With the NBA season quickly approaching, fantasy players across the country are gearing up for their drafts. To better prepare you for what to expect come draft day, we gathered some of our top fantasy basketball experts to participate in a mock selection process. Is Anthony Davis the clear-cut top pick over Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron James & Co.? How high should talented rookies like Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns be taken? Which late-round picks could be steals?
The following group helped answer those questions and more in our second mock draft for fantasy hoops: ESPN editors Greg Rosenstein, Martenzie Johnson, Michael Huang, Matt Draper and Rob Peterson; ESPN fantasy writers Eric Karabell, Tom Carpenter, Jim McCormick, Bradford Doolittle and John Cregan.
Note: The scoring system for this particular mock draft is head-to-head by categories.
Johnson on James: "With iffy timetables for the injured Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert -- and a bench just as decrepit as last season -- I foresee LeBron having to do it on his own for a good portion of the early season. He won't put up those gaudy numbers he did in the Finals, but he will still have a top 10 usage rate and PER and will have the ball in his hands for most offensive sets. Durant, Harden and Westbrook were my other options at this pick, but outside of scoring, none -- except a Durant-less Westbrook -- can match the overall production of James."
Peterson on Durant: "The Brow, the reigning MVP and the greatest player of his generation (LeBron James) were off the board before No. 4, but I felt I couldn't go wrong with KD. Yeah, Harden went right after him at No. 5, but Durant will be out to show everyone he can still ball after he played in only 27 games last season."
Rosenstein on Westbrook: "This was a no-brainer selection for me. Even with Kevin Durant in the lineup, do you really think RW isn't going to get his? Of course he will. Westbrook is an absolute stat-stuffer, and you can expect the monster statistics he put up last year to continue. The Oklahoma City guard is a perfect piece to build a fantasy team around."
McCormick on Cousins: "Boogie is coming off of an epic 2014-15 campaign that saw him tie LeBron James in usage with a rich 31.8 rate. Afforded such a volume of opportunities each night, Cousins ranked 15th on our Player Rater last year, while gaudy surface stats -- 24.1 points and 12.7 boards per game -- screamed first-round value for the mercurial Kentucky product. So far in the preseason, Cousins is leading all players who have played at least 20 minutes with a massive usage rate of 37 -- one of Wesbrookian levels.
"There are absolutely no questions about Cousins' stable statistical floor and comparably special ceiling. As long as Cousins doesn't fall in love with an inconsistent 3-point shot, he's as safe as first-round investments come. I was happy to land this big box score maven at seventh overall, given that I locked up a top-five asset at a slight discount."
Carpenter on Lillard/Leonard: "The nice thing about picking at the end of the first round is that by having back-to-back picks, you can really impact the structure of your team by deciding which types of players you want. Bigs? 3-point shooters? Dimes? Balance? In my case, I knew I was going to take Lillard's offensive upside for sure. Then it was between Leonard and John Wall. I typically lean toward high-end point guards to get assists, but in this case, I decided that Leonard's terrific FG% would take the edge off of Lillard's shaky FG%, all while helping me fill out hustle stats."
Doolittle on George: "My pick of George reflects my draft position more than anything else. I wasn't going to really be able to put together a team I loved, so I went for one with the widest range of possibility. In other words, I hunted for guys whose draft value has been depressed by recent injury. The theory is that if all of the physical questions surrounding these players are answered in a positive fashion, I'm in good shape.
"George's preseason numbers have been astronomical. He's averaged over 30 points per 36 minutes while showing little residue from his leg injury. Indiana's faster pace will help boost his per-game averages across the board, and I think you could see him evolve into the Pacers' top playmaker. He may not love playing power forward, but not only will the move enhance his offensive output and, hopefully, efficiency, but it also makes him eligible across three positions in fantasy leagues. How many quality power forward/shooting guards are you going to find?"
Peterson on Anthony: "Remember when he was a top 10 fantasy player? I'm hoping he recaptures that magic for one more season."
Johnson on Gobert: "Outside of Eric Bledsoe, my early strategy was to go sort of 'big' with my picks to try and shore up the rebounds, blocks and FG% categories. Enter Gobert. After the Jazz traded Enes Kanter before the trade deadline last season, Gobert became one of the top big defenders in the league, averaging over 12 boards and almost three blocks a game. With a full 82 starts this season and more work on the offensive end, he will help me lead in about two to three categories alone."
