Point guards, shooting guards and small forwards have all been accounted for. Now, call this list the “anti-small forward.” With the exception of maybe Amar’e, injuries and general suckitude didn’t dictate the direction this list took. For the record, Amar’e experienced both. I voted for Stephen Curry as the most disappointing fantasy asset (not to be confused with the “fantasy asshat,” which is 75 percent of the people at your average Comic-Con), but Stoudemire is right there with him. I haven’t rostered Stoudemire in three seasons because I can’t trust him. He whines, he lollygags and he passes blame. Also, I’m pretty sure he stole my favorite suit. No, yes he did. Yes he did. Yes, we ARE the same exact suit size. Don’t shake your head no at me. We’re totally the same size. Here’s the top 20 power forwards for 2011, it hasn’t changed. It’s just how you remember it, except maybe a little more quaint and naive, like your high school diary or a recent viewing of “Harry & the Hendersons.” Once again, to recap, we’re using the season totals from ESPN’s Player Rater to determine each guy’s final rank. We’re listing averages, but we took totals into account because Games Played weighs heavily on his value – natch. Anyway, here’s the top 20 power forwards for 2011 fantasy basketball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them.
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Psyche! Before we get to the heat of the meat, I’d like to step away from hoops for a bit (I mean, why not? The Bulls did it!) to plug a new Twitter feed. Jules from “Pulp Fiction” has grown bored from walking the earth and has settled back on the grid as a magazine editor. If you like humor, writing, cussing or aggression (and if you’re a frequent visitor to the site, you probably do) I highly recommend @editJules. Okay, enough of that. Back to the list!
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1. Kevin Love – I’m not sure if I underrated Love’s offensive load before the season started or overrated guys like Beasley and Derrick Williams. I will say that, either way, Love missed 11 games and still no other PF came close to the number one spot this season. Preseason Rank #3, 2011 Projections: .475/.845/1 3pt/19 pts/14 rbd/3 ast/0.5 stl/0.5 blk/2 tov. Final Numbers: .448/.824/1.9 3ptm/26 pts/13.3 rbd/2 ast/0.8 stl/0.5 blk/2.3 tov, 55 games
2. Pau Gasol – Despite Bynum (and Kobe, duh) nipping his scoring, Pau remains the safest fantasy pick among all big men. He’s like plain chocolate ice cream, missionary sex, and the music of Tom Petty: You know it’ll probably be great, but it’ll never be spectacular. Preseason Rank #2, 2011 Projections: .529/.830/0 3ptm/19 pts/9.5 rbd/3.5 ast/0.5 stl/1 blk/2.5 tov. Final Numbers: .501/.782/0.1 3ptm/17.4 pts/10.4 rbd/3.7 ast/0.6 stl/1.4 blk/2.2 tov, 65 games
3. Paul Millsap – Twenty-four months ago, I predicted that if Millsap could find minutes, he’d be a top 10 PF. Well ma, look at me now! (I should have put pants on before I drew my mother’s attention.) His durability throughout this grueling season and his huge influx of steals (118 to be exact, more than 2010 despite playing 76 games and 2009 despite playing in all 82) bumped up his value more than I’ll feel comfortable crediting him with next year, but this guy is legit. He stays healthy, he stays in the top 10. Preseason Rank #11, 2011 Projections: .522/.733/0 3pt/18 pts/8 rbd/2.5 ast/1 stl/1 blk/2 tov. Final Numbers: .495/.792/0.1 3ptm/16.6 pts/8.8 rbd/2.3 ast/1.8 stl/0.8 blk/1.8 tov, 64 games
4. Serge Ibaka – I usually try to avoid rostering my team with players who only know one note. But the fact is, Ibaka played the hell out of that note. No one dominated a single category as much as Ibaka dominated blocks. Teams with Ibaka started him 66 times and that alone was enough to almost guarantee a spot in the league’s top three in the BLK category. Eighty percent of the guy’s value came from blocks and he was the fourth most valuable PF of the season. THAT’s how damn many blocks he got this season. Lord help us if he played more than 27 minutes a game or learns how to shoot free throws. Preseason Rank #14, 2011 Projections: .530/.740/0 3pt/12 pts/9 rbd/0.5 ast/0.5 stl/3.5 blk/1 tov. Final Numbers: .535/.661/0 3ptm/9.1 pts/7.5 rbd/0.4 ast/0.5 stl/3.7 blk/1.2 tov, 66 games
