Is Russell Westbrook the Fantasy MVP?

8 years ago by Rob Wild

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1. Is Russell Westbrook the #1 Player in Fantasy?

Who’s the best fantasy player in the NBA? We could find arguments for James Harden, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis among others. However, there is a name unmentioned when it comes to being the best. There is a name that is doing something that hasn’t been done since Oscar Robertson in 1961. Russell “the raging triple double” Westbrook. The NBA season is over twenty games deep already so this is no small sample size. I’m hard pressed to find someone who can give you more value than Russ.

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Is Russell Westbrook the #1 Player in Fantasy?

But like Rodney Dangerfield, Russell Westbrook is getting no respect. If you look on ESPN’s player rater he’s criminally underrated at number ten. Rotoballer’s own recent top fifty player rankings article by Kevin Simon has him at eight. You can see that people aren’t too hyped for Westbrook’s legendary season. But why is that? Is it his arrogant attitude, crazy clothing, quiet media interviews, or something else? Here are the statistics comparing Bestbrook to Harden, Durant and Davis for the season and the last 30 days:

Bestbrook vs The Beard – On the season they are very close. But for the last thirty days Westbrook is giving you more. With Harden you are getting a slight advantage in FT, 3PM and STL. While Westbrook is giving you more REB, AST and PTS. Depending on your team makeup it’s arguable which statistics are more valuable. Given the advantages Harden is giving you in his stronger categories is rather small while the lead in rebounds for Westbrook is rather large I think we can say… Gimme the Bestbrook.

Bestbrook vs The Brow – Make no mistake, Anthony Davis is completely dominant right now. He is killing it in every way, both offense and defense, and 2.8 BLK per game is just ridiculous to go along with doing everything well. I think this choice comes down to risk vs reward. I’m not convinced Davis is going to last the year. Anyone watching or following fantasy basketball probably agrees. He’s already had two scares so far this year, and he’s never played over 68 games. For fantasy you need reliable impact players you can count on. For those reasons, I lean Bestbrook here as well. I’d also like to add that assists as a category tend to be harder to get while you can pick up block specialists to fill voids on your team more readily.

Bestbrook vs Durantula – The baby faced assassin and former Bestbrook teammate is elite. He may be the best player in the NBA. However, now that he is on the so called “superteam” he is getting less minutes and being needed less during the regular season. To me, that screams rest down the stretch or letting other guys do the work when they are hot. Durant has no weaknesses, and unless you need assists you’d probably be crazy taking anyone over him. That being said three or four minutes per game and/or Durant getting rest during your fantasy playoffs could be a disaster. If that’s not a risk you are willing to take Bestbrook could be the answer here as well.

I’m rooting for Russell to keep it up and average a triple double for the year. Recent quotes from the King (Lebron James) and a former triple double master himself (Jason Kidd) have both shown they have confidence he can do it. I’d say he for sure is going to get it in points and assists. So he just needs to keep flying for rebounds, being aggressive, and boxing out his own bigs. If he pulls it off though, he might just be the best fantasy player in the NBA and have one of the best seasons of all time.

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