Fantasy Value of LeBron James

There is no denying that LeBron “King” James is one of  the best basketball players in the world. The entire NBA basically shut down when he was deciding what team he wanted to play for this season and beyond. That has never happened before in any professional sports league, that an entire league basically came to a complete halt, as no team signed other free agents, made trades, or made any other transactions because they were waiting on ONE player to make a decision about his free agency. With that said, where does King James rank in terms of fantasy players? Most people scoff at this question and instantly think he’s the second player off the board, after Kevin Durant, in fantasy leagues, but does he really deserve to taken that high in fantasy drafts?

LeBron James/ Getty ImagesBefore I go over some players that could be taken over LBJ, let us take a look at his production. Here are his per game averages last year: has basically put up 27 points in the past four seasons (averaged 17.7 FGA with a 56.6 field goal percentage in the past two seasons), grabbed 6.9 rebounds (career average is 7.2), dished out 6.3 assists, which is slightly below his career average of 6.9, had 1.6 steals, drained 1.5 three pointers, and produced only 0.3 blocks. His FG% combined with the amount of attempts he takes is elite and is one of the best in that category. Same could be said about his points production, but that is where the elite numbers drop off. The assists numbers are still really good as he ranked 14th overall on a per game basis. However his 6.9 rebounds per game ranked 46 overall last season. The steals are a bit overrated as 30 players averaged at least 1.5 steals per game last season. Same thing could be said about his three pointers made per game, as 68 players averaged 1.5 or more three pointers made. Plus, his 75% free throw percentage hurts roto teams. His blocks per game were atrocious though, as 185 players averaged more than 0.3 blocks per game. Overall, he can give you a huge advantage in points and FG%, will be a top 15 player in assists, but that’s where it ends as his rebounds are good, but not great, and the rest of his overall numbers are lacking.

That is not even taking into account that he’s now playing with two other superstars, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, that take a high volume of shots and produce a high volume of rebounds and assists. That means that it's highly unlikely his points, rebounding, and three pointers made increase this season. If anything, his stats could decrease in all categories except for field goal percentage. So who could be taken ahead of LBJ in fantasy drafts?

Anthony Davis PF/C, New Orleans Pelicans - Not only should Davis be taken ahead of LeBron, but he is the only player that will challenge Kevin Durant as the number one overall player in fantasy. His floor is 20 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks per game, but it’s his ceiling that has people in the fantasy industry drooling as this guy has a chance to average 24 plus points, 11 plus rebounds, and well over three blocks per game this season.

Stephen Curry PG/SG, Golden State Warriors- Keeps getting better and better as he averaged 24 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and an NBA best 3.3 three pointers made per game last season. His FG% is going to be around 47-48 percent, while his free throw percentage is always going to be around 90%, which is elite. While LeBron’s FG% is going to be significantly higher, the total points score will be a lot closer than most people think (LBJ scored about 210 more points than Curry last season) as Curry will average more points per game than he did last season. Also, he finished with 178 more assists than LeBron. Now, add in the fact that Curry will win you three pointers by himself (and more than double LeBron’s 3PM), and it is clear why he could be taken over LeBron.

James"Too Hard To Guard" Harden SG/SG, Houston Rockets- This is going to be the best season in Harden’s young career, in terms of statistical production. He put up huge numbers last year that rivaled LeBron’s numbers with 25.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. One of the best (and cheapest) parts about his game is his ability to draw fouls and get to the free throw line by averaging 9.1 free throw attempts per game (second highest rate in the league), while shooting 86.6% (tenth highest in the NBA) from the charity stripe. Also, his 2.4 three pointers made per game was tied for ninth overall in the NBA. Harden gives fantasy owners an advantage in three pointers made and free throw percentage, and if he can score one too two more points a game, than he will finish as an overall better player than LeBron.

Kevin Love PF/C, Cleveland Cavaliers- The fact that LeBron might not even be the best fantasy player on his team jusy goes to show you how great the Cavaliers are going to be. Love has always dominated on the glass by averaging 12.2 rebounds per game throughout his career. Those rebounds per game almost doubles King James’ numbers. The assists will be a lot closer this season, as K-Love averaged a career high 4.4 assists per game last year and that was with a mediocre Timberwolves team. Their points per game will be almost identical (Love averaged 26.1 PPG), while Lebron's FG% is a lot better than Love’s, Love has the advantage in free throw percentage (82.1%) and three pointers made (2.5) per game. Overall, Love’s three pointers made, free throw percentage, and outright dominance in rebounding, makes him a better fantasy option than LeBron.

There you have it. Those are the players that are worth taking over LeBron James. All of those players have a higher ceiling than LeBron James, but he does have a very high floor. Also, his numbers are not going to increase, they can only decrease, now that he’s playing with multiple superstars and a lot of solid role players. It makes sense why people would trust LeBron enough to take him number two overall and I wouldn't’t blame someone for pulling the trigger on him that early in drafts. However, I would not make that move and would rather go with a younger player that could do multiple things at an elite level, that is just reaching their prime, and will improve on last years numbers.

Be on the lookout for the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide as it will be your key to successful fantasy basketball season. The guide will include a full team-by-team breakdown, sleepers, over 200 players ranked for rotisserie and total point leagues and will include dynasty rankings as well, strategies for each type of league, players to avoid, bust candidates, DFS strategies, and much more. Feel free to holler at me on twitter @DaTrueGuru.