Hardwood Hits: NBA Preview Part 1

by Ethan Haskell (Ethan) Last Updated 2012-10-08 03:09:20

You know it’s time to start thinking about basketball when FanDuel releases some head-to-head match ups and you can start fiddling with a lineup. So with the official start of the NBA daily fantasy season underway I will be putting together an extensive series of NBA preview articles with in-depth analysis, rankings, and more. Part 1 will break down the point guard position and I’ll even get a FD lineup out there that I threw together today. NBA is back, get pumped.

Here’s the intended break down for the NBA Preview Series, comment below if you’d like to see anything added:

• Part 1: Point Guards + FD Lineup Plays
• Part 2: Shooting Guards + Site Scoring Breakdown
• Part 3: Small Forwards + Daily Fantasy Basketball General Strategy
• Part 4: Power Forwards + Useful Statistics for DFS Hoops
• Part 5: Centers + Value Plays Across DFS Sites

2012-13 Point Guards Preseason Ranks

The point guard position is my personal favorite to watch in basketball. In football the quarterback is the General on the field and is responsible for always knowing where everyone should be on offense. In basketball that role goes to the point guard. The floor generals are, for the most part, great passers first. Even if they can also fill it up, the great PGs think pass first and constantly fight to maintain a cohesive flow on the court for the entire team. Here are my top-45 Point Guards for the 2012-13 season, below I’ll break down a few notables or justify guys you might think I ranked too high/low.

Note: This is in terms of DAILY potential. This is not necessarily a reflection of season-long talent but more a representation of guys who are great for daily formats.

• John Wall expected to miss the first month, at least, with a stress fracture.
• Ricky Rubio will likely miss at least the first two weeks of the season.

Breaking Down the Notable Point Guards

The Top Five Daily Fantasy Point Guards

• #1 – Chris Paul
  We can start with CP3 because he is #1 on the board here. He’s the consensus number one and again has the best chance to be a fantasy stud night in and night out. Injury-prone at times but as daily fantasy players that is one thing we can account for. We don’t need to worry too much about him missing extensive time.

• #2 – Deron Williams
  Williams is ranked between the 3-4 range on most boards but I bump him up a bit because he finally has good talent around him. Between Johnson, Wallace and Lopez, Williams won’t be forced into playing with that score-first mentality we’ve seen over the past couple seasons. Last season in New Jersey Williams averaged 8.7 assists. His previous 3 FULL seasons in Utah, he was able to average between 10.5 and 10.7 assists per game. I expect the new talent allows him to pass more and take less of the scoring load this year.

• #3 – Rajon Rondo
  Aside from his bi-polar nature, Rondo is the only player on the Celtics “Big-3” I will likely touch all season for daily fantasy. Pierce and Garnett will spend the regular season playing limited minutes and resting for the playoffs. Rumor is that KG won’t play more than 30 minutes a game all year. Rondo will still play a ton though and he’s as dynamic as any point guard in the NBA. Could easily be #1 if he didn’t go through depression periods.

• #4 – Russell Westbrook
  I have Westbrook ranked lower than most because I need to see how he reacts to the short offseason after a Finals run. It’s not easy and often times young guys can have letdowns. He proved to be a force last season but was relatively quiet in the playoffs. Not saying he won’t be really good, but I don’t see the same numbers as last year happening again.

• #5 – Kyrie Irving
  Irving is a guy that I am REALLY up in the air on right now as far as his potential this season. Luckily as daily players we don’t need to commit to the full year and we can wait a week or so before passing real judgement. The ranking of 5th overall is for his talent. He is a Top-5 PG in terms of talent hands down. With a healthy Varejao and some other upgrades around him he should be a lot better. But he has always been injury prone(even in his one season at Duke), and last year he killed some DFS players with a few late, late scratches so before he enters your lineup make sure you do your homework.

Most Improved PGs from Last Season

• Jrue Holiday – (#10)
  Jrue is a guy I see having a tremendous season because of two key factors. One, the obvious, he is coming into his own and has gotten better each year. The second reason being that he gets rid of a lot of ‘dead-weight’ so to speak at the guard position in Philly. Iguodala and Williams leaving opens the door for Holiday to be the full-time court general. Adding Bynum won’t hurt any PGs play either, as it’s nice to be able to toss the ball down low for easy dimes to an elite Center.

• Darren Collison – (#19)
  He leaves the fantasy irrelevant city of Indiana to go have an opportunity to become a fantasy factor for us DFS guys. In good match ups, Collison can now be relied on because he will be getting consistent minutes and have a solid supporting cast around him. His time in Indiana was always impossible to predict and though he showed a few flashes of brilliance, it seemed the Pacers were always set on having George hill run their squad.

Rookie To Jump On Early

• Damian Lillard
  The TrailBlazers have him listed as their starting PG right now and from the little bit I’ve seen of him in college and the training camp/preseason so far he’s the real deal. Fresh out of Weber State he’s got the goods to contribute right from the start. Athleticism and finishing at the hoop are his specialty. His outside game and passing abilities need some work but he’s not Rondo bad jump-shooting or Westbrook bad with decision-making by any stretch. He’s NBA ready and I think he will turn a lot of heads early in the season.

FanDuel Early Lineup Thoughts

Had to add this part in at the end because FanDuel was the first to release their NBA stuff and I was too excited not to immediately throw 76 lineups together. I will discuss most of these non PG plays as we continue with the NBA preview series, but for now here’s some quick hits I noticed while rolling through their salaries.

These are for the October 31st games

Good Match-up Value Guys

• Darren Collison vs. Utah – $5100 and Utah is starting Mo Williams right now at the point.
• Damian Lillard vs. LA Lakers – $5500 and Nash has never been known for his defense.
• Rodney Stuckey vs. Houston – $5500 against a Houston team that’s porous defensively.
• Royce White vs. Detroit – $4500 and despite a weird social illness he should start and be covered by….Jonas Jerebko?

A Very Rough Draft Lineup