By David Smith, Sports411

    One of the keys to Fantasy Basketball success is being able to distinguish the
difference between good players, and good Fantasy players, because they are
not always one in the same.

   We’ve put together our list of the top 5 Fantasy Players for each position,
as well as a few to watch and avoid in 2006.
CENTER

1) Tim Duncan, SA - The veteran is still savvy enough to put up some decent points.
2) Yao Ming, Hou - Quickly moving up the chart, not long before he’s at the top.
3) Mehmet Okur, UT - Since getting the starting gig in Utah he has excelled.
4) Shaquille O’Neal, Mia - Still deserves to be on the list, but fading fast.
5) Brad Miller, Sac - Has been a dependable King, about the same 3 years running.

Best of the Rest:
Up & Coming - Channing Frye, NY
New Locale - Jamaal Magloire, Por
Rookie Watch - Hilton Armstrong, NO
Overrated - Samuel Dalembert, Phi

POWER FORWARD

1) Kevin Garnett, Min - Even without help, still the best PF available.
2) Dirk Nowitzki, Dal - Solid MVP candidate, consistently in the top 10.
3) Elton Brand, LAC - Has been healthy in LA, and led them to the playoffs.
4) Shawn Marion, Pho - Combo Forward who should put up close to 40 FPts/G.
5) Chris Bosh, Tor - Starting to show his tools, great keeper at PF.

Best of the Rest:
Up & Coming - Dwight Howard, Orl
New Locale - Charlie Villanueva, Mil
Rookie Watch - Tyrus Thomas, Chi
Overrated - Jermaine O’Neal, Ind

SMALL FORWARD

1) LeBron James, Cle - No brainer, arguably one of the best in the game.
2) Paul Pierce, Bos - Versatile SF/SG, still young and crafty.
3) Vince Carter, NJ - The veteran has been healthy and revived with the Nets.
4) Carmelo Anthony, Den - The key to the Nuggets, keeps improving his game.
5) Andre Kirilenko, UT - He does it all, amazing for his size what he can do.

Best of the Rest:
Up & Coming - Josh Howard, Dal
New Locale - Peja Stojakovic, NO
Rookie Watch - Adam Morrison, Cha
Overrated - Rashard Lewis, Sea

SHOOTING GUARD

1) Kobe Bryant, LAL - Always in contention for Fantasy MVP, can flat out score.
2) Dwayne Wade, Mia - You could start saying ditto here, a solid keeper.
3) Tracy McGrady, Hou - If he can stay healthy he can put it up in bunches.
4) Ray Allen, Sea - Solid scorer, but starting to show his age more and more.
5) Joe Johnson, Atl - The savior in Atlanta, similar to McGrady without injuries.

Best of the Rest:
Up & Coming - Boris Diaw, Pho
New Locale - Bonzi Wells, Hou
Rookie Watch - Brandon Roy, Por
Overrated - Ricky Davis, Min

POINT GUARD

1) Gilbert Arenas, Was - Has increased his scoring output eevry year.
2) Allen Iverson, Phi - Has taken a beating thru the years, still has spirit.
3) Steve Nash, Pho - The key to Phoenix’s offense, quintessential PG.
4) Chris Paul, NO - Will only get better and better as he gains experience.
5) Chauncey Billups, Det - Solid player has put it all together in Motor City.

Best of the Rest:
Up & Coming - Chris Paul, NO
New Locale - TJ Ford, Tor
Rookie Watch - Randy Foye, Min
Overrated - Baron Davis, GS

   By Dave Luer, Sports411

   The 2006 Draft had a lot of talent with some real bright spots and a couple of “what were they thinking ?”

   By being careful you can find some great talent to either help your team right away or build for the future
in keeper leagues. I have laid out the first round of the 2006 draft, providing the name of the player, my take
on the NBA Comparison, and the potential of the player. Keep in mind that the NBA Comparison and the potential
are considered in the prime of each player, i.e. take number 5. Sheldon Williams, I believe that he will most
likely compare to Dale Davis in his prime, once Shelden Williams is in his prime.

   So with our further ad due here is the list:

Pick  Name                       NBA Comparison       Rank
  1. Andrea Bargnani        Vladimir Radmanovic   6
  2. LaMarcus Aldridge     Channing Frye               7
  3. Adam Morrison           Larry Bird                      10+
  4. Tyrus Thomas            Shawn Marion                9
  5. Shelden Williams      Dale Davis                      7+
  6. Brandon Roy              Marquis Daniels             6
  7. Randy Foye                Chauncey Billups           8+
  8. Rudy Gay                    Scottie Pippen                9
  9. Patrick O’Bryant         David Harrison               5
10. Saer Sene                  Samuel Dalembert        6
11. J.J. Redick                  Drazen Petrovic              8
12. Hilton Armstrong       P.J. Brown                       7+
13. Thabo Sefalosha       Francisco Garcia           5
14. Ronnie Brewer          Joe Johnson                   7
15. Cedric Simmons       Elton Brand                     9
16. Rodney Carney          Carmello Anthony          8+
17. Shawne Williams       Walt Williams                5
18. Oleksiy Pecherov       Vladimir Radmanovic   6
19. Quincy Douby             Jason Terry                     7
20. Renaldo Balkman      Ira Newble                     3
21. Rajon Rondo             Gary Payton                    8+
22. Marcus Williams        Andre Miller                    7
23. Josh Boone               Brian Grant                      6
24. Kyle Lowry                  Marcus Banks                5
25. Shannon Brown        Fred Jones                     5
26. Jordan Farmar          Jason Kidd                     8
27. Sergio Rodriguez     Jason Williams              7+
28. Maruice Ager             Dajuan Wagner              5
29. Mardy Collins            Marc Jackson                  5+
30. Joel Freeland            Mike Dunleavy                5

