2015-16 Fantasy Basketball: Top 200+ Dynasty Player Ranks
Fantasy basketball dynasty rankings are a fickle thing.
Much of it comes down to personal preference, a particular affinity towards certain statistics, or even just watching a player and saying ‘I don’t think he’s that good now or will be in the future’.
The basis of these rankings is 8-category rotisserie league format. However, you’ll see there are little tidbits mentioning both H2H and streaming, so players like DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard and Michael Carter-Williams are ranked MUCH lower in Roto than they are in H2H. This isn’t an attack on them personally, this is basically just saying they are ‘lacking’ in certain areas of their fantasy game.
Age must be taken into account when ranking dynasty players. You need only look back at our last piece on the industry dynasty mock draft, which saw countless young up and comers being selected over the true and tested old dogs.
For that reason, you won’t see anyone older than 33 years old ranked in the top 75. In fact, Tyson Chandler is the highest ranked 33+ guy at ranking 83, and that’s because he has a guaranteed starting gig and he has the Suns’ acclaimed medical staff ready to turn him into a fantasy Terminator if any part of his body plays up. Sorry Pau (109), Wade (131), Dirk (142), Kobe (148) and Duncan (149) – the Bell tolls for thee (almost!). For more on Pau and Duncan specifically, check out this great piece by the Fix’s own Seth Klein.
The addition of the age for every one of these players will hopefully assist you with your drafts. That age is as of opening night this season, October 27th, 2015. It’s funny seeing a guy like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist being 22-years-old, going into his fourth season and about to get $50m, while his Bobcats teammate Frank Kaminsky is already 23! Such is the planning you need going forward in a dynasty league. For a complete and detailed breakdown on the rookie rankings, Zack Rewis went through three type-writers to get this monster out – read it!
These rankings were very fun to do – you’ll hopefully see some of my passion come through in the notes, as well as my frustration simmering by venting at some players!
The following 200+ players have been looked over countless times over the last month or so, with comments next to every player to hopefully expand on why they’re ranked where they are.
As always, we’re like a cheap restaurant and we love feedback on your service, whether you were satisfied or not, so please let us know!
Any and all of the stats quoted in the rankings were brought to you by the always tasty Basketball-Reference.
You can hit me up on Twitter @macetastic and I’m happy to chat anything and everything basketball – fantasy and reality.
The Author
13 Comments
In a 12 team dynasty league. 200 dollar auction budget and it is an 8 category Rotisserie.
In terms of points awarded to my team, I won last year and received more than 10 points (AKA finished in the Top 3 of my league) in all categories except FT% and 3PM. I have 65 dollars left over after my preliminary round of keepers. With this very abbreviated explanation, would you drop Millsap (25 dollars) to free up enough space to guarantee myself Curry or Durant at any price.
If you need more information on other keepers feel free to ask. This is my first year avidly checking this website and I am impressed with the dynasty related content I have seen. I can’t wait to use this website throughout the year!
Hi Eric
In terms if upgrading Millsap to Curry or Durant, I think the gap between Millsap (one of my Roto favs) and the other two monsters is big enough to take that risk.
It obviously depends on the make-up of the rest of your squad, but if I can drop Millsap, spend $30+ extra to land Curry or KD, I’d do it.
Thanks very much for the kind words. Yeah Zack emailed me one day and said ‘we need dynasty stuff, now’ so we just hit the books and it’s been great fun researching. I enjoy keeper leagues more than standard, keeps you more involved in case you do poorly in the draft/injuries you can re-build in-season.
cheers!
Sam
Sam-
Thanks for the quick response! This keeper league has actually made me enjoy fantasy basketball more than fantasy football to be quite honest!
The only reason I would drop Millsap is to assure myself Curry or Durant. It will likely cost me 80+ for Curry if I know my league and maybe 70 or so for Durant.
With FT% and 3s being my biggest needs, would you rather LeBron/Millsap, or Curry + whoever else I can grab for 10-15 dollars? I am just enamored by the idea of having Curry and Davis together who fit together unbelievably well
Sorry late reply – I’m not getting notifications of comments for some reason!
Wow that is seriously expensive for one of those two…But they are both young and they’re two of the 3-4 guys who could push Davis for #1 overall, hence the cost.
Davis and Curry would be freakish as they mesh perfectly – have you got Davis???
What’s the rest of your squad look like. Knowing you need 3s/FT% I’d lean towards KD/Steph and the $10-$15 guy, someone like Beal you might be able to get for $15 if someone’s not awake
I got in on the ground floor of Anthony Davis for 48/200 (compared to 76 for Durant that year and 79 for LeBron). My keepers if I dropped Millsap would be:
Anthony Davis 48/200
Kyle Lowry 3/200 (yes that is the number 3)
Goran Dragic 12/200
Victor Oladipo 17/200
Khris Middleton 2/200
Nikola Vucevic 17/200
Ed Davis 2/200
Tyreke Evans 9/200
So, I can either keep Millsap at 25 and roll with the draft to see who I can get (I don’t think dropping any other player besides Davis opens up the cash necessary to get Curry/Durant) or I can drop him and roll with the 90 bucks to get Curry basically. I think with Curry helping me immensely in FT% and 3s I could get away with a slight lack of depth I have going right now. You start 6 players each night but there are 18 roster spots.
P.S. That definitely was not a long response. Just trying to bounce my thoughts off somebody else so I make the most informed decision I can.
You got a hell of a base there man!
I’d drop Millsap, go for the kill and try for KD or Curry. Always a chance you land one at $60-$70 and then have $20-$25 to try get Millsap again!
Lowry at $3 is criminal – he’s ripped as hell this year and looks like he’s in for a big year. Middleton at $2 is insane value too.
I’m really high on Dipo this year – have him taking that Butler-leap and doing a 20-5-5 type year, possibly even more.
Thanks man! I have always loved Lowry because he destroyed for the Rockets my first year ever playing… Glad to hear he is taking the season seriously.
Middleton is great for the price and Ed Davis always seems to come up with a double double and 2 blocks every time I needed to trade him.
Based on the prices my league normally pays, Oladipo and Vucevic are the 2 reasons I have a chance to create a dynasty. Wade and Pau Gasol went for 25 dollars more combined than that pair and I thought in a keeper that was criminal.
Lastly, I am glad you said “going for the kill” because thats exactly what I want to do. I want to bury my league for years to come. I think with Davis and Curry plus my base I could do that!
What would you bid on the big 3 rooks: Towns, Russell, Oakfor in a 20 team keep forever dynasty with $200 draft budget, $100 FAAB. So far i have a good base of 7 players $93 spent predraft (17 roster total) including my bench. I have $107 left to spend in the draft. I need PG’s dearly. I was b thinking blow $80 on those 3 if possible & maybe get the rookie PG in Denver too if possible. I’m not in win now mode. This is an elite league full of active, xpert, savvy owners. I’m new to the whole dynasty thing so i need all the help i can get. Thanks in advance. Marco
Yo Marco.
I would target Mudiay ahead of Okafor. I really think his ceiling is limited for Roto due to that FT% and then a lack of anything like STL, BLK, AST, 3pt. PF/C don’t necessarily need those extra ‘perks’ but when you suck at FT% it sucks the value right down. I think his ceiling is ZBo – but ZBo could make his FTs and goes close to 1stl a night too.
Towns you need to get – he’s the guy who in 2-3yrs might be a 20-10-2 guy with elite %s. At worst he’ll be a Valanciunas type with more blocks – but even then I just can’t see him peaking at that level. He reminds me of LaMarcus Aldridge a bit in terms of skill-set, but a bit bigger and much better shot-blocker. I have Mudiay over Russell for this year too due to the near lock for 32min+ a night. Russell has Clarkson, Lou Will and that Kobe guy to fight for mins for. Russell has more long-term upside though. Mudiay’s %s will be tough, you’ll need to surround him with elite FG and FT guys cos he just isn’t a good shooter yet.
The fact you’re not in win now means your #1 priority should be Towns. Go high on him, then I’d go for Mudiay 2nd personally. I think someone will reach on Russell – and you can always dabble and drive his price up just for a laugh!
cheers
Hey thanks for the advice dude. I think I’m going to buy Towns & Russell or Mudiay. I’ll most likely just toss $25 at towns and hope i can get one of the others for $12-$15. Is it likely I’ll get Towns for $25? Probably not, but he’s at around $10 auction price in redrafts. Maybe I’ll get lucky but there’s several other teams rebuilding with the same amount of money as me. The cool thing about the faab is throughout the season you can grab guys for $1 bids and if they pan out they can be kept at that price forever. Drafting is not set up that way. Draft day prices is the keep forever price unless you toss them back into the draft at the end of the year. So i figured I’d spend 35-40% of my bankroll on those 2 players because i have no point guards. I mean i have none! The guy i took over for had a $34 Rondo and there was no way i was keeping him at that price. I have a $23 Millsap, $8 Greek Freak, and a $11 Deandre Jordan $5 CJ McCollum, $1 Julius Randle & 3 other $1 keeps. So yeah I’m not winning anything this year or not likely the next year either. This is at least a 3-4 year project. 20 teams is a lot of guys targeting the same players so i guess you have to overpay for the big players. If Towns ends up being the next Gobert or Brow $25-$30 is a steal.
Did I just miss him or is Rubio not on the list? I know he’s not a superstar but he should definitely be on the list.
#67 – cheers
Not sure if I have time to get a response from you. I am drafting first time ever tonight a brand-new 20 man dynasty auction league with 17 roster positions. 2x of PG, SG, SF, PF, C, Util + 5 bench. Keeper rules is you can keep everything without added costs.
I am totally newbie at auction which makes it worse. I have like 340 players. I probably know 180 players or so. But wow, I am overwhelmed.
Any last minute tips or strategies?
Thanks!