1. James Harden-Houston Rockets: With the addition of Chris Paul, Harden moves back to the Shooting Guard spot, but that shouldn’t stop him from driving and scoring a ton. Most of the plays will be designed to feature Harden going to the basket and especially on transition, Harden will be leading the charge down the court. Harden will also look to creep into the lane off the ball. He has tremendous leaping ability and will fight for rebounds and keep plays alive. With Chris Paul being a general threat with the ball on offense, more attention will need to be put on the guard spot opposite Harden and that will work to his benefit because when Harden gets the pass and immediately drives, he is hard to stop.

  2. DeMar DeRozan-Toronto Raptors: DeRozan is the Raptors most aggressive player and will fight in the lane for openings. DeRozan is an all-around producer who will fill up the stat sheet in just about every fantasy basketball category. DeRozan has gotten a lot more confident in his long range shooting and will be left open at the perimeter. He’s very good at setting the screen and making a sharp cut to the basket to try to get an easy layup. DeRozan hangs around under the basket to keep plays alive.

  3. CJ McCollum-Portland Trail Blazers: While Damian Lillard will be taking the majority of the shots, McCollum will continue to be plenty involved in the offense. Heading into the season the Blazers only trustworthy options are Lillard, McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. Everyone else on the team has not proven to be consistent on offense and this benefits McCollum. McCollum is a solid mid range shooter and looks to slash when against smaller defenders. He will be just as productive he was last season.

  4. Klay Thompson-Golden State Warriors: The Warriors have a lot of scoring options, but when it comes to the Warriors going on scoring runs, Thompson leads that charge. People forget that Thompson will be the main scorer when he runs with the Warriors second unit and he has a silky smooth three-point jumper. Thompson does not play in the lane as much, but he’s always in position for long rebounds and can reel off multiple shots in a row scoring in volume. When the Warriors run, Thompson pumps the breaks at the arc while the rest of the opposition runs to the paint to protect the lane and Thompson see’s open jumpers on transition by using a bit of trickery.

  5. Bradley Beal-Washington Wizards: Beal proved last season that he’s more than just a wing shooter. In previous years, he would literally stand at the elbow or at the perimeter waiting for the ball. Last season, we saw Beal cut inside more off the ball and attack the lane on the ball. The ideal position for Beal is when he gets the ball at the top of the key and drives down the middle. Beal draws a ton of contact when driving and hustles on defense. Beal gets plenty of opportunities to score in this lineup.

  6. Jrue Holiday-New Orleans Pelicans: Holiday has needed to play effectively in both guard spots and with Rajon Rondo hurt, he will need to continue to move the ball around the perimeter to set up his big men in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins (both who can create with the ball outside the paint). Being that both Cousins and Davis will look to cut from angles, that leaves the middle of the paint open for Holiday to create. Most of his scoring opportunities will come from bailing out the big men when they get doubled and that will give him open shot opportunities. When he looks to drive he will get some of the best screens set from two of the best screen setters in the league in Davis and Cousins.

  7. Devin Booker-Phoenix Suns: Booker will get just as many opportunities on offense in Phoenix as C.J. McCollum will get in Portland. When Eric Bledsoe was hurt, Booker opened our eyes to his skill-set on the ball. Booker is a reliable shooter from mid and long range, but is also not afraid to attack and draw contact and he will be relied on heavily early on, especially when the Suns are on transition.

?8. Andrew Wiggins-Minnesota Timberwolves: Wiggins is a bit of a marked man as too scoring dependant, but with the lane-slashers he has in the lineup with him, it should help his assist numbers improve from last season. Jimmy Butler is a much better attacker on offense than shooter and that will benefit Wiggins as he will see less attention from the opposition due to the need to stop Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns from attacking the lane. Wiggins will need to follow his own shots to get rebounds and stay out of the corner with the ball. He will see a lot more pick and pop opportunities with more time to plant his feet and be comfortable when shooting.

9. Victor Oladipo-Indiana Pacers: Oladipo continues to be a secondary scoring weapon, but the difference is between his situation in OKC and now is that Myles Turner will produce from mainly inside, Oladipo will take a lot of long range shots. It’s always difficult predicting Oladipo from a consistency standpoint, but we saw him get into trouble with the ball a lot less than in previous season’s. Oladipo has good lane driving ability and doesn’t look to hang onto the ball too much at the perimeter. He gets into trouble when getting the ball in the corner. He should be able to help with assists as well. 

?10. Nicolas Batum-Charlotte Hornets: It could be said that Batum was the Hornets most efficient rebounder last season and once he comes back from his Elbow injury in two months, Batum will continue to take advantage of smaller defenders. Batum has the unique ability to avoid contested jumpers by hitting lean-in three-pointers (the kind you saw in NBA Hang Time on Nintendo 64) consistently and he will also look to attack from the elbow. He has a good post-game that allows him to spin into the lane. When Batum returns, he will start alongside Kemba Walker and will be productive in every category including steals and blocks.