51. Blake Griffin PF -I had huge expectations for Blake Griffin last season. It was so disappointing when his entire rookie season was wiped out due to a stress-fracture in his kneecap. As a result, the expectations are not as high this season, as the thoughts fellow injury-prone top draft picks like Greg Oden loom in the minds of fantasy basketball owners. Regardless, I think Griffin is worth a reach, especially in keeper leagues. Griffin, the former overwhelming National Player of the Year in College Basketball, averaged 23 points, 14.4 rebounds, and over 1 block and steal per game during his sophomore season at Oklahoma.

52. Nene Hilario C – Nene is a super-active center who will get you average points and rebounds, but will provide you will a solid all-around game with blocks, steals, and outstanding field goal percentage.

53. Paul Pierce SF – I am not too high in Pierce. At his age, Pierce is merely another piece to the puzzle on what is a loaded Celtics team that does not care about the regular season.

54. Danillo Gallinari SF – Will this be the year “Gallo” takes off with better players around him? Gallinari is a versatile player at his size 6’10 and can shoot the 3-ball with the best in the league. There is a lot of upside in the 22 year old.

55. Raymond Felton PG– There hype behind Felton’s fantasy appeal coming into the season, as he joins the D’Antoni system in New York. Felton should put up better numbers this season than in the past few, but an average point guard is still an average point guard.

56. Antwan Jamison PF– Uncertainty around Jamison’s role on the LeBron-less Cavs has him moving down on my draft board. Not to mention the fact that he is now 34 years old. Jamison was rumored to be headed to the bench, where he formerly won a 6th man of the year award. I doubt he will end up in that role, but I think the Cavs want to see what they have in their younger players like J.J. Hickson.

57. Andrew Bogut C– Bogut would be rated more favorably if not for his questionable health heading into the season. There is a high probability that Bogut will not be ready to start the season. Injuries seem to be a common theme for Bogut, who is a fantasy stud when healthy. The problem is in knowing when, and for how long, that will be.

58. Brandon Jennings PG– Jennings is a player who took the NBA by storm with his amazing start to last season, which included a 55 point game against the Warriors. After that hot start however, Jennings hit the wall and was an average at best point guard until he showed promise once again in their bid to upset the Hawks in the first round of last season’s playoffs. Jennings has a great deal of upside.

59. Luis Scola PF – Scola is coming off a monstrous run for his native-land Argentina in the World Championships where he averaged 27 points and 8 rebounds per game. Scola also got hot last season after the Rockets traded Carl Landry. Now that Yao Ming is back, it will be interesting to see how that changes Scola’s game. Regardless, I could easily see Scola average 16 points and 10 rebounds this season. Although Scola is not a great shot blocker and will not gather many steals, he Scola is a reliable player, who has never missed an NBA game in his first three seasons.

60. Aaron Brooks PG - Brooks had a solid, albeit inconsistent, '09-10 campaign in his first full season as the Rockets starting point guard. However, was his 20 points per game scoring a result of having very little around him or can he maintain that figure with a stronger team around him this year? I would be happy to grab Brooks if he falls beyond #60, but his lack of steals, blocks, rebounds, and lackluster field goal% make for no reason to reach for him earlier.



61. Paul Millsap PF - Millsap is one of my favorite fantasy basketball players and figures to finally make it into the Jazz starting lineup to start this season. About time! Last season, Millsap averaged 15.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, and around 1.5 steals and blocks in only 8 games as a starter. In 2008, when given extended run as a start due to injuries to Carlos Boozer, Millsap impressed with 16 points, 10 rebounds and around 1 block and 1 steal per game in the 38 games he started. Flat out, Millsap is an active player who piles up stats as a result of the energy with which he plays the game. If the Millsapper can maintain 35+ minutes per night and his starting gig when Mehmet Okur returns from injury, it would not be far fetched to see Millsap amongst the league leaders in double-doubles and fall into the top 25 fantasy basketball players by the end of the season. Even while playing alongside Al Jefferson.



62. LaMarcus Aldridge PF - Aldridge is one of those players who is more valuable to his actual NBA team than he is as a fantasy basketball player. Although he is a good scorer, who will get you a solid 18 point per game, he is a lackluster rebounder for a player of his size and ability. He averaged a career-high 8 rebounds last season, but keep in mind the Blazers were decimated by injuries all season and he could almost get 8 rebounds by default. He does however maintain a solid field goal percentage around 49-50% but is not real strong in the steals, blocks, or assists departments.