Karabell on Green: "If I could pick again, I'd pass up Draymond Green at No. 21 for a scoring point guard like Eric Bledsoe or Jeff Teague. Power forwards and point guards are usually my theme, but Green did look intriguing. Five rounds later he didn't."
Draper on Hayward: "At this point we're still adding building blocks and I'm targeting multi-category guys who won't hurt shooting percentages, with an eye toward picking a wing after previously drafting Curry and Ibaka. Hayward, who's improved every season in the league, is the lead dog on offense for the Jazz and brings a ton of diverse fantasy value, including points, treys, boards, assists and steals. Plus, he can slot in at either SG or SF and is getting increasingly better at creating his own shot, resulting in more points and trips to the line, where last season he shot 81 percent. His ADP has dropped over the last few weeks, so maybe folks are getting on the Hayward train. I'm hoping the hipster haircut + keys to the Jazz offense = big #s in 2015-16."
McCormick on Lowry: "It's not hard to see the dramatic differences in Lowry's svelte physique this preseason. Looking leaner and meaner than ever, Lowry is leading the league in scoring in the preseason while draining a white-hot 57.1 percent of his 3-point attempts. A second-half fade last season saw Lowry lose some luster in fantasy circles, but at the helm of an offense that ranked third in the NBA in offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) and in the best shape of his career, Lowry is a second-round commodity that can be found deep into the third frame of fantasy drafts this year."
Carpenter on Noel/Whiteside: "I prefer the fifth or sixth pick in a 10-team league, because selecting in the middle increases the odds of players I want falling to me. I typically target value over the structure of my team in those cases. On the other hand, when picking on the corner, fewer value players should fall to me, so I give more weight to the statistical nature of my squad as a whole. In this case, I had the chance to corner the market on shot-blockers by taking both Noel and Whiteside. Plus, combining Leonard's and Noel's steals should put me in great shape there, too."
Peterson on Bosh: "Chris Bosh is underrated, especially after coming off a life-threatening injury. If he finds his form, he's a steal here."
Karabell on Lawson: "Ty Lawson is obviously skilled, but he's got issues off and on the court. The ones off he himself must conquer, but on it's the fact he's playing with James Harden, who might not share too much. Lawson can still average 15 points and eight assists, I hope.
Peterson on Middleton: "I'm from Milwaukee. I pick at least one Buck each season. I picked the only one who could score."
Cregan on Horford: "I think Al Horford (49th pick, fifth round) returns third-round value. His recent injuries appear to have driven down his stock, but the rumors of his adding a 3-point shot appear to be true."
Huang on Wiggins: "Andrew Wiggins has the chance to do everything in Minnesota. He's that good. Not sure he'll get the assists because of Rubio and Sam Mitchell's tight offensive scheme, but he might turn into a James Harden-type player. And we have Harden, too. "
Carpenter on Knight/Jordan: "Realizing that I was low in dimes, I could have punted the category entirely, but if possible, you should try to have some production in each category to allow you to win against others who are weak in a specific statistic. So I grabbed Knight, who also gives me more scoring, steals and 3s. Adding a third monster shot-blocker in Jordan was a no-brainer. I will dominate blocks now and compete in rebounds. Ideally, though, Jordan is trade bait, which will allow me to acquire some of the value players I may have grabbed in the middle of the round."
Draper on Harris: "Bit of a gamble here given that Harris is surrounded by other young talents in Orlando who may eat into his stats. But he's another multi-category contributor with decent percentages, and could see a bump in 3s this season - which, given how many other 3-point threats are on my roster, works well in his dual SF/PF role."
Rosenstein on Redick: "At this point in the draft, I realized I was lacking in a true deep threat. Enter Redick, one of the NBA's best in that area. He's a 40 percent 3-point shooter for his career and hits 90 percent of his free throws. I don't expect either of those numbers to decline in 2015-16.
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Carpenter on Gallinari/Korver: "Just like I cornered the market in blocks with Noel-Whiteside, I did the same here with 3-point shooting. Both of these guys are going to bomb loads of 3s this season and push me into the mix every week in this head-to-head format. Also of note in H2H games is that I give more weight to players who specialize in one category. In standard roto games, a player's overall value is critical to your entire team's categorical production, but that changes in H2H, where you want to be able to win as many categories as possible. Give any player who posts freakishly good stats in one category a bump in head-to-head games."