Dealing with Economics, Salary Cap Keeper Leagues…

   Just like the NBA, economics play a critical role in Fantasy Basketball leagues using a Salary Cap, and if
you want to understand what headaches NBA GM’s endure, you really can’t get any closer to the real thing than
a Salary Cap Keeper League.

   Our player salaries mimic actual NBA salaries, so whether you’re playing our Fantasy Basketball or simply
using our Free Fantasy Tools, you’ll get a better undertsanding of the numbers that NBA GM’s are juggling in
order to build their rosters, just as you are.

   The bottom line is still scoring, you can end up with the lowest payroll and not win a game, so you want to
look for the best bang for your buck. The standard that most people have looked at is Fantasy Points per Game,
or FPts/G, with 30.00 or better being the cutoff. We like that too, but we’ll be looking at a players’ “Cost
per Fantasy Point” or CFP, as our gauge of assembling the best most economic roster on your championship run,
so let’s mock a draft list based on CFP and a 16 team league…
In order to be successful you’ll need at least one superstar, a stud that can drop the dimes and have you
chanting “scoreboard”. This will usually also have your budget chanting “bankruptcy”.

05/06 Top Scorers     GP  FP/G       Salary         CFP    
SG       Kobe Bryant      78  47.44  17,718,800  373,499
SF        Lebron James  79  47.39    4,856,700  102,483
PG        Allen Iverson    72  45.71  18,281,300  399,940
SG/PG Dwayne Wade  75  42.36   3,201,200    75,571
PF/SF  Kevin Garnett   76  41.33  21,000,000  508,105
PG      Gilbert Arenas   78  41.17  11,093,300  269,451
PF       Elton Brand       78  41.08  14,248,000  346,835
PF       Dirk Nowitzki     81  40.07  15,101,600  376,880
SF/SG Paul Pierce       79  40.03  15,101,600  377,257
PF/SF  Shawn Marion  80  39.01  15,070,000  386,311

   Out of last year’s top ten Fantasy Scores, Kevin Garnett’s CFP of $508,105 pretty much should make him
a last alternative for you, while Lebron & Wade are absolute bargains at around a fourth of everyone else’s
CFP so grab them if you can. For our example we’ll take Kobe, he was the top scorer and has a a reasonable
CFP.

   Which leads us to the youngsters, players still under their Rookie contracts, who should get your next
look over as they will be the most economical.

05/06 Top Youngsters   GP   FP/G     Salary         CFP   
SF       Lebron James      79  47.39   4,856,700  102,483
SG/PG Dwayne Wade     75  42.36   3,201,200    75,571
PF       Chris Bosh           70  36.13   3,529,400    97,686
SF       Carmelo Anthony 80  35.78  3,911,700   109,326
PF       Dwight Howard    81  32.10   4,005,600   124,785
PG      Chris Paul            77  31.58   2,816,800     89,195
SF/SG Boris Diaw           78  28.20   1,558,800     55,276
PF       David West           81  27.39   1,709,900    62,427
C/PF    Emeka Okafor    26  27.23   3,583,800   131,612
SG/PG Kirk Hinrich         80  27.09   2,660,500     98,209

   With Lebron and Wade more than likely gone at this point (and if they’re not then either grab one of
them, or grab some cyanide). Out of the remaining four with an average of over 30 FPts/G, Chris Paul stands
out with his meagor CFP $89,195 and his potential, so let’s snag him here.

   With our backcourt covered, we now need to look for some size up front, and Center or Power Forward should
get the attention first due to lack of depth at these positions.

Top C/PF Remaining GP  FP/G       Salary         CFP   
C     Shaq O’Neal       59  33.25   20,000,000  601,503
C     Marcus Camby   56  31.46    7,800,000  247,933
C     Mehmet Okur      81 30.73     8,250,000  268,467
C     Brad Miller          78  29.13     9,625,000  330,415
PF    Zach Randolph 74  28.92   12,000,000  414,937
PF    Carlos Boozer  32  28.34    11,593,800  409,096
PF    David West        81  27.39     1,709,900    62,427
C/PF Emeka Okafor 26  27.23     3,583,800  131,612
C/PF Rash.Wallace  79  27.00   12,000,000  444,444
C     Zy.Ilgauskas      77  26.71     9,442,700   353,526
PF    Troy Murphy      74  26.38     8,285,700   314,090
C     Chris Kaman     77  24.58    2,909,800   118,380
C     Ben Wallace      81  24.54   16,000,000   651,996
C     Zaza Pachulia   76  22.87     4,000,000   174,901
C/PF Nenad Krstic   79  22.29        831,100     37,285
PF    Ch.Villanueva   80  21.78     2,114,900     97,102

   After factoring out the top 32 performers that should be gone in the first two rounds we’re left with
some decent possibilities at Center and Power Forward. Camby and Okur lead the over 30 FPts/G crowd in
CPF, but with Camby’s potential for injury we’ll take Okur.

