The NBA 2021-2022 season is here and Fanteam is offering the biggest ever NBA Full Season Game, with a prize pool of €100,000!
You can read about it in more detail here.
There are a lot of players to choose from but in order to fit them in the budget restrictions, we will have to make some tough choices or at least some risky ones, hoping that they will come through.
So, without further delay, let’s see some options per position
Check out our NBA Full Season Projections!
Point Guards
The interesting part about the NBA opening schedule is that 4 teams (Mavericks, Hawks, Clippers, and Heat) are not playing in GW1 (19-20/10).
With that in mind, Luka Doncic (19m) cannot be on your team from the beginning, since he will not score any points. Despite that, he is of course an excellent choice for the rest of the season, projecting to be one at the top of fantasy scorers when the season comes to an end. The same goes for Trae Young (16m).
So, that leaves us with 2 options from the higher tiers, Steph Curry (18.5m) and Damian Lillard (17.5m). Both of them are excellent players and if I had to choose one, I would go with Curry, since he is the most reliable in the course of the season.
LaMelo Ball (13.5m) is a player that I like a lot going into the season. He will start this year and his game is so fantasy-friendly, that makes him look like an excellent choice at his price.
Fred Vanvleet (14.5m) also looks like someone who will have an increased role for his team this season and has a license to do whatever he wants on the floor, which is usually a good thing for fantasy purposes.
Russell Westbrook (15.5m) scares me, especially at that price, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (14.5m), Collin Sexton (13.5m), and Ja Morant (13.5m) are fine choices for their price tags.
Tyrese Halliburton (11m) looks like a steal at this price, since he is another player that will start this season and he is such a good all-around player, that can steadily provide fantasy points for us.
Spencer Dinwiddie (12m) is coming off a big injury but he will be playing for the Wizards, most probably in a role similar to the one he had with the Nets, so he looks like a good option, as does Darius Garland (11m).
Below 10m, T.J. McConnell (9.5m) is a risk I am willing to take, an excellent per minute guy, who seems to be poised for more minutes this season and if that happens, he will be a steal at 9.5m.
Cade Cunningham (9m) and Shake Milton (8.5m) are two interesting choices from this price tier. The Detroit Pistons rookie is questionable for opening night, but for the season he looks like he will play a lot since the Pistons need him to be on the court and develop his skills. Milton is risky, but if the Simmons problem will not resolve, then he will be the one playing all the minutes that Simmons leaves behind.
Shooting Guards
James Harden (18.5m) is by far the most expensive SG and for a reason. One could argue that he will get fewer points with Durant alongside him but the numbers from last year suggest that without Kyrie Irving on the floor and with Kevin Durant playing, Harden had 1.55 fantasy points per minute, an outstanding number.
Bradley Beal is the next in line but him being unvaccinated as of now, makes him kind of skeptical about selecting him. In a vacuum, he looks like an excellent choice, given that last year he had 1.55 fantasy points per minute and he will be playing close to 36 minutes per night. But will he be able to play all the games or he would get shut down at one point? We have to wait and see.
Donovan Mitchell (15.5m), and Devin Booker (14m) are fine choices, the Bulls situation with LaVine (15m) and DeRozan (14m) scares me a bit, so I want to see them a couple of games together and see how much usage they have.
I like Anthony Edwards (13m) a lot, and I believe that he will have a much better year than last year from the beginning, and with that in my mind, he will be in my player pool.
Buddy Hield (12m) and Kevin Porter Jr. (11.5m) look to be fairly priced, Hield being an elite 3p shooter and a durable player (projected to play 80 games), and Porter Jr. is the primer ball handler on a bad team that will try to run. Seems like a good recipe for a lot of points.
Bellow the 10m range, I will go with the rookies, Jalen Suggs (8.5m) and Jalen Green (8.5m). Both of them are excellent scorers, play for teams that are rebuilding which should guarantee them plenty of minutes and opportunities, and at those price tags, I am more than willing to take the risk with them.
Small Forwards
Kevin Durant (16.5m), Paul George (16m), Jayson Tatum (16m), and LeBron James (16.5m) are on top of the salary list for the small forward position. All of them are above 1.5 fantasy point producers per minute and are the focal point of their team’s offense. If I had to choose, I would go with George and Tatum but all of them are excellent choices regardless.
Further down the salary ranks, Tobias Harris (13m), looks to be a little bit underpriced, given the fact that there is talk out of the Sixers camp, that he will be more involved in the offense this year and most probably he will be playing without Simmons for the majority of the year.
From the cheaper options, Keldon Johnson (10.5m) seems to be in a great position to produce this season and his price is low for what he should be able to give us per night (close to 30 fantasy points per game).
Mikal(10.5m) and Miles(9.5m) Bridges are also fairly priced, and both of them project to be in the top 20 of fantasy points at the small forward position.
Power Forwards
Giannis Antetokounmpo (19m) is the best fantasy basketball producer with 1.64 fantasy points per minute last season and I just do not see how or why he would slow down this season. The only question is if you can fit him in your budget, or what options we will have if we have him on our team, but he is an elite producer and should be at the top of the league in fantasy points at the end of the regular season.
Randle (16m) and Sabonis (16m) were excellent last year in the regular season but Randle struggled in the postseason and Sabonis will play with a new coach this year, so I would like to see both of them in a couple of games before I select them for my team.
Anthony Davis (16m) is priced the same as the other two players but I have even more concerns about his ability to produce, mostly because I am afraid about his minutes and -of course- injuries, since the Lakers are always way too protective of him.
John Collins (11.5m) is not available for GW1, but he is an excellent pick from GW2 and onwards. He projects to be 6th in fantasy points by the end of the season and barring any serious injury like last year, he should play a focal role in Atlanta’s offense.
P.J. Washington(10m) and Chris Boucher (10m) are also underpriced, both of them look like they have secure minutes in the rotation and both of them are above 1 fantasy point per minute producers for their respective teams.
Centers
Nikola Jokic (19m), loves to play, is fit, plays 36+ minutes per game, and will be playing without his partner in crime, Jamal Murray, who still is recovering from last year’s serious knee injury that he had. If you are looking for a safe pick, Jokic seems to be on top of that list.
Joel Embiid (17m) and Karl-Anthony Towns (16.5m) look fairly priced to me. Embiid is already dominant on the court and this year he wants to improve his passing skills, which means more points from assists from us. KAT should be motivated to prove that last year was just a fluke and should play with a chip on his shoulder, a thing that is always good for fantasy production.
I like Rudy Gobert (13m) at his price since I see no reason why he would not continue on from last season and definitely think that Deandre Ayton (12m) is underpriced. He is a solid producer on the floor (1.06 fantasy points per minute) and looked dominant throughout the playoffs, something that would make him play with a lot of confidence.
Richaun Holmes (11m) is the starting center for the Kings and looks to be a lock for 32+ minutes. He is a solid producer and has a safe floor if you are looking for a safe midrange center.
If you want to go lower in salary, I would go with Robert Williams (9.5m). His playing time is not secure but he is an amazing producer on the floor and can rack up the stats in limited minutes, although, to be fair, he should be starting!
Lastly, I would look at Evan Mobley (8m), although I am concerned about his playing time, especially at the beginning of the year. But, he was one of the best players in this year’s draft and should be a good producer for fantasy from year 1.
That’s all from me, let’s hope we will have a great NBA season and a full €100,000 ΝΒΑ Regular Season Game
