Arron Afflalo (SG/SF, NYK) - Fantasy Basketball Draft Sleepers

Sasha Vujacic. That’s right, Sasha Vujacic is the only positional competition for Arron Afflalo. Fantasy value is usually based off of two things--talent and opportunity. Fortunately for Arron Afflalo owners, he has both right now. Just in case you forgot, Arron Afflalo averaged 18 pts., 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, while shooting 46/42/81 (FG%/3P%/FT%) in his 13’-14’ campaign with the Magic. While I don’t expect Afflalo to duplicate those numbers, I do expect it to be pretty close, and we could even see a little bump to some of his percentages.

On that Magic team, Afflalo was the unquestioned number one option. In New York, I think he is the unquestioned number 2 option, which really fits his skill set much more. While Afflalo can certainly create his own shot, he is much better suited being the number two option (or 3rd or 4th option on a contender) as he’s a killer spot up shooter and generally has great on-court IQ; now let’s just hope Melo can find him open on the perimeter.

I think the cherry on top of Afflalo’s value is that he is completely unaffected by how the Knicks perform. In a best case scenario, they will be competing for one of the last playoff spots in the East, and I can guarantee in that scenario Afflalo will be a big part of the reason they are there. On the flip side, if we see a repeat of last year, or if Carmelo suffers another injury, or generally gives up on the team, Afflalo will be right there to jack up shots and be the number one option for a team very similar talent wise to the Magic he led to 23 wins a few years ago.

Right now Afflalo is injured and may miss the first couple weeks of the season.  As a result, owners may be panicking -- even if you've already drafted he might be on your waiver wire!  Once he gets healthy, Afflalo will be one of the safest options out there, at one of the scarcest positions in fantasy basketball. He has a relatively high floor and a high ceiling, the best combination in fantasy sports.