NBA Fantasy Basketball Shooting Guard Rankings & Sleepers: James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler On Top
The 2015-16 NBA season is right around the corner as well as the new fantasy basketball season. Here is the list of the top shooting guards you should consider picking early in the draft.
James Harden - Houston Rockets
James Harden is unsurprisingly ranked as the best shooting guard heading into the new season based on Yahoo's Draft Big Board. The Houston Rockets superstar finished second to Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry in the Most Valuable Player race last season.
Harden averaged career-highs 27.4 points, 7.0 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 2.6 three-pointers, 1.9 steals and 86.8 percent clip from the free-throw line. However, fantasy owners should also be aware that he had 4.0 turnovers and shot just 44.0 percent from the field last season.
Kawhi Leonard - San Antonio Spurs
Kawhi Leonard is the second-ranked shooting guard this season after having the best year of his career last season. The 24-year-old shooting guard posted career-highs 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He also posted a decent 47.9 percent clip from the field and had just 1.5 turnovers per game.
However, the defensive specialist shot just 80.2 percent from the foul line and had just 1.0 three-pointer per game, which is quite low for a shooting guard. It also remains to be seen how his production will be affected by the arrival of All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge.
Jimmy Butler - Chicago Butler
Jimmy Butler had his breakout year last season, as he became the main scoring option of the Chicago Bulls. The 26-year-old shooting guard averaged 20.0 points to go along with 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He shot 46.2 percent from the field and 83.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Butler will play under a new coach and new system after the Bulls parted ways with Tom Thibodeau in favor of Fred Hoiberg. Despite the coaching change, Butler is expected to play a big role again. In fact, he posted 18 points on 8-for-19 shooting from the field against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday.
Shooting Guard - Sleepers
Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum could make a lot of fantasy owners happy this season, as he is expected to play bigger role this season. He averaged just 6.8 points and 1.0 assist last season. But in his last five preseason games, he posted 20.2 points and 4.6 assists per game.
Indiana Pacers veteran guard Monta Ellis is also being overlooked in most games, but the high-scoring guard could have one of the best seasons of his career this year. Ellis averaged 18.9 points on top of 4.1 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game last season.
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