The Top 200 Dynasty Basketball Rankings, December 2016 Update
This basketball season has been a mixed bag for me personally. On the one hand, it’s been a blast watching Giannis blossom, Harden and Westbrook dominate and Chris Paul continue to be masterful. On the other hand, it’s become increasingly clear that it’ll take a miracle or an injury (or two) for anyone to challenge the Warriors.
With such low stakes during this NBA regular season, fantasy hoops is more important than ever for my basketball fandom.
February Edit: Check back on the dynasty basketball rankings page for updates including the February, 2017 rankings.
Standard disclaimer: This is most focused on 9-category, head to head formats. I have also been known to forget a player or two, so please call out omissions! Thanks and enjoy.
| Rank | Name | Comments |
| Tier 1 | ||
| 1 | Karl-Anthony Towns | Pristine dynasty resume. |
| 2 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | What more could you ask for, besides maybe some more threes? |
| Tier 2 | ||
| 3 | Anthony Davis | Only injury risk caps his limitless fantasy upside and dynasty value. |
| 4 | Kevin Durant | |
| 5 | Stephen Curry | |
| Tier 3 | ||
| 6 | Kristaps Porzingis | |
| 7 | Kawhi Leonard | |
| 8 | James Harden | I’d elevate to tier two in leagues without turnovers |
| 9 | Russell Westbrook | RT: I’d elevate to tier two in leagues without turnovers |
| Tier 4 | ||
| 10 | Ben Simmons | A healthy Simmons could belong in tier three. |
| 11 | Chris Paul | |
| 12 | D’Angelo Russell | |
| 13 | Damian Lillard | |
| 14 | Paul George | |
| 15 | DeMarcus Cousins | |
| 16 | Draymond Green | |
| 17 | Kyrie Irving | |
| 18 | Jimmy Butler | |
| 19 | Nikola Jokic | I’m trying to buy low where I can, but it’s apparently many owners have yet to lose faith. |
| Tier 5 | ||
| 20 | Myles Turner | |
| 21 | Kemba Walker | |
| 22 | LeBron James | |
| 23 | Andrew Wiggins | |
| 24 | Zach LaVine | |
| 25 | Rudy Gobert | |
| 26 | Hassan Whiteside | |
| 27 | John Wall | |
| 28 | Otto Porter | Aggressive rank for Porter who has developed into a Kawhi-light all around type. Remember he was a blue chip prospect as a prospect. Can fade in turnover leagues since a good percentage of his appeal is his efficiency. |
| 29 | CJ McCollum | |
| 30 | Andre Drummond | |
| 31 | Kevin Love | |
| 32 | Klay Thompson | |
| 33 | Joel Embiid | I probably won’t have shares, because of the health risk. Easy to dream on him sneaking into the top two or three tiers. |
| Tier 6 | ||
| 34 | Blake Griffin | |
| 35 | Kyle Lowry | |
| 36 | Al Horford | |
| 37 | Nerlens Noel | Should reward those patient with unmatched blocks and steals. |
| 38 | Isaiah Thomas | |
| 39 | Devin Booker | |
| 40 | Jabari Parker | Modest improvement from three is encouraging; the hope is he’s Carmelo Anthony 2.0. |
| 41 | DeMar DeRozan | Has sustained insane usage, but fantasy holes exist in his game, especially three pointers. |
| Tier 7 | ||
| 42 | Gorgui Dieng | |
| 43 | Gordon Hayward | |
| 44 | Ricky Rubio | Needs a trade out of Minnesota, but dominant h2h skills remain in tact. Nice buy low target due to playing time blues. |
| 45 | Brook Lopez | |
| 46 | Jrue Holiday | |
| 47 | Aaron Gordon | The “Aaron Gordon is a small forward” experiment is going predictably terribly and he’d rank higher were it not for his limited present value. |
| 48 | Clint Capela | I worry some that he’s got a “90’s” game and more playing time will never come. |
| 49 | Carmelo Anthony | |
| 50 | Marc Gasol | |
| Tier 8 | ||
| 51 | Tobias Harris | I tried to justify a lower ranking, but he has added the shooting efficiency required to take a fantasy leap. |
| 52 | Bradley Beal | Has yet to convert tools into top 50 value, in part due to health, but there’s room for further growth. |
| 53 | Victor Oladipo | |
| 54 | Kris Dunn | Disappointing rookie year, but already averaging over 3 blocks and steals per 36 minutes. |
| 55 | Dragan Bender | Raw as advertised. |
| 56 | DeAndre Jordan | |
| 57 | LaMarcus Aldridge | Ranks above younger, better overall players due to his ability to dominate categories. |
| 58 | Eric Bledsoe | |
| 59 | Serge Ibaka | |
| 60 | Jae Crowder | |
| 61 | Paul Millsap | |
| 62 | Jeff Teague | |
| 63 | Avery Bradley | |
| 64 | Rudy Gay | |
| 65 | Derrick Favors | |
| Tier 9 | ||
| 66 | Jonas Valanciunas | |
| 67 | Brandon Ingram | |
| 68 | Jahlil Okafor | Would have been a really good player in the 90’s. In today’s NBA he can be schemed out of games. |
| 69 | Dennis Schroder | I cautioned in October that his efficiency was lacking, but even I didn’t expect it to get worse. Better days are ahead. |