5. Dirk Nowitzki – His scoring and minutes per game dropped for the third straight year and his rebounding fell for the seventh. Still, there were no huge dropoffs and he hung in there for all but four games. He’s still Dirk, just a little less so. Anyone who owned Nowitzki this season just got a Dirkumcision. Preseason Rank #1, 2011 Projections: .475/.885/1 3ptm/22.5 pts/7 rbd/2.5 ast/1 stl/1 blk/2 tov. Final Numbers: .457/.896/1.3 3ptm/21.6 pts/6.8 rbd/2.2 ast/0.7 stl/0.5 blk/1.9 tov, 62 games
6. Josh Smith – I hoped his FT% would remain above 70 percent like it did last season. It didn’t. But I wiped my tears away and you should, too. Smoove had a career-year with Horford on the shelf. He averaged 3.5 3ptm+stl+blk, and was the only player to average as high as 19/10/4. It blows chunks that he’s still insisting on so many threes and .458 from your PF means you’re going to have to have an efficient guard, but quibbling is for losers, and sounds like a spell Ron Weasley never mastered. Preseason Rank #8, 2011 Projections: .488/.699/0.5 3pt/16.5 pts/8 rbd/3.5 ast/1.5 stl/1.5 blk/2.5 tov. Final Numbers: .458/.630/0.4 3ptm/18.8 pts/9.6 rbd/3.9 ast/1.4 stl/1.7 blk/2.5 tov, 66 games
7. Kevin Garnett – It was also a career year for Cagey (assuming you slammed your head nine months ago and can’t remember anything that happened before this season, which is an assumption I make about most people). Garnett put up near identical numbers this year as compared to 2010. The surprising part is not that that happened, but that it happened specifically to a guy ending his 17 season of basketball. He could do this another five years, but hell if I’m ever going to assume as much. You can have your Nashes and your Garnetts. Me? I like my fantasy options like I like my women and my speed limits: under 25. Preseason Rank #18, 2011 Projections: .500/.850/0 3pt/14.5 pts/7.5 rbd/3 ast/1 stl/1 blk/1.5 tov. Final Numbers: .528/.862/0 3ptm/17.1 pts/10.2 rbd/2.8 ast/1.5 stl/0.9 blk/1.9 tov, 61 games
8. Ryan Anderson – You’re going to treat Anderson next season like you treated Dorell Wright last season and I’m not going to be there to hold your hair while you vomit away your sad feelings. Preseason: Unranked. Final Numbers: .439/.877/2.7 3ptm/16.1 pts/7.7 rbd/0.9 ast/0.8 stl/0.4 blk/0.9 tov, 61 games
9. LaMarcus Aldridge – Well, he finally earned his All-Star spot. Then he missed 11 games after that. It got to his head. The next thing you know he’ll be pants-less and methed out in the Nevada desert listening to The Doors and liking it. I can’t help but wonder if Aldridge would be a better or worse fantasy option if Oden’s bones didn’t hate him. Preseason Rank #6, 2011 Projections: .495/.775/0 3pt/21 pts/8.5 rbd/2 ast/1 stl/1 blk/2 tov. Final Numbers: .512/.814/0 3ptm/21.7 pts/8 rbd/2.4 ast/0.9 stl/0.8 blk/2 tov, 55 games
10. David Lee – His scoring bounced back to the level it was at in his final year with the Knicks, but his rebounding continued trending downward. Actually, just his defensive rebounding. In his final two seasons with New York, Lee averaged 3.2 and 2.8 ORB, while he averaged 8.6 and 8.9 DRB. With Golden State he’s maintained his offensive rebounds with 3.0 in each of the last two seasons, while his defensive rebounds have plummeted to 6.8 and 6.6 respectively. Can we convince Jessica Alba to remove an article of clothing for every defensive rebound he earns next season? Look, she’s either a super fan or she isn’t. Preseason Rank #7, 2011 Projections: .529/.784/0 3pt/19 pts/11.5 rbd/3 ast/1 stl/0.5 blk/2 tov. Final Numbers: .503/.782/0 3ptm/20.1 pts/9.6 rbd/2.8 ast/0.9 stl/0.4 blk/2.6 tov, 57 games