McCormick on McCallum: "LaMarcus Aldridge took nearly 20 shots per game last season. Nicolas Batum and Aaron Afflalo combined for 17.6 field-goal attempts per game. These key offensive contributors wear different uniforms this season, while McCollum stands to inherit a great deal of usage and opportunity. Already a deft deep shooter with a 38.8 percent career clip from beyond the arc, McCollum can help provide the shooting volume my big-man centric roster will need."
Huang on Mudiay: "Targeted Emmanuel Mudiay as perhaps the only rookie we'd want on our roster, simply because he's going to get the ball most of the time. Barring injury, I'd bet he's the Rookie of the Year. But he should be a full category guy with the exception of blocks and I think his 3-point percentage will lag behind. But his elite size will get him more boards than the average point guard."
Peterson on Okafor: "He should get a ton of playing time and a ton of touches. He may not be great on defense for the Sixers, but I don't need him to play D."
Johnson on Lee: "David Lee is a former 20-10 guy who after being traded to the Boston Celtics in the offseason is projected to put up about 17 points and nine rebounds in 2015-16. After shoring up my shooting in the previous couple of rounds, I wanted to get back to my strategy of getting bigs, especially ones who can help me on the scoring end. With Gobert and Brook Lopez in tow, Lee is my Chris Bosh of the H2H draft: a sleeper pick who could return to old form."
Cregan on Ariza: "Ariza is going way, way too low in drafts. He possesses elite 3-point and steals production, dual position eligibility and is in line for a ton of minutes."
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Carpenter on Rubio and Carter-Williams: "Remember when I took Knight to give me a little extra in assists? Glad I did that, because now when I add Rubio and MCW, I should be able to compete in assists with most squads on a weekly basis. Plus my steals are through the roof now."
Cregan on Bryant: "I felt so good about Ariza, I took Kobe more to illustrate a point - that Round 10 is about when I'd consider rolling the dice on his playing more than 45-to-50 games."
Karabell on Robin Lopez: "I really like the Robin Lopez pick and wonder why he lasted so long. He leaves the West but for a situation in which he should score and rebound more. It's nice when centers hit their free throws, and this seems like a safe player with little floor."
Rosenstein on Kanter: "Kanter really played well once he was sent to Oklahoma City, and his numbers should only continue to improve once a healthy Kevin Durant is back in the lineup. Yes, KD will take away field goal attempts, but the offense runs much smoother with them in and should lead to more chances in the post for Kanter. "
Cregan on Holiday: "Holiday looks like a solid endgame gamble. He's looked great this preseason and I wonder how close Alvin Gentry sticks to that minutes limit."
Huang on Parker: "We needed to shore up our assists, with only Reggie Jackson and Mudiay as our point guards. James Harden is essentially the PG in Houston, but the addition of Ty Lawson breaks that down a little. So with Tony Parker still on the board, we snatched him up. I'm not buying into the age thing. The Spurs are the best at resting guys and with LaMarcus Aldridge in the lineup, essentially supplanting Tiago Splitter in the rotation (Duncan moves to the 5, Aldridge to the 4), Parker will have lots of people to dish to."
Draper on Porzingis: "Perfect spot to roll the dice on a high-risk, high-reward rookie. Enter Porzingis, who possesses size, athleticism and a legit shooting touch (he shot 48 percent from the field in Summer League action and, while he hasn't really shown it with the Knicks, last season hit 38 percent of his 3s with Sevilla in the Spanish League). The Knicks may bring him along slowly, but they're going to give him minutes - and I like his chances to contribute on New York's work-in-progress roster."
Huang on Johnson: "We were lacking in some rebounds and blocks late into the draft, so we started looking at bigs that had those skill sets. With Nikola Vucevic our only big (and he plays no defense), Tyson Chandler and Amir Johnson were ideal. And I think Johnson might be a sleeper offensively. I think he was stunted in Toronto behind Lowry, DeRozan and Valanciunas. Happy to do the dirty work. But now in Boston, he's ready to blossom."
