Jodie Meeks – The Fantasy Sports Coach

2014 Fantasy Basketball Rankings

So much for the Lebron James or Kevin Durant debate that inevitably led up to almost every fantasy basketball draft of the last few years. Kevin Durant suffered a fractured metatarsal that could be tough to heal as the blood flow to that particular area of the foot can affect healing.

So now the debate becomes just how far we let Durant slide down the rankings as he will miss at least 20 games. The conversation also shifts to Anthony Davis and his ascension to the rarefied air of top three fantasy basketball draft status. For me, Davis was already in the third spot before the Durant injury and finds himself in the number two overall spot, just behind Lebron.

Rookies like Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins are rookies that cannot be ignored on draft day, as they are elite scorers with multi-category potential. Sensational sophomore Giannis Antetokounmpo could be the starting point guard in Milwaukee and even if he doesn’t win the job, he will definitely handle the ball more this season which will lead to more fantasy numbers.

The injuries to Jodie Meeks and Bradley Beal further cloud the shooting guard rankings for 2014. Can Kobe be Kobe and can Dwayne Wade get back to filling up the stat sheet with Lebron moved on to Cleveland.

At the Center position Rudy Gobert could push Enes Kanter to the bench with his improved all around game and needs to be handcuffed if you invest a pick in Kanter or Derek Favors. Gobert offers a real rim protector and has worked on his offensive game. If Kanter struggles Gobert could see big minutes.

Keep checking back for updated rankings as the preseason finishes up.

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DraftKings NBA DFS

With football season all but over and MLB still a few months away this new daily fantasy sports addict needed an outlet. Luckily for me DraftKings was the perfect place to get my feet wet in NBA DFS. While the winnings have been relatively small compared to my end of season in MLB DFS and NFL DFS, it has been a very fun ride.

Here are some of my favorite plays and reasons for playing them tonight

Just The Guards Tonight

Stephen Curry 9,000

Curry is 1,000 budget dollars cheaper than he has been in recent games and that is a huge bonus for daily players. He has one of the highest (if not highest) ceilings of any PG in DFS and DraftKings is basically bating you to use him. Great small tournament play especially.

Kyle Lowry 7,400

Lowry has kicked it into another gear ever since General Grievous (Greivis Vasquez) was traded to the Raptors. Lowry is a solid play against Minny as Rubio takes a few too many chances on D and loves to go under the pick in pick and roll situations.

Darren Collison 5,500

Collison has been very steady since taking over for the injured Chris Paul, but his ceiling is no where near as high as Curry’s. It all depends on where you want to spend tonight.

Again Stephen Curry and his discounted 9,000 figure.

DeMar DeRozen 7,600

DeRozen should hit value tonight against the Timberwolves, but he is not going to blow away his value numbers like some other SG’s might.

Jodie Meeks 5,800

Meeks has been in a lot of my lineups lately and he has been pretty steady. With Nick Young suspended Meeks will benefit from a few more scoring opportunities . His price is starting to get into the range where I may look elsewhere.

Avery Bradley 5,100

With Rondo back people may finally stop riding Bradley, but tonight is not the night to fade him. Rondo will probably play between 20-25 minutes and Bradley will be a huge part of this offense with Rondo in or out of the game.

I also love JJ Redick for 5,000 against a tired and humiliated Knicks team. Iman Shumpert is a good perimeter defender, but he may be licking his wounds after what the Pacers did to him and his teammates last night.

Feel free to tweet me @coachesser with any questions about which forwards or centers I have in play tonight.