With Yahoo! Fantasy leagues completed and champions crowned, we hand out fantasy awards for the 2015-16 season:
Most Improved
C.J. McCollum
A lot was expected from McCollum this season after the Blazers lost four of their five starters from 2014-15 in the offseason. The third-year guard not only meet these high expectations, he surpassed them with a consistent and efficient season that helped Damian Lillard and the Blazers secure the No. 5 seed in the West. McCollum averaged career-highs for points (20.8), field goal percentage (44.8), 3-point percentage (41.7), assists (4.3), rebounds (2.7), steals (1.2) and minutes (34.8) while also tallying single-game career-highs for points (33), 3-pointers made (7) and rebounds (5). He missed only two games all season and scored fewer than 10 points in just one game. McCollum ended the season ranked 46th in Yahoo! fantasy, a great spot for a player drafted on average with the 99th pick. Don’t be surprised if McCollum is drafted within the first three rounds next season.
Waiver Wire Wonder
Nikola Jokic
Few knew about the Nuggets’ rookie when most fantasy drafts were held in late-October. But fantasy owners quickly learned his name after a few weeks of action. The 41st pick of the 2014 draft increased his production every month during 2015-16, finishing off the season with averages of 10.8 points on 48.9 percent shooting, 9.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in 24.8 minutes after the All-Star break. These stats put Jokic alongside Andre Drummond, Anthony Davis, DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green, Paul Millsap and Thaddeus Young as the only players to average at least nine rebounds and one steal after the All-Star break. Pretty solid company for a player who went undrafted in most leagues. Jokic ended the season ranked 69th in Yahoo! fantasy and will likely be a top 75 pick next season.
Late Round Steal
Jae Crowder
The 31st best player in NBA fantasy this season was drafted on average with the 125th pick. Crowder stormed onto the scene in 2015-16 with career-high averages of 14.2 points on 44.3 percent shooting, 1.7 3-pointers, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals in his first full season with Boston. He did a little bit of everything to join James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Robert Covington and Stephen Curry as the only players to average at least five rebounds, 1.5 3-pointers and 1.5 steals this season. Crowder posted numbers similar to what many fantasy owners expected from the Spurs’ Danny Green, who disappointed after being drafted on average with the 58th pick. Expect Crowder to be selected around that range during 2016-17 fantasy drafts.
Early Round Bust
Rudy Gobert
The fantasy world (and the Jazz) expected a lot out from Gobert after a dominant finish to the 2014-15 season. However, injuries derailed the big man early on in 2015-16 and he was never able to live up to his high draft slot. Gobert averaged 9.1 points on 55.9 percent shooting, 11.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks, which are great numbers for a 23-year-old center in their third NBA season. But these numbers are way below the expectations for a player selected on average with the 17th pick in Yahoo! fantasy drafts, ahead of elite fantasy performers like Paul Millsap, Draymond Green and Kyle Lowry. There’s still a lot to like about Gobert and he will likely be a high pick again this October. However, learn your lesson from this season and avoid drafting him before the third round. He simply doesn’t score enough to be selected that high.
LVP
Carmelo Anthony
The Knicks superstar takes home the unglamorous distinction for the second year in a row. There were clearly worse players than Anthony this season, and he wasn’t even bad! But for a player drafted on average with the 11th overall pick, Anthony disappointed again. The nine-time All-Star averaged 21.8 points (his lowest mark since 2004-05) on 43.4 percent shooting, 1.5 3-pointers, 7.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 72 games. He failed to tally a 40-point game for the first season since 2004-05 and only surpassed 30 points in four games. Again, these aren’t bad numbers. But they’re simply not good enough for a player selected on average ahead of Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard and John Wall. If you used a top 12 pick on Anthony this season, you probably had a difficult year.
MVP
Stephen Curry
Who else? The reigning MVP pushed his game to new heights in 2015-16 with absurd averages of 30.1 points on 50.4 percent shooting, 5.1 3-pointers made on 45.4 percent from deep, 6.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals over 79 games. He broke countless records, including his own single-season 3-point record by 116 3s. He joined Larry Bird, Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki as the only players to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point and 90 percent from the free throw line for a season. And he averaged more points than all of them during their 50-40-90 seasons. Curry was the fantasy leader in points, 3-pointers and steals, which makes it likely the championship team in your league had Curry on its roster. There was debate coming into the season about who should go No. 1 overall between Curry and Anthony Davis. Safe to say that debate won’t occur next season.
Fantasy Year In Review, Part I
