Fantasy Basketball Rankings: SF, PF, C

Small Forwards
1. Lebron James -- #1 player overall, awesome everywhere but FT%.
2. Paul Pierce -- too many TOs, but good everywhere else.
3. Tracy McGrady -- major injury risk, but will put up great numbers if he stays healthy--including, I expect, a major bump in FG%.
4. Carmelo Anthony -- was on fire at the end of last year; just keeps getting better. I think we'll see a solid jump in his non-scoring categories this year.
5. Richard Jefferson -- bad in the defensive categories, but kills Wallace in FT%.
6. Gerald Wallace -- injury prone, but huge numbers in a breakout year. 2+ steals & blocks.
7. Rashard Lewis -- playing for a contract, could see a rise from his already solid numbers.
8. Peja Stojakovic -- great situation for him playing with Paul.
9. Caron Butler -- was putting up 20 a night after the all-star break last year, has great percentages & steals.
10. Ron Artest -- horrible in the percentage categories and TOs, good everywhere else.
11. Morris Peterson -- 3 pt & scoring specialist.
12. Josh Howard -- great all around player, and I expect him to get better.
13. Andres Nocioni -- really started breaking out down the stretch & in the playoffs, huge upside.
14. Hedo Turkoglu -- great 3s, percentages.
15. Mike Miller -- same.
16. Wally Sczerbiak -- coming back from injury, but had a monster year last year in scoring & percentages. His game doesn't rely much on athleticism, so he might be able to stay at those levels.
17. Tayshaun Prince -- not great anywhere, but good everywhere.
18. Luol Deng -- was also playing very well at the end of last year, but there's a PT issue with the very deep Bulls.
19. Shane Battier -- I'm not as high on him as some. Great fit for him in Houston, but he got big minutes last year & had only so-so numbers. Very good in blocks.
20. Darius Miles -- If he can stay healthy, he can put up numbers. Talent isn't an issue with him.
21. Bobby Simmons -- Good scoring, rebounding, FG%, and that's about it.
22. Josh Childress -- Silky smooth player with a chance to get bigger minutes & production with Al Harrington out of the way.
23. Kyle Korver -- 3 pt specialist.
24. Michael Pietrus -- Exciting real-life player who's being given every chance to pan out in Golden State. He could be this year's Boris Diaw.
25. Adam Morrison -- He can score, but he's worthless as a fantasy player unless he can hit the NBA 3. So far in preseason, he's been pretty solid.
26. Rudy Gay -- Will get lots of opportunities in a suddenly not deep Memphis. I'm predicting good scoring numbers, not much else, and bad percentages.

Power Forwards
1. Shawn Marion -- Was great playing alongside Amare two years ago, so I think that's a non-issue.
2. Kevin Garnett -- Might be revitalized with James & Foye coming on board.
3. Elton Brand -- Just as solid as they come. The Clippers are loaded, but Brand clearly remains the focal point on both offense & defense.
4. Dirk Nowitzki -- Monster percentages, including over 90% on 7+ FTA per game. Would like to see those blocks creep back up to around 1.5.
5. Andrei Kirilenko -- Injury risk is the only thing that keeps from the elite fantasy level. 3.2 blocks per game is just sick.
6. Antawn Jamison -- Big scorer and rebounder, and excellent in 3s.
7. Dwight Howard -- I'm looking for Howard to make the jump this year, he's a superstar waiting to happen.
8. Chris Webber -- Another year, another drop in athleticism. Still helps everywhere but FG% and TOs, where he's terrible.
9. Lamar Odom -- Still waiting for that big year from Odom; personally, I think he'll always be a 15 PPG guy with Kobe around. Pencil him in for numbers similar to last season.
10. Rasheed Wallace -- Could see a rebounding spike with Ben out of the picture, but Sheed's never been an enthusiastic board crasher. Still awesome with the 3s & defensive numbers.
11. David West -- Good, solid player in a great situation. Excellent percentages, including .843 FT.
12. Zach Randolph -- I think Randolph can get it back, he's a talented low post scorer and rebounder. Needs to stay healthy & not incarcerated.
13. Al Harrington -- Might see a bit of a drop here playing with Jermaine O'Neal, since Harrington does his scoring in the post.
14. Troy Murphy -- Could see some better scoring & 3PT numbers in a Don Nelson offense.
15. Kenyon Martin -- Looks relatively healthy and could put up solid numbers if Denver gets their shit together.
16. Chalie Villanueva -- Excellent rookie year, he scores, hits the 3, and gets steals & blocks. Also should have increased minutes this year.
17. Vladimir Radmanovic -- He's been horrible in preseason, but I think he'll come around. The shots will be there, I think Rad can put up good PPG & 3PT numbers.
18. Danny Granger -- Like Villanueva, he's a great energy guy, he'll put up solid numbers in every category.
19. Tim Thomas -- 3PT specialist.
20. Drew Gooden -- Enigmatic player, but he's capable of scoring, and can always rebound. Only concern is that Varejao played great in the playoffs, may cause Gooden to lose minutes.
21. Antoine Walker -- 3PT specialist.
22. Donyell Marshall -- Just had a miserable start to last year, but Marshall's a proven 3PT guy, and has shown in the past he can rebound & put up defensive numbers.
23. Shareef Abdur-Rahim -- He's a good player, but there aren't enough shots for him in Sacramento.
24. Al Jefferson -- I like Al Jefferson a lot, I think he could be a good darkhorse pick. Bad real-life defender, but he gets blocks.
25. Udonis Haslem -- You know what you're getting with Haslem, 10 points, 8 boards, good percentages, and that's about it.

