fBasketballBlog

The Manimal will be the Nugget to watch this season. (Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

Depth chart:

Relevant fantasy players and their projected draft round (PDR) and per-game stats:

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: (continue reading…)

Lawson was a stud in the last weekend of the 2011-12 NBA regular season. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Weekend Wonder: Ty Lawson averaged 21.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 10.0 assists, 0.5 steals and 3.0 threes in two games over the weekend. He shot 58 percent from the floor and 100 percent from the free-throw line in this stretch, while averaging 0.5 turnovers per game. For the season, Lawson has been a top 25 stud, which is on the high end of expectations heading into this season’s drafts. He’ll be a stud again next season.

Lines for Discussion:
Serge Ibaka (4/20): 6-11 FG (55%), 12 Pts, 6 Reb, 1 Ast, 8 Blk, 1 TO; he’s going to be a killer keeper

Kenneth Faried (4/21): 9-13 FG (69%), 18 Pts, 14 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk; Faried is averaging 11.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.4 blocks this month

LeBron James (4/22): 11-21 FG (52%), 9-10 FT (90%), 1 three, 32 Pts, 8 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk, 5 TO; barring a huge finish to the season from Kevin Durant, James will finish the season as the No. 1 fantasy basketball player of the 2011-12 NBA season  (continue reading…)