Giannis Antetokounmpo is earning MVP consideration with his impressive play in the opening weeks of the season, doing all we expected and more, and the Milwaukee star remains atop my rankings heading into Week 3 of the NBA season.
After Antetokounmpo, though, there are a whole bunch of surprises.
Who envisioned Chris Paul going down with a sore knee after one game and missing several weeks? I expected improvement from Victor Oladipo as one of the main guys in Indiana, but did anyone envision this type of start (25.5 PPG)? Who thought Kawhi Leonard would miss all of the preseason with a mysterious quad injury that would keep him sidelined all of October and possibly longer?
Leonard drops to No. 18 on the rankings while Oladipo rises to 20 and Paul plummets to 36.
It doesn't end there. You have Blake Griffin shooting 3s like never before and rising to 26 as a result. There is Marc Gasol (13) playing some of the best ball of his career at age 32 and averaging career-highs in scoring (20.1 PPG), blocks (2.0) and 3PG (1.7). And lets not forget DeMarcus Cousins, who seemingly hasn't been impacted by the presence of Anthony Davis and climbs to No. 4 behind Warriors teammates Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, thanks to incredible numbers (29.4 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 2.1 BPG and 2.4 3PG) through the first seven games.
Other big risers this week include Nikola Vucevic (28), who is taking a page out of Gasol's book and shooting the 3-pointer like never before, along with Evan Fournier (30) and Aaron Gordon (50), two of the big reasons for Orlando's surprising early success. Centers Clint Capela (43) and Steven Adams (51) are also looking like double-double machines who are entering the prime of their respective careers.
Meanwhile, Ben Simmons is another big story who is drawing plenty of attention, and I've moved him up to 31 this week. The rookie point forward is off to a fantastic start to his career (18.4 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 7.7 APG, 1.4 SPG), but his poor free throw shooting (56.1 percent), penchant for turnovers (3.1 TPG) and inability to shoot the 3-ball (zero made this season) prevent him from being ranked even higher in roto formats.
Another versatile rookie in a similar boat is highly touted Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball (89), whose strengths (7.5 RPG, 7.7 APG, 1.3 SPG) are being negated by his poor shooting (31.1 FG%, 55.6 FT%) and high turnovers (3.5 TPG). Ball shouldn't be categorized as a disappointment, because he'll rise up the rankings quickly if his shot starts to fall, but there are several bigger-name veterans who are off to surprisingly bad starts.
For nobody is that more true of than Minnesota's Jimmy Butler. In his first season with the Timberwolves, his minutes are up 1.2 per game from last season, but his scoring is down 7.7 PPG and the rest of his numbers are also lower across the board. I've moved him all the way down to 49 this week.
Another is Paul Millsap, who is starting to show some age in his first season with the Nuggets and falls to 52 on the list. His 14.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.9 APG and 41.6 FG% are far from the type of numbers he put up in his prime with Utah and Atlanta, and if they don't improve in the near future, he's going to continue to slide down the rankings.
One notable player who has fallen completely off the list is the top overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, Markelle Fultz, who is dealing with a shoulder injury that may have contributed to a shockingly poor start to his NBA career. For now, the 76ers have shut him down for the next three weeks. At this point, he's not worth the risk if it means taking up a roster spot to stash him in standard 10- and 12-team leagues.
Here is the full list of the updated top-150 players in roto formats:
