Week 3 Fantasy Basketball Rankings, Shooting Guard
James Harden off to a rough start, but he is still the cream of the crop
James Harden, Brooklyn Nets
Harden has started the season off rough with the new rule changes but is also one of the most consistent fantasy producers in the history of Fantasy Basketball. His elite scoring and passing are unparalleled and he will produce night in and night out all season long for your team.
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
Beal is going to average close to 33 points per game this season. He has had a rough first three weeks, but he is playing through an injury. Once he is fully recovered and starts to become more efficient, Beal will put together a monster fantasy season.
Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz
Mitchell will average 27+ points per game, while also getting 4-5 assists per game and one steal per game. His fantasy production comes from his elite scoring ability, but Mitchell sometimes struggles with efficiency, which could hurt your team sometimes.
Fred VanVleet, Toronto Raptors
VanVleet has had a rough start to the season, but his usage is very important to his fantasy success. VanvVleet will average over 35 minutes per game, 24 points per game, while also getting you 2 steals per game and 7+ assists per game.
It may take a couple of weeks for VanVleet to fully embrace his “best player on the Raptors” role, but when he does, he will be lethal and warrant his second-round draft position.
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Booker is extra-valuable in leagues where 3 pointers matter a lot. He will average 25 PPG and should hit around 4 or 5 threes a game while also getting you some assists and rebounds as well. Booker is always a solid guy to have in Fantasy Basketball.
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Brown started the season on a fantastic note, scoring 46 points and being a one-man team for the Celtics in a 2OT loss to the Knicks in the first game of the season. He has then proceeded to be off and on, some nights scoring 30+ and other nights scoring only 5 points.
He is an efficient scorer, rebounder, and defender who should get you over a steal and a block per game as well. His scoring outbursts are here to stay, but there is no way Jayson Tatum will continue to have games where he scores under 10 points, meaning Brown’s scoring will continue to be up and down all season long.
Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls
LaVine had a monster season last year, but the stars he has on his team are bound to take away some of his scoring production every other game or so. DeRozan has already taken away a big part of the scoring load on this Bulls team. LaVine should still average 25 PPG, but 27+ PPG does not seem likely with all of the talent he has around him.
Demar DeRozan, Chicago Bulls
DeRozan’s production will rely on his ability to pass and whether his APG will stay around 7 per game. His scoring production is bound to go down a little bit on a team with Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, even though he has started the year off on a great note, averaging around 27 points per game, but only 3-4 assists per game.
He should average over 20 PPG with 5 or 6 APG, but because of the Bulls depth, I don’t know how reliable DeRozan will continue to be this year in Fantasy Basketball, even after a monster first 3 weeks.
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Edwards is going to average close to 26 PPG as the clear second-best player on the Timberwolves. He is also an elite defender who picks up over 1 BPG and 1 SPG.
So why isn’t he ranked higher? Edwards still struggles with efficiency, as good as he is. He could miss 20 shots in a game or he could make all 20 shots he takes in a game. He is young and will figure that out, but for this year, he is the 9th overall Shooting Guard in Fantasy Basketball.
C.J. McCollum, Portland Trailblazers
McCollum should have his usual 22/23 PPG and 5 APG as Damian Lillard’s sidekick in Portland. He is always a good guy to have in fantasy because of his ability to score at a very high level.
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat
It was a rough year last year for Herro after many people had extremely high expectations for him following a masterful performance in the bubble. Now, Herro is finally living up to the hype averaging 22 PPG to start the year on a very deep team filled with scorers. Herro has also been uber consistent from 3PT range and the field in general, warranting an 11th overall Shooting Guard spot.
Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings
Haliburton, like De’Aaron Fox, is caught in a very talented backcourt in Sacramento that includes Haliburton, Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox, and Davion Mitchell. However, since he is the second-best player of those guys behind Fox, Haliburton should also get the second-most minutes of those guys.
Haliburton was so productive as a rookie averaging 13 points per game, close to 6 assists per game, and over 1.2 steals per game as well. He is bound to take another leap in only his sophomore season in the NBA. I would have loved to pick him up on my team, but it did not work out.
Collin Sexton, Cleveland Cavaliers
Sexton is a gifted scorer but is way too inefficient to rely on in Fantasy Basketball. He will get you over 24 points per game and maybe some assists as well, but he can’t do much else.
He turns the ball over a lot and is inefficient from the floor, meaning he will be inconsistent for your team. I personally stayed far away from Sexton in my fantasy basketball leagues this year. There is no way I would ever have that guy on my fantasy team.
Buddy Hield, Sacramento Kings
Hield is a guy that gets mixed into the backcourt of him, De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell, and Tyrese Haliburton. He will still find a way to produce a lot from 3PT range and put up 17+ points per game.
Other than that, he is limited in his fantasy value. He is a good guy to have on your team if 3 pointers are a category for points.
Derrick White, San Antonio Spurs
Derrick White can play both Point Guard and Shooting Guard, but Dejounte Murray is obviously the Point Guard on the Spurs, meaning that White will play Shooting Guard.
White does everything above average but nothing outstanding. Because he can get you fantasy points in so many different ways, he is a top 15 Shooting Guard and a solid guy to have on your team.
Jalen Green, Houston Rockets
Green has started off on a rough note, but he is a pure scorer who should average 20 PPG by the end of the season. He won’t give your fantasy team much else other than scoring, and he may struggle with efficiency all year long, but he will put up massive scoring nights as well. You take the risk. Green is a high-risk high-reward player in Fantasy Basketball.
Nickel Alexander-Walker, New Orleans Pelicans
The cousin of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is also a great backcourt piece for your fantasy team, especially since Lonzo Ball is now on the Bulls.
Devonte’ Graham may take away some of Alexander-Walker’s production, but he is still a very efficient player that gets rebounds, assists, points and steals.
Norman Powell, Portland Trailblazers
Powell struggles with inconsistency and inefficiency when it comes to his scoring. He put up multiple 40 point games last year, but then also put up numerous games where he scored under 10 points.
Playing with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum has hurt his consistency and his fantasy production. Nonetheless, Powell is always a good guy to slot in at the Shooting Guard position.
Kevin Porter Jr., Houston Rockets
Porter Jr. is basically the starting Point Guard for the Houston Rockets but is listed as a primary Shooting Guard, which is why he ends up here.
Porter Jr. is one of the biggest sleepers in all of Fantasy Basketball as he had a 50 point game last year and consistently gets a ton of assists and points every game. Yes, he has “struggled” to start the year, but once he gets going, he will be a Fantasy Basketball monster and could finish even higher on this list.
Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics
Smart will provide you with steals, blocks, assists, and some sneaky good points as well. His efficiency is ridiculously good and he is one of the smartest and toughest players in the NBA.