| 70 | Marcus Smart | |
| 71 | Justise Winslow | Has barely progressed on offense, but the fantasy floor is very high thanks to the athleticism stats. Still only 20. |
| 72 | Mike Conley | Injury makes him a sneaky buy for rebuilders or those rich enough to wait for his return. |
| 73 | George Hill | Sell, sell, sell. |
| 74 | Steven Adams | |
| 75 | Nikola Vucevic | |
| 76 | Harrison Barnes | |
| 77 | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | Prototypical “three and D” fantasy role player could get even better with more seasoning. |
| 78 | Trevor Ariza | Still a second tier star for 9-category leagues and can dominate steals and threes category |
| 79 | Nicolas Batum | |
| 80 | Jamal Murray | |
| 81 | Elfrid Payton | The concern is that his skill set isn’t conducive to winning real life basketball games, but I still like his upside and especially his fit on punt FT teams. |
| 82 | Rondae Hollis-Jefferson | Disappointing sophomore season. I still like the upside, but there’s more risk that the offensive skills flat line and / or he’s lost athleticism coming back from the injury. |
| 83 | Dwight Howard | |
| 84 | Dwyane Wade | Has flourished in Chicago, but I’d still cash out. |
| Tier 10 | ||
| 85 | Jaylen Brown | Has flashed enough athleticism to dream on the tools turning into skills one day. |
| 86 | TJ Warren | |
| 87 | Moe Harkless | Has taken very well to his 3 and D role. Modest upside for more. |
| 88 | Greg Monroe | |
| 89 | Khris Middleton | |
| 90 | Pau Gasol | |
| 91 | Evan Fournier | |
| 92 | Julius Randle | Playmaking has improved to the point where you can start to dream on Draymond- (ultra) light. Next step is more confidence from three. |
| 93 | Cody Zeller | Enjoying a career year and his fourth consecutive season of steady, incremental improvements. However, he has yet to convince the Hornets that deserves starter’s minutes. |
| 94 | Marquese Chriss | Requires faith in the athleticism and tools that got him drafted where he did, because the statistical profile was shaky. Won’t turn twenty until the summer. |
| 95 | Juan Hernangomez | Nice start including stretch four skills that earn playing time. The Nuggets need to clear out their cloggers (Nurkic and Faried) to make way for Jokic and Hernangomez. |
| 96 | Gary Harris | Injuries and development of Murray make for a giant “womp-womp” for Harris, but lots of time to improve. |
| 97 | Emmanuel Mudiay | You have to squint to see it, but Mudiay is slightly better tha he was a year ago. Has the same boom / bust potential, but slightly less optimistic. |
| 98 | Rodney Hood | |
| 99 | Danilo Gallinari | |
| 100 | Thaddeus Young | |
| 101 | Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | |
| 102 | Jordan Clarkson | |
| 103 | Tristan Thompson | |
| 104 | Goran Dragic | |
| 105 | Enes Kanter | |
| 106 | Tyus Jones | A blue chip prospect by the numbers with a regular guy’s body and size, Jones has delivered and now needs to get out of Minnesota. |
| Tier 11 | ||
| 107 | Marcin Gortat | |
| 108 | Rajon Rondo | |
| 109 | Trevor Booker | Here purely because of his undeniable short-term value. I’m not a fan of his dynasty value long-term. |
| 110 | Jeremy Lin | |
| 111 | Darren Collison | |
| 112 | Marvin Williams | |
| 113 | Nikola Mirotic | |
| 114 | Brandon Knight | Has really stalled out in Phoenix. Looks more like a scoring option off the bench than a quality starter. |
| 115 | Dirk Nowitzki | |
| 116 | Marcus Morris | |
| 117 | Sean Kilpatrick | |
| 118 | Mason Plumlee | |
| 119 | Monta Ellis | |
| 120 | Frank Kaminsky | |
| 121 | Larry Nance | Has been statable in relatively modest minutes thanks to well rounded fantasy game, I just don’t know how much playing time upside there is here. |
| 122 | Alex Len | |
| 123 | Lucas Nogueira | |
| 124 | Domantas Sabonis | The most important thing for power forwards to be able to do (generalizing) is knock down threes. Sabonis is doing that with excellent efficiency for a 20-year-old. |
| 125 | Kent Bazemore | |
| 126 | JJ Redick | |
| 127 | Andre Roberson | |
| 128 | Robert Covington | |
| 129 | Danny Green | |
| 130 | Derrick Rose | |
| 131 | Robin Lopez | |
| 132 | Eric Gordon | |
| 133 | Lou Williams | The new Jamal Crawford, only more under control and efficient. |
| 134 | Kenneth Faried | |
| 135 | Mike Muscala | Modern NBA big man skills should make Muscala a high-floor player with some upside as Dwight declines and misses more games. |
| 136 | JR Smith | |
| 137 | Tyler Johnson | |
| 138 | Wesley Matthews | |
| 139 | Sam Dekker | |
