Phil offers us 5 must have sleepers at the point guard position for the 2015-2016 Fantasy Basketball season.
It doesn't matter if you are playing in a Standard Seasonal Head to Head league, Roto League or even a Daily Fantasy Basketball league at one of the many online sites everyone wants to draft a player that no one has thought very highly of and have them outdo their pre-season projections.
In the Fantasy Sports Industry these picks are more commonly known as sleepers and this week I will give you five point guard eligible NBA players that I think will have tremendous seasons in 2015-2016.
Emanuel Mudiay PG Denver Nuggets: Mudiay skipped college and went to China to play pro ball and did well enough to convince the Nuggets to draft him with the 7th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Denver then gave Mudiay the keys to the kingdom when they shipped Ty Lawson to Houston. At 6'5 and 200 lbs. Mudiay is a big point guard with a so-so jumper and with Jameer Nelson and Randy Foye behind him on the depth chart Mudiay should see over 30 minutes per night. What he does with those minutes is anyone's guess at this point but if he can average 13-15 points, 6-7 assists, 3-4 rebounds and a steal per night and shoot somewhere around 40 percent from the floor Mudiay will be a great addition to any roster.
C.J. McCollum PG SG Portland Trail Blazers: At this point it is unclear if McCollum is going to be named the starting shooting guard but we do know this; McCollum is going to get plenty of minutes now that the Trail Blazers seemed destined for the lottery. McCollum is a scoring threat as we saw at the tail end of last season when he went for 33 points in the playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies. He also played 39 minutes in that game and if he can average 30 minutes per night with the very limited offensive options the Trail Blazers have numbers like 13-15 points, 2-3 triples, 2 assists, 3-4 rebounds and maybe a steal per night certainly aren't out of the question.
Trey Burke PG Utah Jazz: Burke has had an interesting NBA career going from the Jazz point guard of the future to getting benched for Dante Exum halfway through his sophomore season. Exum is now out for the entire 2015-2016 with a knee injury and the Jazz are looking for Burke to handle the starting point guard duties and unless the Jazz make a trade he will be their floor general in 2016. It's now or never for Burke in Utah and I have a funny feeling Burke is going to have a breakout year for the Jazz. He'll certainly get close to 30 minutes and we should expect to see 14-15 points per night, 3-4 assists, 1-2 triples, 3-4 rebounds and maybe 2 steals per night. Hopefully he can shoot around 40 percent from the floor and above 75 percent from the line and if he's able to do all of those things than you just found yourself a late round sleeper in this seasons draft.
Deron Williams PG Dallas Mavericks: Just a couple of seasons ago the big debate was who the better PG was; Chris Paul or Deron Williams. It's hard to believe but now we are talking about Williams being a sleeper and after 4 injury filled and less than spectacular production that's exactly what Williams is. He's now in Dallas and listed as the starting PG and this might be his last chance to return to elite status. The biggest hurdle in his way are his much talked about weak ankles but when he's healthy Williams can still play. He'll be surrounded by Dirk Nowitzki and Chandler Parsons as well as sharp shooter Wesley Matthews so look for many nights of double digit assists from Williams. A healthy Deron Williams will also knock down a couple of triples per night and grab 3-5 rebounds and shoot over 80 percent from the line. Health is the issue here but if Williams can somehow manage to remain healthy and if you are able to take Williams in the late rounds you will be smiling all season long.
Mo Williams PG Cleveland Cavaliers: Every season Williams finds his way into my sleeper column and every season he will go through his ups and downs, play for multiple teams, start, come off the bench or whatever and produce. Sometimes those productions are awesome and sometimes not but Williams is a perfect backup Fantasy Basketball PG and this season playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers Williams is a perfect sleeper. Kyrie Irving is out until at least January so Williams is going to start at least the first 25 games of the season, he's surrounded by sharpshooters and he has Lebron James as well. I can see double digit scoring and assists in Williams future and even when Irving returns Mo is going to play as the Cavs will certainly be careful with their star PG Irving. He'll more than likely be available in the late rounds of your draft so grab him and look like the smartest owner in your draft by doing so.
If you would like to have your Fantasy Sports question answered in this column or would like to join a Sonics Rising Fantasy Basketball league please email me at phil@draftdragons.com.
Good luck this season Fantasy Basketball Owner!
On this edition of Phil's Fantasy Sports Draft Kings Playbook writer Jason Walker and host Phil Naessens share their FanDuel and Draft Kings Fantasy Football picks for week 2, RotoExperts writer and Fantasy Baseball expert Andrea Lamont joins Phil to discuss women in Fantasy Sports, Rotowire NHL and Fantasy Hockey expert Brian Rutherford joins Phil to talk top Fantasy Hockey forwards and Rotowire NBA and Fantasy Basketball expert Alex Rikleen joins Phil and the guys discuss the top centers in this year's Fantasy Basketball drafts and much more on this week's Phil's Fantasy Sports. You can download the show from my site or listen below.