The Olympics are over, which means we won’t be seeing stuff like this again anytime soon (maybe ever):

Yep, that’s NBA champion LeBron James with a wicked bounce pass to Kevin Durant. Not only is that a sick play — it’s also a smooth transition into the point of this post, because that GIF shows the top two players in the land of fantasy basketball.

The NBA offseason is in a lull, but fantasy basketball owners should never be. But if you’ve allowed yourself to kick back and hop out of the stream of NBA news and moves for a bit, who can blame you? So for those who have to reacquaint themselves with the league, and for those who are already up to speed, I present to you an early iteration of the top 150 fantasy basketball players for the upcoming 2012-13 NBA season. (The rankings assume nine categories and a head-to-head format.)

Here’s a quick peek at the top 25 players:

Some quick thoughts:

• My disdain for Dwight Howard (for fantasy and real-life reasons) is stronger than ever. To go along with his piss-poor free-throw shooting, add to the mix his bad back, the possibility of missing the early part of the season and a crowded starting lineup featuring Kobe Bryant. Count me out.
• If Carmelo Anthony can keep himself in shape for the rest of the offseason, he seems primed for a huge season.
• Hakeem’s help or not, I’m not someone who believes that Amar’e Stoudemire can ever recover any semblance of his former stud status.
• I can’t wait to see what Kyrie Irving‘s sophomore year will look like. Don’t sleep on Uncle Drew.
• Kenneth Faried, Ersan Ilyasova, Derrick Favors, Mo Williams, O.J. Mayo, Jordan Crawford and Greivis Vasquez are my favorite sleepers.
• Don’t you dare draft Goran Dragic before I do.
• Notice the absence of Derrick Rose on the list. It was deliberate, and yes, tears were shed while pouring one out for the man.

As always, let me know what you think — your disagreements, approvals, questions, hate and love.