With a new season of NBA basketball comes another season of online fantasy basketball as well. While Devin Booker is the consensus best player on the Phoenix Suns, should he be the most valuable fantasy player?
Basing anything on what happens in the world of fantasy basketball and applying it to real life, basketball is a dangerous proposition for a fan because fantasy basketball is just that, fantasy. When looking at players on teams like the Phoenix Suns that line begins to blur a little bit more.
Fantasy basketball does not discriminate players according to the number of wins they have in the real NBA season, which is why those who see Devin Booker as an “empty stats” or “looter in a riot” player swallow their pride as they select him top-25 this upcoming season.
Even if it is in the world of fantasy which, albeit, does not matter very much, it is still nice to see Booker get his proper amount of respect for what he does.
However, because of the stat-sheet stuffing proficiency of a certain number one pick on the Phoenix Suns roster Booker’s spot as undisputed top fantasy option could be in jeopardy.
Fantasy basketball is obviously based entirely on the counting stats in every box score, with shooting percentages thrown in the mix as well.
When you start to look at each category comparatively, Deandre Ayton bests Booker in nearly each one. While a lot of this has to do with him being a big man sometimes that is just the name of the game in fantasy sports.
The three areas where Booker clearly gets the better of Ayton are scoring, assists, and 3-point shooting. Comparing that to Ayton who leads Booker in rebounding, efficiency, turnovers, and blocks and Ayton’s case begins to present itself.
That said, with a scoring disparity as wide as there was between Booker and Ayton last season, and the high volume of 3-point shooting from Booker, it is still hard to choose Ayton without any big improvements from him.
A lot of the improvements for Ayton fantasy wise should be expected to come on the offensive end. With Ricky Rubio now feeding him the ball, in a new system, Ayton’s scoring should take a leap this season. If it were to jump up anywhere north of 20 a game, just to get in the same ballpark as Booker, it would be huge for him.
It is also expected that Ayton should be allowed and able to stretch his range out and shoot 3-pointers as a stretch center for the Phoenix Suns. While he will end up making nowhere near as many as Booker the value due to his position would make it interesting.
Everything else Ayton needs to do is simply maintain what he has already done. While it is not easy to shoot nearly 60% in a season, if Ayton does that again it would be great for him, along with continuing to be a double-double machine each game.
While Devin Booker is the current top dog in the Phoenix Suns’ fantasy basketball world, it is in play for Deandre Ayton to take that over at some point soon. If Booker’s box-score numbers do not improve and Ayton makes the statistical leap many expect then it would not end up being crazy that Deandre Ayton becomes the top fantasy basketball option on the Phoenix Suns.