11. Chris Bosh – Bosh’s post-Raptor career feels like an O. Henry story or something from The Twilight Zone. Superstar languishes in a far-off region doing great things no one notices. He hungers for acceptance and acknowledgement and leaves his far-off world in search of these things. He finally lands in a highly populated area where people will take notice and all they see is a whimpering, secondary bit player. Preseason Rank #10, 2011 Projection: .505/.812/0 3pt/19.5 pts/8 rbd/2 ast/1 stl/0.5 blk/2 tov. Final Numbers: .487/.821/0.2 3ptm/18 pts/7.9 rbd/1.8 ast/0.9 stl/0.8 blk/2.1 tov, 57 games
12. Carlos Boozer – It says a lot about a guy when he starts for the team with the best regular season record two years in a row and that team’s fans would gladly trade him straight-up for Kris Humphries. Preseason Rank #13, 2011 Projections: .515/.718/0 3pt/18 pts/9 rbd/2.5 ast/1 stl/0 blk/2.5 tov. Final Numbers: .532/.693/0 3ptm/15 pts/8.5 rbd/1.9 ast/1 stl/0.4 blk/1.7 tov, 66 games
13. Kris Humphries – Humphries is the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA. Don’t get me wrong, he gets all the respect he deserves, he just wears terrible ties and hates his ex-wife. Preseason: Unranked. Final Numbers: .481/.752/0 3ptm/13.8 pts/11 rbd/1.5 ast/0.8 stl/1.2 blk/1.9 tov, 62 games
14. Ersan Ilyasova – Yup. Mm-hm, yeah. I had Snare Yo Saliva ranked ahead of Amar’e, Blake, Z-Bo, West and Elton, too. Sure did. What wouldn’t a fella? Preseason: Unranked. Final Numbers: .492/.781/0.9 3ptm/13 pts/8.8 rbd/1.2 ast/0.7 stl/0.7 blk/1.3 tov, 60 games
15. Elton Brand – I understand that there are five guys AFTER Brand on this list suggesting Brand was more valuable than those guys. That’s arguable. What isn’t arguable is that his value is dropping faster than training bras on the stage at a One Direction concert. Preseason Rank #20, 2011 Projections: .515/.718/0 3pt/18 pts/9 rbd/2.5 ast/1 stl/1.5blk/2.5 tov. Final Numbers: .494/.733/0 3ptm/11 pts/7.2 rbd/1.6 ast/1 stl/1.6 blk/1.1 tov, 60 games
16. David West – Eesh. Career-lows as a starter almost across the board. Indy had a fine season collectively, but individually, Pacers were hard to own across the board this year. Preseason Rank #12, 2011 Projections: .471/.829/0 3pt/18 pts/8 rbd/2.5 ast/1 stl/0.5 blk/2 tov. Final Numbers: .487/.807/0 3ptm/12.8 pts/6.6 rbd/2.1 ast/0.8 stl/0.7 blk/1.4 tov, 66 games
17. Blake Griffin – One of the biggest faces in the NBA played a full season for a playoff team and finished 17th. He finished the previous season ranked 17th among power forwards on ESPN’s Player Rater as well and he played a full season then, too. He was the only PF besides Love to average at least 21/11 and he improved his FG shooting by .043 points. THAT’s how destructive his free throw shooting is. Also, if you can jump over a damn car, you should be able to average more blocks than Brandon Rush. Preseason #4, 2011 Projections: .495/.670/0 3ptm/23.5 pts/11.5 rbd/4 ast/1 stl/0.5 blk/2.5 tov. Final Numbers: .549/.521/0 3ptm/20.7 pts/10.9 rbd/3.2 ast/0.8 stl/0.7 blk/2.3 tov, 66 games
18. Channing Frye – Just what I like from my power forward: a total unwillingness to exert any power and often found roaming the backcourt. Preseason: Unranked. Final Numbers: .416/.890/1.4 3ptm/10.5 pts/5.9 rbd/1.4 ast/0.7 stl/1.1 blk/1 tov, 64 games
19. Luis Scola – Auto correct really, really wants Luis Scola’s name to be Luis Scotland. So it was written, so shall it be done. At this point, a handsy monkey brings more to the table than Luis Scotland. Not that monkeys are anything to scoff at. In many ways, they’re smarter than us humans. Ever been in the mood to toss your poop at someone? Didja ever end up doing it? See what I mean? Monkeys get away with stuff like that. What I’m saying is, a few of those monkeys can grab seven boards and avoid blocking shots and I’d rather have them on my team than the King of Squat. Preseason Rank #16, 2011 Projections: .522/.730/0 3pt/18 pts/8 rbd/2.5 ast/1 stl/0.5 blk/2 tov. Final Numbers: .491/.773/0 3ptm/15.5 pts/6.5 rbd/2.1 ast/0.5 stl/0.4 blk/2.3 tov, 66 games
20. Al Harrington – I may never forgive Amar’e for letting Al Harrington back onto a top 20 list. Preseason: Unranked. Final Numbers: .446/.676/1.6 3ptm/14.2 pts/6.1 rbd/1.4 ast/0.9 stl/0.2 blk/1.8 tov, 64 games
