With the top 20 and top 10 for 2010 fantasy basketball in the can, and the top 20 point guards for 2010 fantasy basketball out of the way, it’s time to turn our attention to the spunkier, freewheeling-er set of guards: the rootin’, tootin’ top 20 shooting guards for 2010 fantasy basketball.
As has been the pattern so far, these rankings are for 9-cat roto leagues. You H2Hers, go ahead and help yourself to the cheese and cracker plate I set in the rear of the room. I’ll get to you guys before too long.
I’ve listed 2010 projections and tiers below.
Here are the top 20 shooting guards for 2010 fantasy basketball:
1. Kobe Bryant – See the top 10 for 2010 fantasy basketball post for Kobe Bryant’s projections.
2. Dwyane Wade – See the top 10 for 2010 fantasy basketball post for Dwyane Wade’s projections.
3. Tyreke Evans – I’m a little bearish on Evans heading into his sophomore season, but not really for the reasons I should be, namely his three-point shooting, free throw shooting and turnovers. I’m worried about Evans like a guy wondering why the hot chick he’s on a date with is still single. She’s got a nipple in the wrong place, maybe? Her snores draw in strays from nearby alleyways, perhaps? She’s hiding something behind her fanny pack? What’s she hiding, Adam? Who knows! You see my point? She’s beautiful and kind and voluntarily sitting in front of you, so something horrible is just around the corner. Tyreke Evans was cut from Team USA, will be a hybrid guard, sharing PG duties with Beno Udrih, drives fast cars fastly, but not fast enough to escape getting caught, probably has a nipple in the wrong place and I can’t shake the feeling that a repeat of last year’s ROY campaign ain’t in the cards, nor is much of an improvement. Ah what the hell?
Season Projections: .473/.779/1 3pt/22 pts/4.5 rbd/5.5 ast/2 stl/0.5 blk/2.5 tov
4. Joe Johnson – This begins the second tier called “You Wanted A Top SG – Well, Here You Go, But Don’t Go Reaching.” It ends at Jackson. I don’t get positive vibes from the Hawks this year. The team’s aura is all brown-ish, with flecks of yellow. Of course I look directly into the sun before consulting team auras, so perhaps my readings are caused by charred rods and cones. Still wouldn’t be as bad as the dough burned on team centerpiece Joe Johnson’s new contract. For that kind of money on a borderline all-star, he better be playing his position and Mike Bibby’s too.
Season Projections: .440/.810/1.5 3pt/22 pts/4.5 rbd/4.5 ast/1 stl/0 blk/2 tov
5. Jason Richardson – The Suns won’t have Barbosa or Stoudemire, but as long as they have Nash, this team is going to run and score in droves. Turkoglu and Josh Childress might have a little fun with that this season, but it’s more than likely that Richardson is in for a career-year as the team’s primary scorer.
Season Projections: .444/.715/2.5 3pt/23 pts/5.5 rbd/3 ast/1 stl/0.5 blk/2.5 tov
6. Stephen Jackson – The intriguing thing here is whether or not Jackson earns more assists during the D.J. Augustin Era in Charlotte than he did while Ray Felton was taking it up the court. Jax averaged almost six assists in ’08 and 4.2 in ’06. That eye twitch you just developed? That’s intrigue.
Season Projections: .419/.800/1.5 3pt/22 pts/5 rbd/4.5 ast/1.5 stl/0.5 blk/3 tov
7. Brandon Roy – This is a new tier: “Injury-Prone Lads Who Will Rock Your Team For 62-75 Games This Season.” It ends at Arenas. 57, 74, 78, and 65. Are those the years of Elizabeth Taylor’s marriages? Nope. Are those the weights of your elementary school girlfriends? Don’t be silly, I never had any of those … yet. Your four best test scores? Now you’re just being mean. Well, what then? They’re the number of games Brandon Roy has played in each of his four seasons in the league. Those numbers – along with Portland’s snail’s pace – are why I’ve felt for two seasons that Roy’s real basketball talent clouded his fantasy basketball output.
