The Golden State Warriors have perennially been one of the more favorable NBA teams for fantasy basketball fans. The arrival of new head coach Mark Jackson may mean more energy spent on the defensive end of the court, but make no mistake – the crew from Oakland still has plenty of appeal for fantasy purposes. After all, not many teams boast four players who can potentially be drafted in the first three rounds of drafts whenever the NBA resumes.
Depth chart:
PG: Stephen Curry, Jeremy Lin, Charles Jenkins, Acie Law*^
SG: Monta Ellis, Klay Thompson, Charlie Bell
SF: Dorell Wright, Reggie Williams**, Al Thornton*
PF: David Lee, Louis Amundson, Vladimir Radmanovic*
C: Andris Biedrins, Ekpe Udoh, Jeremy Tyler
* unrestricted free agent
** restricted free agent
^ locked into overseas contract with no opt-out clause
Relevant fantasy players and their projected draft positions/per-game stats:
– Stephen Curry, PG (Rd. 1): 48% FG, 90% FT, 2 Threes, 19.5 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 6 Ast, 2 Stl, 3 TO
– Monta Ellis, PG/SG (Rd. 2): 45% FG, 75% FT, 1.5 Threes, 23 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 Stl, 3 TO
– Dorell Wright, SG/SF (Rd. 3): 44% FG, 80% FT, 2.2 Threes, 15 Pts, 5 Reb, 3 Ast, 1.5 Stl, 0.7 Blk, 1.5 TO
– David Lee, PF/C (Rd. 3): 55% FG, 80% FT, 18 Pts, 10.5 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 0.5 Blk, 2 TO
– Reggie Williams, SG/SF (Rd. 12+): 45% FG, 75% FT, 0.8 Threes, 10 Pts, 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 0.7 TO
– Klay Thompson, SG (Rd. 13+): 38% FG, 80% FT, 0.8 Threes, 6 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1.5 TO
– Ekpe Udoh, PF/C (Rd. 13+): 45% FG, 65% FT, 5 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 0.7 Stl, 2 Blk, 1.5 TO
Sleeper:
Thompson
Most likely to surprise:
Lee
Most likely to disappoint:
Wright
Category specialists:
– Threes: Curry, Ellis, Wright
– Steals: Curry, Ellis, Wright
– Blocks: Udoh
Things to consider:
– How credible trade rumors involving Ellis are, and Thompson’s resulting value
– Curry’s health
– How much Coach Jackson’s emphasis on defense affects their offensive energy/tempo
Team’s statistical NBA ranks from 2010-11:
– Pts: 7th
– FGM: 1st
– FGA: 1st
– FG%: 14th
– FT%: 17th
– 3PTM: T-4th
– Reb: T-19th
– Ast: 7th
– TO: T-22nd
– Stl: 2nd
– Blk: 12th
– Pace: 5th
– Offensive Efficiency: T-12th
– Defensive Efficiency: 26th
Throughout the season, be sure to leave your questions, comments, concerns, trade offers, roster problems and more in the comments below.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @fbasketballblog.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
