It doesn’t seem like long ago that the shooting guard was the glamour position in the NBA. Whether it was Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant in his prime, the most dominant players in the game were the ones that could do it all at the two. A lot has changed over the past few years in the NBA and while this year’s class of shooting guard isn’t as deep as past groups, there is still some considerable talent at the top.
Here is a look at the top five fantasy shooting guards from the first half of the NBA season.
James Harden, Houston Rockets
With the exception of a slight decline in his shooting percentages, Harden’s numbers are actually up from a year ago when he was the NBA’s best fantasy shooting guard. Harden has averaged 28.0 points, 7.0 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 2.8 made three-point shots and 1.6 steals per game this season to maintain his status as the best of the best at his position from a fantasy perspective. Unfortunately for the Rockets it hasn’t been enough to maintain a playoff position in the Western Conference, but that could mean Harden is even more motivated to produce in the second half.
Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls
A knee strain is expected to force Butler to miss three to four weeks, and while that will somewhat hinder his fantasy value moving forward, the reality is that he was the second-best fantasy shooting guard in the NBA for the first half of the season. Butler has averaged 22.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 made three-point shots per game so far. He’s emerged as the Bulls franchise player and the fact that Tom Thibodeau is gone and the offense is no longer handcuffed has really helped Butler grow. He should be able to maintain those averages once he returns to the Bulls’ lineup in the second half.
DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors
DeRozan will join teammate Kyle Lowry at this year’s All-Star game following a strong statistical first half in which that duo formed one of the NBA’s best backcourt tandems. DeRozan has averaged 23.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game to land the third spot on this list. The 23.4 points marks a career-high for him in points and his 33.7% shooting from three is also a career benchmark. Fantasy general managers had thought that DeRozan had topped out last season but he’s clearly shown another gear this season.
Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
There are some nights when Thompson is the top fantasy performer in the NBA regardless of position. Then there are nights when he disappears for the most part alongside a dominant group of teammates in a supporting role for Stephen Curry. Every year there is talk about the type of numbers Thompson would be able to put up if he played for another team, but considering the Warriors’ current situation it doesn’t look like he and Curry will be splitting up anytime soon. Thompson has still averaged 21.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.2 three-point shots per game this season and those numbers are more than good enough to land a spot among the top five fantasy shooting guards in the NBA.
Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves
The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year has already earned a spot on this list and he will only climb higher from here as he continues to develop his game. Wiggins has averaged 20.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season, but he will need to improve his shooting percentages if he is going to improve his overall numbers. He shot 43.7% from the field last season but has only improved marginally in that realm, shooting 44.7% this year. His three-point shooting percentage has actually declined going from 31% last season to 24.4% this year. He’s having a great month of February so far – averaging 24.6 points, with 51% shooting from the field and 33.3% from three, but we’ll have to see if he can keep this up. Remember that he is still just 20-years-old, and the reality is that he’s only begun to tap in to his elite potential as an NBA sophomore.
