Nikola Jokic isn’t just the NBA’s back-to-back MVP, he’s also proven to be a fantastic league-winning option in each of the past two seasons. Virtually everyone wants him first in roto points, categories and leagues this season.
So that begs the question: if Jokic isn’t on the board, who should you draft at No. 2 in 2022-23?
Here’s Who Our Fantasy Basketball Experts Are André’ Snellings, Eric Moody, Eric Karabel, Jim McCormick and John Cregan have their views.
Snelling: In the points leagues, the choice is simple: Giannis Antetokounmpo. While Jokic may be the clear No.1, Giannis is just as clear at No.2. For illustrative purposes, let’s look at the top 11 players from last season, sorted by fantasy points per game. Jokic was first at 61.4 FP/G, Giannis was second at 56.1 FP/G, and then there were nine other players who averaged over 46 FP/G. Of those 9, teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis missed 68 games combined last season and teammates Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving missed 80 games combined. Joel Embiid and James Harden have just become teammates at the end of the season while Trae Young and Dejounte Murray have become teammates this offseason, potentially limiting the other’s advantages. That leaves Luka Doncic (52.2 FP/G last year) as the only other player on this list, and he’s a worthy contender, but Giannis has the highest average and a similar availability record over the past few years. seasons.
I would also take Giannis second in the H2H category leagues, but in the roto leagues I could consider Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum or Karl-Anthony Towns to be dominant category performers without a blatant weak category. Both Giannis and Luka are fragile high-volume free throw shooters, which could hurt them in the roto rankings. But, in the H2H category, I’m willing to worry less about a bad category in exchange for overall dominance in several other categories.
Karabell: It seems a little wide open for the No. 2 pick and I have to admit I surprise myself a bit choosing Antetokounmpo, as he can be a bit of a problem in the category leagues for the low free throw percentage (although he increased last season). However, it’s so good in every other category that I’d be hard pressed to top it for second in any format. Antetokounmpo scores, rebounds, passes, steals, blocks and hits his field goals, is relatively durable, especially compared to other notables, and shows no signs of declining. He is reliable. It matters a lot.
Moody: I wouldn’t hesitate to pick Giannis Antetokounmpo #2 overall in a points or category league. For the fourth consecutive season, he was among the top four in MVP voting. In both formats, Antetokounmpo presents fantastic managers with a very high floor and potential to finish as the best player in both formats. Field goal percentage is one of his biggest draws. But on top of that, the 53.5% career shooter averaged 29.9 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.4 BPG, and 1.1 SPG while having one of the highest ratings. highest utilization in the league at 34.5% last season.
McCormick: Doncic is the rare heliocentric playmaker who can match the stat volume of Antetokounmpo and Embiid and still counter the elite shooting and scoring volume of Durant and Curry, while threatening the night of flirting with a triple- double. It’s amazing to consider that there’s almost a degree of Doncic fatigue in terms of fantasy; that is, it has been so good for several seasons that it seems its rich production has become commonplace and expected. In reality, Doncic is only 23 years old and is touching his statistical ceiling. No player has a clearer path to league-leading use, especially following the exit of Jalen Brunson. It’s crazy to consider, but this guy is just getting started.
Cregan: In points, we could muster the arguments for seven players worthy of a silver medal. Roto: four. In points, when in doubt, this old leader turns to two dynamics: health and positional scarcity. In Roto: Health and True Fire Percentage (TS%) rarity.
If you have a tough decision to make at any point in a draft, look at the overall value, not the per-game value. In points, that boils down to Antetokounmpo, Doncic and Tatum (all of whom have historic injury red flags and could miss six to eight games). In terms of rotation, that brings you to Tatum and Joel Embiid.
Now apply rarity. In points, we’re looking at a dust shortage of SF production for 2022-23. Tatum’s selection sets the table for the rest of your draft, while removing some of the SF production from the table. In roto, prioritizing TS% rarity gives Embiid the nod.