Season Projections: .469/.790/1 3ptm/22.5 pts/4 rbd/5.5 ast/1 stl/0 blk/2 tov
8. Manu Ginobili – I wouldn’t eat your lunch for choosing Manu four SGs sooner or three SGs later, not with his injury history. I would, however, eat your lunch if I was hungry and you got up to go to the bathroom. Don’t look at me like that, you shouldn’t have left sandwich sitting there knowing how much I love it! Ginobili has definitely lost a step in the last two seasons, but when you’re three steps ahead of everyone to begin with, t’aint no thang.
Season Projections: .444/.865/2 3pt/15.5 pts/4.5 rbd/4.5 ast/1.5 stl/0.5 blk/2.5 tov
9. Kevin Martin – Speed Racer is going to play 65-70 games this season. Don’t argue, it’s true – look at the tier he’s in! I know you want it to be one way, Marlow, but it’s the other way. Your job for your draft is to decide whether what he’ll output in 70-ish games will be better than what the next guy will produce in perhaps more outings.
Season Projections: .425/.857/2.5 3pt/25 pts/4.5 rbd/2.5 ast/2 stl/0 blk/1.5 tov/
10. Monta Ellis – Golden State may be sporting the best new(ish) uniforms this season, but the uniform is just about the only new facet to Monta’s game this season. Unless Corey Maggette’s absence somehow counts as a new facet to Ellis’ game – which it shouldn’t, but probably will. You can’t assume he’ll stay healthy, can’t assume he’ll average 41 minutes a game again, can’t assume he’ll take fewer bad shots and more smart ones, can’t assume he’ll be fine handing over the reins to Stephen Curry or David Lee and you can’t ass Hume. Hume hates being assed.
Season Projections: .458/.770/0.5 3pt/21 pts/4.5 rbd/5 ast/2 stl/0 blk/ 3 tov
11. Gilbert Arenas – I already covered Gil as a 2010 Fantasy Sleeper. It’s a bit silly that a guy ranked this high needs to be defended. But he was and he did, so I did.
Season Prediction: .425/.745/2.5 3ptm/19 pts/5 rbd/4.5 ast/1 stl/0 blk/2.5 tov
12. Eric Gordon – This tier starts at Gordon, ends at Crawford and is called “Betcha Wish You Picked One Of The SGs From The Last Tier Instead of Zach Randolph, Huh?” As chinstrap beards go, Gordon’s is just the worst. Totally wrong for his head shape. As Michael Kors would pretentiously say, “My God, he looks like an urban garden gnome wearing an invisible crash helmet.” Still though, he’s the best Gordon on this list …
Season Projections: .450/800/2 3pt/19 pts/2.5 rbd/3.5 ast/1 stl/0.5 blk/2.5 tov
13. Ben Gordon – … Sweet Segway. Thanks, bro. No. Sweet Segway. Oh. We now move from Eric Gordon to Err Gordon, whom we last saw racing GMC for the most thundering collapse in Detroit history. I’m pretty sure Despair Gordon won that race too – and that’s comin’ from a guy whose Buick Enclave asploded into a ball of fire at the Farmer’s Market last week! All Gordon does is score, but last season he missed 6.5 of every 11 shots he took, 20 of the 82 games Detroit played and didn’t actually score all that much (13.8 ppg in ’09 as compared to 20.7 a season earlier). Now for the good news … psyche your mind! I’ve got s’more bad news. Fair Gordon skipped this summer’s World Championships with Great Britain because his ankle surgery isn’t progressing as he hoped. I’m guessing he hoped it progressed quickly and it’s progressing less-than-quickly. Okay, NOW for the good news: When a player dips in every major category (and I mean every damn category) one season, dollars to donuts says he’ll bounce back at least a little the next. He’ll be back to scoring the roundball or his name isn’t Square Gordon.