| 140 | Richaun Holmes | Lots of upside here. Get him on your radar now, because he’s stuck behind more high profile bigs, but Holmes has fantasy friendly skills like shot blocking and three point range to go with very impressive efficiency numbers for his age. |
| 141 | Denzel Valentine | Has been a massive disappointment for someone who was billed as polished and NBA ready. |
| 142 | Buddy Hield | |
| 143 | Jacob Poetl | |
| 144 | Dario Saric | |
| 145 | Ante Zizic | Based on limited information on his progression, it sounds as though the Croatian Celtics’ stash makes for an excellent upside dice roll. |
| 146 | Thon Maker | |
| 147 | Deyonta Davis | |
| 148 | Caris LeVert | |
| 149 | Ivica Zubac | |
| 150 | Wade Baldwin | Coming into the league we were fairly certain he would post monster steal and block rates, but struggle to shoot. So not much has changed. |
| 151 | Dejounte Murray | So far hasn’t flashed ability to convert tools into production, but way too early and the sample is way too small to have a strong opinion on whether he can be San Antonio’s next starting point guard. |
| 152 | Trey Lyles | |
| 153 | Kevon Looney | Intriguing prospect stash has played very well in limited minutes, but who knows whether he’ll get an opportunity in Golden State during the life of his rookie deal. Fell due to injury / health concerns, so his talent is more in line with a late lottery pick. |
| 154 | Chris McCullough | |
| 155 | Tyler Ulis | |
| 156 | Terry Rozier | |
| Tier 12 | ||
| 157 | Jon Leuer | |
| 158 | Henry Ellenson | |
| 159 | Ryan Anderson | |
| 160 | Kelly Olynyk | |
| 161 | Andrew Bogut | |
| 162 | John Henson | |
| 163 | Josh Richardson | |
| 164 | Wilson Chandler | |
| 165 | Patrick McCaw | |
| 166 | Patty Mills | Low volume, but useful spot starter thanks to very solid scoring chops. I can imagine Louis Williams value out of him if things break right situation wise. |
| 167 | Terrence Jones | |
| 168 | Markieff Morris | |
| 169 | Justin Hamilton | |
| 170 | Dewayne Dedmon | |
| 171 | Dwight Powell | |
| 172 | Tyson Chandler | |
| 173 | DeMarre Carroll | |
| 174 | Patrick Beverley | |
| 175 | Jusuf Nurkic | |
| 176 | Kyle Anderson | Continue to monitor him because he has such a diverse game that includes plenty of combined steals and blocks on a per minute basis, but obviously hasn’t taken the leap I expected him to on offense. |
| 177 | Willy Hernangomez | Advanced scorer in the post, but a bit of a PF/C tweener and way too many turnovers. |
| 178 | Joakim Noah | |
| 179 | Allen Crabbe | |
| 180 | Kyle O’Quinn | |
| 181 | Andrew Harrison | |
| 182 | Seth Curry | |
| 183 | Malcolm Brogdon | |
| 184 | CJ Miles | |
| 185 | Justin Anderson | |
| 186 | Will Barton | |
| 187 | Bismack Biyombo | Terrible fit with spacing-poor Magic. |
| 188 | Meyers Leonard | |
| 189 | Tim Frazier | |
| 190 | Thabo Sefolosha | |
| 191 | Nick Young | |
| 192 | Channing Frye | |
| 193 | Courtney Lee | |
| 194 | Kyle Korver | |
| 195 | JaMychal Green | |
| 196 | Zach Randolph | |
| 197 | Zaza Pachulia | |
| 198 | Chris Bosh | |
| 199 | Brandon Jennings | |
| 200 | Jordan Adams | |
The Author
14 Comments
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What are your thoughts on Stanley Johnson? I noticed he dropped out of the rankings since October. Omission or intentional? Thanks for doing these rankings! They’re incredibly helpful, especially in a rebuild.
Omission. He’d be in tier 11, probably towards the back. You’re just hoping he develops enough offensive game to stay on the floor and give you steals and blocks. He’s improved, but only incrementally. Still very young, but he’s not a guy I’m necessarily targeting except as a sweetener / throw in if I had a free roster spot.
I couldn’t find Reggie Jackson. I assume he’d be somewhere in the 7-9 range, tier wise. Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated, especially if he’s not an omission.
Thank you, Michael! I’d have him in the back half of tier 9.
No Chandler Parsons?
Thank you, Kody! Jeez, Parsons has had a nightmare season. I respect his diverse game for fantasy, but I’m staying away. Added him among the (growing) list of omissions.
Honestly really easy to forget about him. I only asked because I wondered about his trade value in 8 cat roto. Would you trade him for Steven Adams?
I would be thrilled to get Adams for parsons.
Kelly Oubre, Jr.?
Hasn’t progressed much at all and unlike Otto Porter who did nothing early in his career, he doesn’t have the pedigree to make a sudden leap. He’s a decent stash if he comes for free, but most leagues you can find a better stash.
You’d drop him for Tyus?
No question. Tyus only problem is playIng time.
I talked about tyus a lot on episode 3 of the dynasty guru podcast