NBA

Fantasy Basketball: The numberFire Hoops Writers' Draft 2018-19

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Round 1

PickOverallPlayerTeamPositionWriter
11Anthony DavisNOPF/CIan Goldsmith
22James HardenHOUPG/SGRussell Peddle
33Giannis AntetokounmpoMILSF/PFBrett Oswalt
44Karl-Anthony TownsMINCSam Hauss
55Kevin DurantGSSF/PFAlex McDonald
66Stephen CurryGSPG/SGTom Whalen
77LeBron JamesLALSF/PFMichael Rondello
88Russell WestbrookOKCPGJordan Sharp
99Victor OladipoINDPG/SGAustan Kas
1010Kawhi LeonardTORSG/SFJay Kim
1111Nikola JokicDENPF/CShae Cronin
1212Damian LillardPORPGDale Redman


There is essentially a top-six in fantasy hoops this year and then a drop-off after that. Across the industry, you'll generally find Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Giannis Antetokounmpo in some order at the front of the round (that's exactly the order we have them in our projections). Our first 12 picks played out pretty close to how you'd expect them to, so there isn't a whole lot to talk about here.

Shae Cronin arguably got the most valuable pick of the round, with Nikola Jokic (the sixth-ranked player in our projections) falling to him at 11th.

My pick: As previously mentioned, you can't really go wrong picking in the top-six, but James Harden felt like the perfect pick at second overall. I was ready to take Anthony Davis if Ian Goldsmith had passed on him, but I'll gladly take a guy who has ranked in the top-eight in each of his last six seasons instead.