Season Projections: .434/.880/2 3pt/18.5 pts/3 rbd/3 ast/1 stl/0 blk/2 tov
14. Ray Allen – Just a reminder: Ray Allen is the oldest guy on this list. He also had the second-lowest 3p% and PPG average of his career last season. Jrue story.
Season Projections: .465/.920/2 3pt/15 pts/3.5 rbd/3.5 ast/0.5 stl/0 blk/1.5 tov
15. Jamal Crawford – The fall of Bibby, mixed with the development of Jeff Teague will have Crawford playing the point alongside Johnson more often than last year. Not a lot, but enough to shift most of his stats appropriately.
Season Projections: .437/.850/2 3pt/19 pts/2.5 rbd/3 ast/1 stl/0 blk/2 tov
16. Rodrigue Beaubois – This tier starts here and ends at Thornton. I call it the “One Of These Two Guys Might Be A Top 10 SG By Year’s End, I Just Don’t Know Which One.” Beaubois’ name loosely translates to “Rod Goodwood.” And because it’s not Rodrigue Beaubalsa, I’ll take his name as an omen of good things to come on the hardwood. Beaubois will eventually be the future of Dallas point guarding, but it appears that this year, he’ll be splitting time as starting two-guard and Jason Kidd’s back-up. Fine. Good. He’s desperately needed in Dallas’ system of players oversized in their position and enamored with jumpshots. Why? Because Robobeaubo is neither of those things. He’s a slashing guard who will get to the rim and the line. He’s the Corey Maggette that Dallas got since they didn’t get Corey Maggette. And you watch, assuming Mr. Miyagi does his mystical hand-rub and fixes Beaubois’ injured foot in the next four weeks, it’ll be the best move the Mavericks didn’t make.
Season Projections: .490/.810/2 3ptm/17 pts/3.5 rbd/3.5 ast/1.5 stl/0.5 blk/2.5 tov
17. Marcus Thornton – There’s two ways to look at Marcus Thornton. You can view him as a straight-scorer that only fills up half the stat sheet and won’t deserve a look within the first 80 picks of any draft. Or you can view him as a sophomore who put up comparable per36 numbers in his rookie season to what both Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon have averaged in their careers. Before you finalize how you plan to view him, remember: there’s no difference between good flan and bad flan. Flan is flan.
Season Prediction: .462/.819/2 3pt/16.5 pts/3.5 rbd/2 ast/1 stl/o blk/1 tov
18. O.J. Mayo – This next tier goes past this list and is called “This Better Not Be Your Best SG.” Every statistic mirrored Mayo rookie output. His lack of growth was as good as a step back last season. I expect an actual step back this season.
Season Projections: .445/.895/1.5 3pt/17 pts/4 rbd/3 ast/1.5 stl/0 blk/2.5 tov
19. John Salmons – I’m not big on Salmons’ game. Not big on his age. Not big on his place on this suddenly overcrowded Bucks team. Not big on that Marcellus Wallace scar on the back of his head (that’s where they removed his soul!), and I’m not big on his pre-All-Star Game output in the last two years. Combining his pre-All-Star break he averages from those two seasons, he averaged .449/.809 and 15.6 points per game. After the break, he’s averaged .471/.858 and 19 ppg. In both cases he moved from a team that no longer wanted him to a team that did and Salmons responded accordingly, but I wonder now how much the Bucks will want him come February.
Season Projections: .460/.815/1 3pt/16 pts/3 rbd/3 ast/1 stl/0 blk/2 tov
20. Jason Terry – Don’t draft Jason Terry. He’s boring. Honestly, besides maybe Beaubois, there’s no one interesting on the Mavs. If you have a Maverick on your team whom isn’t French, he’s boring up your team something awful. Pick one or two of the first 19 guys on this list or take a flyer in later rounds on someone with tons more upside like Evan Turner or Anthony Morrow or someone. Jason Terry as your 9-10 pick? No one wants that.
Season Projections: .449/.860/1.5 3pt/14.5 pts/2 rbd/3.5 ast/1 stl/0 blk/1 tov
