwitterreddit

Is Russell Westbrook The Consensus 2015-2016 Top Draft Pick?

The 2014-2015 season is still not over, but I love fantasy basketball so much that I want to begin the narrative on who should be the consensus #1 draft pick in fantasy leagues next year. Should it be Russell Westbrook? Should it still be Kevin Durant? Should it be Stephen Curry? Should it maybe be James Harden?

More from Fantasy

We are going to take a look at a few of these options and see who I would take with the first pick. We will try to decide who I would take and in what kind of league. As you all know if you follow me work here at Fantasy CPR I am a Stephen Curry fan club member. I also am a big fan of Kevin Durant.

There are almost as many different twists and types of fantasy leagues as there are fantasy players, but we will stick to just a few basic types for this discussion. For most of the players I have listed there are no major age differences so I really would not do much of anything different in a dynasty or keeper league. I have always been one to think that age is always over-valued when it comes to dynasty leagues and sometimes you will see players value youth over skill, talent and the ability to get fantasy worthy stats.

I know right now there are some of you who are rattling off different players who you think should be in this discussion and two that I realize are probably missing are Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins is and always has been a tough player to own due to his off-the-court issues and whatnot. To me that makes him hard to ever use a #1 overall pick. Now Anthony Davis on the other hand is probably a very legitimate candidate to add to this discussion, especially in dynasty or keeper leagues. He is a guy that I think will only continue to get better which is a scary thought for the rest of the NBA.

So if we add in A.D. to this discussion then we are staring at five different players that could all be potential number one picks and that does not even include the guy who has been going either one or one-a for the past several years and that is LeBron James. For me though I just don’t want to own James on my teams and maybe it is because I am not a fan of his. Maybe though it is because after I researched my leagues he continually pops up around seventh place in fantasy scoring in my points leagues. I wish LeBron James had that same drive that Michael Jordan had that said basically I want to give everything I have tonight because there may be one person in this arena tonight who has never seen me play before. I just don’t think he is quite there yet although I think I may be beginning to see that as these playoffs unravel this year.

So for me I think my #1 pick comes down to three guys and they are Westbrook, Durant and Curry. I think Westbrook may be the most driven guy in the league and he nearly carried the Thunder all by himself to the playoffs while K.D. 35 was injured. The way he finished this season out was a beautiful site to see. Had he played the whole season like that, he would have easily been a lock to win the MVP award and would have also took my much less prestigious Fantasy MVP award. The problem I have with taking Westbrook first is naturally the question you all would have and what happens to his inflated numbers when Durant returns.

For the last few years Durant and James have almost been the top two picks in all drafts regardless of format. For the most part when Durant has been healthy he has returned the value that was spent on him to acquire him for that kind of price tag. So that would beg the question as to say should he not still be considered as a top two draft pick if we know he is coming into the next season healthy? He has shown us all that we need to see and no one can question his talent nor his drive to be the best.

Stephen Curry was a very deserving MVP award winner as his game has just been beyond incredible this entire season. For me in a cats or a roto league I would probably take Curry at the number one pick because he does a little bit of everything. His numbers are very nice and he even is a top four guys in steals per game. His percentages are tight and everything about his game says MVP.

So for points leagues for me it comes down to Curry and Durant. I have a hard time not gunning for Durant, but I think that my heart says to draft Curry #1. For me Curry has just elevated his game this high that I would not want to own any other player in fantasy basketball. I am very excited to hear what you guys think and hope that you can post below in the comments what your thoughts are.

Live Feed

The Utah Jazz are surprisingly predicted to be a playoff contender
The Utah Jazz are surprisingly predicted to be a playoff contender /

The J-Notes

  • How the NBA In-Season Tournament helps the Cleveland CavaliersKing James Gospel
  • NBA Trades: This Heat-Spurs swap could pave the way for a Lillard tradeHoops Habit
  • Should the Atlanta Hawks want Zion Williamson?Soaring Down South
  • Hoops Habit's favorite moments and stories from the 2022-23 NBA seasonHoops Habit
  • Caesars NBA Bonus: Get Ahead of Next Season’s Hype with $1,250 PromoHoops Habit

    • I understand that a lot of guys are going to be on the Westbrook bandwagon, but I am afraid that he just won’t be quite as dominant as he was once Kevin Durant is back in the fold and he may also not see the gaudy numbers now that the Thunder have a new head coach. So there you have my number one and I will be working on some preliminary rankings for next season to help some of you guys who play in year-long keeper and dynasty leagues.

    Next: Dynasty League Top 100 Running Backs

    More from FanSided

    Home/Fantasy