Big shout out to maleopold15 over at Sports Thoughts for his help in the help of creating a new series. He reports on the NBA, MLB, and the NFL. We are each helping each other out on our new fantasy series, mine for the NBA, and his for the NFL. Go check out the full blog at Sports Thoughts.

This is a weekly series that will be published every Sunday, previewing who will be the best fantasy players of the next week. Maleopold15 and I will select our ideal fantasy starting fives heading into the week.

Last Week

Last week, Maleopold selected Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid who averaged a combined: 11.8 Points, 6.1 Rebounds, 4.7 Assists, 0.6 Steals, and 0.6 Blocks.

I selected Tyreke Evans, James Harden, Giannis Antetkounmpo, Anthony Davis, and Demarcus Cousins who averaged a combined: 18.9 Points, 7.3 Rebounds, 3.8 Assists, 1.2 Steals, and 0.7 Blocks

I won four out of the five statistical categories, so I won week twelve.

Me-4, Maleopold-3

Point Guard

ST: Kyrie Irving

He only plays one game this week, but I like his matchup with the 76ers. With 5 days of rest coming into this game, he should be chomping at the bit to go off on Philly. I’m looking for a complete effort to boost my team’s averages.

Shooting Guard

ST: Jimmy Butler

Small Forward

ST: Lebron James

Yeah, he’s back. It’s hard for me to go against the best player in the game today, but I can only pass on him for so long. James is the clear frontrunner for MVP with most of the contenders succumbing to various injuries, so I expect James to continue to do it all for Cleveland.

Me: Giannis Antetkounmpo

After being pleasantly surprised with Antetkounmpo’s performances last week, why not select the Greek Freak the second week in a row? With a wide margin of games ranging from the Magic to the Warriors this week, Antetokounmpo should continue his MVP-caliber season in style.

Power Forward

ST: Anthony Davis

The leading vote-getter among early polls for the All-Star game, it seems like Davis never has an off night. He and Cousins work extremely well together despite their comparable skill sets and positions. The Pelicans have something brewing down south, and Davis is a key part of that.

Center

ST: Karl Anthony-Towns

I almost went with Cousins, but he’s facing some tough competition with opposing centers in a long 4-game week for New Orleans. So instead, I’m going with KAT who has slightly more favorable 1 on 1’s on a Minnesota team due for some big games. I expect KAT to score around 20 ppg and get more than enough boards to bring Sports Thoughts to victory!

Me: Clint Capela

Often times, picking two players from the same team is foolish, unless it’s Chris Paul and a tall, athletic seven footer. Clint Capela is the new Deandre Jordan, and probably even more effective on both sides of the floor. With Harden out, look for the Rockets to use a pick and roll heavy offense, getting both Chris Paul and Clint Capela open under the basket consistently and shooters open for three. This can’t fail me, right?