   The next round should see most of these players gone, but the bottom two could slide in some camps
and both are young and have the potential for growth, not to mention a great CPF. Our fourth selection
will be Villanueva, just because I have a better feeling for his immediate potential in Milwaukee.

   Now we have just the Small Forward slot to fill out our starting lineup. This is also a place to look
at sleepers, either incoming rookies or players that had an off year in ‘05/06 who could rebound this year
due to a change in scenery or personel.

Sleepers at SF      GP  FP/G      Salary          CFP   
Peja Stojakovic       70  26.73   8,125,000  303,965
Corey Maggette      31  25.74   7,000,000  271,950
Josh Howard          58  25.71   1,389,700    54,052
Morris Peterson      81  25.05   4,550,000  181,636
Luol Deng               77  24.23   2,178,700    89,917
Josh Smith             78   23.56   1,217,200    51,663
Hedo Turkoglu       78   23.14   5,833,300  252,087
Mike Miller               72   23.00   7,500,000  326,086
Andre Iguodala       80  22.81   1,834,700    80,434
Tayshaun Prince     81  21.96   7,851,200  357,522
Shar.Abdur Rahim  71  20.61   5,400,000  262,008

   With Peja and Maggette having name recognition they’ll probably get the most attention. That’s ok though,
as Howard and Smith have my eye here. The others could see the same if not better output this year, but grab
either of the others first as I think this could be much better years (the 3rd year charm). For our Mock,
we’ll insert Howard at SF.

   Our Starting lineup is now in place:

Mock Starters        GP   FP/G      Salary         CFP   
C   Mehmet Okur   81  30.73    8,250,000   268,467
PF Ch.Villanueva   80  21.78    2,114,900     97,102
SF Josh Howard   58  25.71    1,389,700     54,052
SG Kobe Bryant     78  47.44  17,718,800  373,499
PG Chris Paul       77  31.58    2,816,800     89,195

Totals                          157.24  32,290,200  205,356

   Overall pretty good age wise, room for growth and potential from the squad, and only half of our Cap space
taken up. Factoring in the 30.00/G average we’re above that too based on last years numbers, and I would expect
we’ll see more than 160 per game from them this year.

   At this point it’s the “take the best available player” rule to cover your backups, but you get the picture.

   So whether is Sports411’s Fantasy Basketball or your own, when you’re putting your Draft Lists together,
hopefully using our Fantasy Tools, keep the CPF in mind.

   Until next time, thanks for reading !

   Evan Cembalisty, Sports411

   Sitting at the Sacramento King’s “Fandamonia” event, watching what really equated to a glorified practice session for the fans, and looking around at the literally thousands of other eager fans it hit home…The 2006/07 NBA season is officially upon us !

   Growing up a die hard baseball fan, my evolution to basketball started with Fantasy Basketball. Sure, it was a slow process, starting with a local league of 8 guys (you can imagine the star power each team had) and eventually led to a 24 team keeper league (Fantasy Basketball Federation).

   As my interest grew it amazed me at the lack of Basketball related sites on the net, much less Fantasy sites. Everyone I came into contact with in the fantasy world seemed to enjoy it enough, so I couldn’t understand why it was so hard to find anything.

   With that in mind, we’ve created our site !

   Our goal is to provide four major items:

   1) An innovative and exciting fantasy game - From our Fantasy Basketball Federation feedback we think we have a great Basketball game, with your choice of Annual, Keeper, or Private league hosting featuring our own Head to Head scoring system using 5 positions and a Salary Cap.

   2) Free Fantasy Tools - Yes, the bells & whistles of fantasy research. You can look up the stats for the past 3 seasons, by player, position, or everyone; each player’s 3 year averages; and even do a custom calculation based upon other scoring systems.

   3) Current News - We’ve added Headlines & News from around the country to give you local insight for each team as well as breaking stories.

   4) Fantasy Perspectives - With “The 411″ section we hope to provide everyone with the fantasy side of things, how things translate for you the fantasy gamer in your annual and keeper leagues.

    As we move on in the NBA PreSeason we will be adding more and more to help you prepare for your fantasy drafts and get ready for the 2006/07 season. The Fantasy Tools, Current News, and 411 are all free for everyone to enjoy, but we do hope that you will try our Fantasy Basketball. Not only does it help us maintain the site and all the freebies, but it’s a game we took our time developing to get it right, and know once you get into it you’ll like it too !

   As always, suggestions are always welcome, thanks everyone !

   David Smith, Sports411

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All articles will be written by the Sports411 Staff, specifically with the Fantasy Gamer in mind, the 411 on how Sports News affects you !