Playoff League Cheatsheet
By Chris Liss
RotoWire Editor
For most playoff leagues, the easiest and most common format is a points based system where, for example, a point is worth one point, a rebound worth two, a three pointer worth two, an assist worth two and a half and a steal or block worth four. Or something like that. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to assume that there are no averaging metrics or categories like field goal percentage, free throw percentage, etc.
We're going to further assume that players cannot be added, dropped or traded during the course of the playoffs. So there are but two components to a player's value: (1) how many fantasy points per game he's good for, and (2) how many games his team is likely to play. To the extent that a team is expected to play a lot of games, players on that team will have more opportunities to put up fantasy points.
Here's how we rank them:
Overall
*check status
- LeBron James, SF, CLE
- Kobe Bryant, SG, LAL
- Pau Gasol, C, LAL
- Dwight Howard, C, ORL
- Paul Pierce, SF, BOS
- Tim Duncan, PF, SAN
- Chris Paul, PG, NOR
- Mo Williams, PG, CLE
- Dwyane Wade. SG, MIA
- Ray Allen, SG, BOS
- Yao Ming, C, HOU
- Dirk Nowitzki, PF, DAL
- Andrew Bynum. C, LAL
- Rajon Rondo, PG, BOS
- Carmelo Anthony, SF, DEN
- Tony Parker, PG, SAN
- Rashard Lewis. PF, ORL
- Brandon Roy, SG, POR
- Hedo Turkoglu*, SF, ORL
- Joe Johnson, SG, ATL
- Lamar Odom, PF, LAL
- Chauncey Billups, PG, DEN
- David West, PF, NOR
- Zydrunas Ilgauskas, C, CLE
- Delonte West, SG, CLE
- Deron Williams, PG, UTA
- LaMarcus Aldridge, PF, POR
- Rafer Alston. PG, ORL
- Josh Smith, SF, ATL
- Ron Artest, SG, HOU
- Jason Terry, SG, DAL
- Jason Kidd. PG, DAL
- Mike Bibby, PG, ATL
- Andre Iguodala, SG, PHI
- Drew Gooden, SAN
- Trevor Ariza, SF, LAL
- Roger Mason, SAN
- Derek Fisher, PG. LAL
- Kenyon Martin, PF, DEN
- Ben Gordon, SG, CHI
- Derrick Rose, PG, CHI
- Carlos Boozer, PF, UTA
- J.R. Smith, SG, DEN
- Nene Hilario, C, DEN
- Michael Beasley, SF, MIA
- Sasha Vujacic, SG, LAL
- Andre Miller, PG. PHI
- Travis Outlaw, SF, POR
- Luis Scola, PF, HOU
- Aaron Brooks, PG, HOU
- Al Horford, C, ATL
- Jermaine O'Neal. C, MIA
- Anderson Varejao, PF. CLE
- Marvin Williams, SF, ATL
- Josh Howard*, SF, DAL
- Andrei Kirilenko, SF, UTA
- Mickael Pietrus, SG, ORL
- John Salmons, SF, CHI
- Leon Powe, PF, BOS
- Courtney Lee, SG, ORL
- Glen Davis, PF, BOS
- Rudy Fernandez, SG, POR
- Mehmet Okur, C, UTA
- Richard Hamilton, SG, DET
- Rasheed Wallace, C, DET
- Tayshaun Prince, SF, DET
- Steve Blake. PG, POR
- Peja Stojakovic, SF, NOR
- Greg Oden, C, POR
- Rasual Butler, SG, NOR
- Thaddeus Young, SF, PHI
- Ronnie Brewer, SG, UTA
- Tyrus Thomas, PF, CHI
- Daniel Gibson, PG. CLE
- Kendrick Perkins, C, BOS
- Michael Finley, SF, SAN
- Rodney Stuckey, PG, DET
- Shane Battier, SF, HOU
- Antonio McDyess, PF. DET
- Udonis Haslem, PF, MIA
- Mario Chalmers. PG. MIA
- Kevin Garnett, PF, BOS*
Notes:
We originally had Kobe Bryant above LeBron James because of the Lakers' easier path to four series, but with the Kevin Garnett injury this morning, the Cavs are almost as likely to make the finals, so we gave the nod to James.
Besides teams playing the Lakers (Utah and the winner of Portland/Houston), the Western Conference teams all have a fairly open path to playing three series, and they could all go six or seven games. That boosts the Mavs, Spurs, Hornets and Nuggets a bit. For example, if New Orleans can get by Denver, they'd play the winner of the Spurs/Mavs, and so Chris Paul could conceivably play three series - which is why he got the nod over Dwyane Wade whose ceiling looks like two. (Of course, the Heat *could* beat the Cavs, it's just a lot less likely).
With Manu Ginobili out, the Mavericks have a pretty decent chance of beating San Antonio.
Garnett's injury gave the Magic a major boost.
Paul Pierce will likely be one of the top per-game producers for as long as the Celtics stick around.
Atlanta-Miami and Houston-Portland are virtually 50/50 in Round 1.
Seven game series are worth almost twice as much as a sweep, especially if the sweep has a couple blowouts where stars sit in the fourth quarter.
Article first appeared on 4/16/09
PDF Version