Playoff Preview: NBA Playoff Player Rankings
Playoff leagues have become popular way to extend the fantasy hoops season, while DFS sites will be going strong until they run out of two-game nights. Here is my take on how you might want to approach a playoff draft. I’ve got one on Thursday night, and I’m guessing you might too if you’re reading this.
Winning one of these leagues often comes down to getting the No. 1 or No. 2 pick, when Stephen Curry and LeBron James will be taken. If you don’t get one of those picks, you’ll likely need a team other than the Warriors or Cavaliers to get to the Finals. This is far from an exact science, so if you like a team to advance farther than I appear to, feel free to venture away from these rankings. And if you find yourself with a couple players from one team early, you might want to just stack that team and hope they shock the world – especially if you don’t end up with Curry or LeBron.
Also, keep in mind that the Jazz could still get in over the Rockets. I put the Jazz players in parentheses where you might want to look at them if they get in.
Round 1
1. Stephen Curry PG GSW
2. LeBron James F CLE
3. Draymond Green PF GSW
4. Klay Thompson SG GSW
5. Kyrie Irving PG CLE
6. Kevin Love PF CLE
7. Harrison Barnes SF GSW
8. Kawhi Leonard SF SAN
9. Russell Westbrook PG OKC
10. Kevin Durant SF OKC
Unfortunately, getting the No. 1 or 2 pick in your playoff league will likely be the key to winning it all. Good luck!
Round 2
11. LaMarcus Aldridge PF SAN
12. Chris Paul PG LAC
13. James Harden SG HOU
14. Paul George SF IND
15. Hassan Whiteside C MIA
16. Paul Millsap PF ATL
17. DeAndre Jordan C LAC
18. Damian Lillard PG POR
19. C.J. McCollum SG POR
20. Isaiah Thomas PG BOS
Who knows how many playoff games the Spurs, Clippers, Rockets, Pacers, Heat, Hawks, Blazers and Celtics will play, but here are the top players from most of those teams.
Round 3
21. Dwyane Wade SG MIA
22. Jeff Teague PG ATL
23. Tristan Thompson PF CLE
24. J.R. Smith SG CLE
25. Blake Griffin PF LAC
26. Al Horford C ATL
27. Avery Bradley SG BOS
28. Kemba Walker PG CHA
29. Tony Parker PG SAN
30. Manu Ginobili SG SAN
Here are the rest of the best, with some bad Cavs thrown in for good measure.
Round 4
31. Tim Duncan PF SAN
32. Goran Dragic PG MIA
33. Kyle Lowry PG TOR
34. Enes Kanter C OKC
35. DeMar DeRozan SF TOR
36. J.J. Redick SG LAC
37. Iman Shumpert SF CLE
38. Dwight Howard C HOU (Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert if Jazz get in)
39. Jae Crowder PF BOS
40. Nicolas Batum SF CHA
Tim Duncan should be more reliable in the playoffs than he was in the regular season, while you have to worry about how far guys like Nicolas Batum, Dwight Howard and Jae Crowder will go.
Round 5
41. Dirk Nowitzki PF DAL
42. Al Jefferson C CHA
43. Andrew Bogut C GSW
44. Andre Iguodala SF GSW
45. Jonas Valanciunas C TOR
46. Joe Johnson SF MIA
47. Luol Deng PF MIA
48. Marvin Williams PF CHA
49. Deron Williams PG DAL
50. Wesley Matthews SG DAL
You’re pretty much just rolling the dice here and this is where you’ll see guys start finalizing the pieces when stacking teams.
Round 6
51. Al-Farouq Aminu F POR
52. Moe Harkless F POR
53. Steven Adams C OKC
54. Andre Drummond C DET
55. George Hill PG IND
56. Reggie Jackson PG DET
57. Zach Randolph PF MEM
58. Norman Powell SG TOR
59. Patrick Beverley PG HOU (Rodney Hood, Shelvin Mack if Utah gets in)
60. Amir Johnson PF TOR
It will take an upset for one of these guys to break through but I could see the Pacers, Thunder, Raptors and Clippers possibly winning more than one series.
Round 7
61. Jamal Crawford SG LAC
62. Kent Bazemore SG ATL
63. Tobias Harris F DET
64. Marcus Morris F DET
65. J.J. Barea G DAL
66. Zaza Pachulia C DAL
67. Josh Richardson SG MIA
68. Trevor Ariza SG HOU
69. Jeremy Lin G CHA
70. Timofey Mozgov C CLE
There are some good players here, but we just don’t know how deep their teams will go.
Round 8
71. Dennis Schroder PG ATL
72. Monta Ellis SG IND
73. David Lee PF DAL
74. Lance Stephenson G MEM
75. Matt Barnes SF LAC
76. Kyle Korver SG ATL
77. Danny Green SG SAN
78. DeMarre Carroll PF TOR
79. Jared Sullinger C BOS
80. Matthew Dellavedova PG CLE
Even if their teams go deep, there’s not much to love here. Danny Green and Kyle Korver deserve to be next to each other.
Round 9ish
81. Marreese Speights PF GSW
82. Shaun Livingston PG GSW
83. Channing Frye PF CLE
84. Festus Ezeli C GSW
85. Richard Jefferson SF CLE
86. Brandon Rush SG GSW
87. Anderson Varejao C GSW
88. Mo Williams PG CLE
89. Myles Turner PF IND
90. Ian Mahinmi C IND
91. JaMychal Green C MEM
92. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope SG DET
93. Courtney Lee SG CHA
94. Corey Brewer SG HOU
The rest of the scrubs on championship-caliber teams should all be drafted and might be worth taking a little earlier than I have them listed here.