(note that Marvin Williams broke his hand and is out 2 months, putting a damper on what looked to be the start of a promising second season, and Stromile Swift is out for the year with an ACL tear)

Centers
1. Yao Ming -- By just a shade over Bosh; blocks put him over the top.
2. Chris Bosh -- I'm looking for a giant year out of Bosh. TJ Ford can help make that happen.
3. Tim Duncan -- Supposedly healthier than he was last year, he still puts up good numbers everywhere but FT%.
4. Amare Stoudemire -- Who the hell knows what this guy is going to do? I'm looking for a slow start to the year (with low minutes), then a return to 20 & 9 down the road.
5. Jermaine O'Neal -- Hurts you in TOs, helps everywhere else.
6. Brad Miller -- Great percentages, great assists (although they took a hit once Artest came to town), solid elsewhere except blocks.
7. Boris Diaw -- Another Suns question mark. I think Diaw's too good of an all-around player not to produce with Amare on the floor--but scoring could be an issue.
8. Marcus Camby -- Huge rebounds, huge steals, huge blocks, huge injury risk.
9. Shaquille O'Neal -- Injury/lethargy risk, but he'll get it going later in the season. And he can get 18/9/2 in his sleep.
10. Mehmet Okur -- Shoots the 3, scores, rebounds, bad in defensive stats.
11. Carlos Boozer -- Played fantastically down the stretch last year. Great post scoring game & rebounding, really hurts you in blocks.
12. Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- Z's production took a bit of a hit last year, but solid all around numbers and he still gets 1.7 blocks per.
13. Pau Gasol (out until at least January) -- Great, great player, but who knows when he'll be back...and then probably another month after that to work into shape.
14. Emeka Okafor -- Coming back from injury, Okafor rebounds and blocks shots like crazy, and I expect his dismal percentages to improve. Could be a good darkhorse pick.
15. Chris Kaman -- Solid numbers in the big 3 center categories--points, rebounds, blocks. K was a 13/10 guy after the break.
16. Ben Wallace -- He's still a great player, but I see his production taking a dive as he slowly loses athleticism. Plus the Bulls have a ton of good frontcourt players, and like to play them all.
17. Nenad Krstic -- Really played well in the playoffs last year, and averaged 15 & 8 with a block after the break. And he's only 23.
18. Samuel Dalembert -- Rebound/blocked shot specialist.
19. Andrew Bogut -- Solid rookie year for a big man, he rebounds, passes superbly, and averaged almost a block a game. (NOTE: Bogut is injured & out for 6-8 weeks).
20. Chris Wilcox -- Played great with Seattle, but all he really does is score and rebound.
21. Zaza Pachulia -- Solid all-around numbers, but he'll lose some time to Shelden Williams this year.
22. Eddy Curry -- An absolutely unstoppable low post scorer...but he somehow only gets 13.6 PPG. It's a PT issue, he just doesn't get big minutes, possibly because he's a lazy fatass.
23. Jamal Magloire -- Solid player who took a step back last year. He'll get minutes in Portland, so should at least rebound and block a shot a game.
24. Nazr Mohammed -- Should get 9-10 PPG, good rebounds and block a shot per game.
25. Robert Swift -- He's had surprisingly good production when he's gotten minutes, but he shares time with the other promising young big man in Petro. They also inexplicably drafted another center this year in Sene.
26. Channing Frye -- He can put the ball in the hole & rebound a little, but he has a playing time issue sharing time with Curry.


Others I like
Darko Milicic -- Great shotblocker at the very least.
Kendrick Perkins -- Will rebound and block shots if he gets minutes.

Specialists
Tyson Chandler (rebounds)
Raef LaFrentz (threes)
Joel Przybilla (blocks)
Alonzo Mourning (blocks)