63. Trevor Ariza SF - Departing the loaded L.A. Lakers team as a mere role player, Ariza showed some promise in his only season in Houston as he averaged 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. With a move to New Orleans this year and playing alongside Chris Paul, I look for Ariza to make a big impact in terms of scoring and defensive statistics. Ariza has the ability to contribute across the board. In fact, he could very well be one of the players who outperforms his average draft position the most this coming season.



64. Chris Kaman C - After being an overachiever for 3/4 of the season, Kaman flat-out fell off the face of the map and packed it in, much like the rest of the Clippers, in the final quarter of the season. The Clippers rid themselves of Marcus Camby before last season's trade deadline, which means that Kaman will keep a main role as he will play alongside Blake Griffin this year. Kaman is a double-double threat but has a career laundry list of injuries which renders him to many fantasy owners' do not draft list.



65. Kevin Martin SG– Martin scores and scores some more, but will be futile in terms of rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. And oh yeah, he is also one of the more injury-prone players in the NBA. If I were to select Martin, it would be because you badly need scoring, Free Throw%, and 3-ptrs, but then again, a player who is not playing does not help much either.

66. O.J. Mayo SG - The Grizzlies experimented with O.J. Mayo as their point guard in the summer league--that experiment did not work. The bottom line is that Mayo is a solid scorer at 18 points per game but is really just another me-first player on a team full of me-first players. With that said, Mayo is a decent contributor in points leagues, but I do not see any more upside with him when he is playing with Grizzly teammates in the same boat such as Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay, and Marc Gasol, or even Mike Conley.



67. Andray Blatche PF - The good: Blatche showcased his talents by averaging 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, nearly a block and a half, and nearly a steal in 36 games as a starter last season. The bad: All of the good happened after Gilbert Arenas was suspended for much of last season and the team traded away all of their good players. This year, Arenas is back and the team drafted John Wall with the top overall pick, and also signed some viable free-agents. What this means is that Blatche will not be the featured player, nor will he be the player whom the team goes to on every play like he was when he went on his amazing fantasy basketball run late last season. He does still have the ability to be a solid producer but I am not sure he is worth investing in with a pick in the top 65.



68. Eric Gordon SG– Gordon went into the “sophomore slump” last season and looks to regain the promise he showed as a rookie with what figures to be a much better Clippers team. Gordon had a very nice showing in the World Championships and looks to carry some of that confidence into the coming season.

69. Anthony Randolph SF/PF– Randolph has as much upside as anyone in the draft, although the same was said about him going into last year. Randolph is about as high risk/reward as it comes. Those who believed in the hype last year got burned profoundly as Randolph found himself in Don Nelson’s doghouse—a fantasy owner’s worst nightmare. Randolph gets a fresh start this year in another system (the Knicks) that has the potential to suit him quite nicely. At pick #70, Randolph could either end up as the biggest steal in the draft or a regular on the waiver wire.

70. Jeff Green SF -What I like about Green as a fantasy basketball player is the fact that he is essentially unchallenged at his position on the young Thunder team. He also averaged 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1.3 3-pointers,1.3 steals, and nearly 1 block per game last season. On the negative side, his numbers were essentially down across the board last season from the previous year. Is the 17 points and 7 rebounds Green produced in his sophomore season the pinnacle? Can he take some pressure of fellow teammate Kevin Durant? If so, Green can be a viable fantasy option at this point in the draft.



71. Marcus Camby C - Personally, I am not as sold on a 36 year old Camby as many are. I believe that once Greg Oden makes it back into the lineup, there will be a logjam between him, Aldridge,Pryzbilla, and Camby at the Power forward and Center positions. Add to that the fact that Camby has not been the most reliable player in terms of health throughout his career, I am not going to jump on drafting Camby even though he is outstanding in all of the defensive categories.



72. Michael Beasley SF - Since he landed in Minnesota, Beasley has shown a lot of confidence in his game and in his team. First, Beasley stated that he is circling every game on the team's calendar this season for NBA teams not believing in him in general. And more recently, Beasley touted his Timberwolves as the team to beat in the NBA. Now, before you accuse me of being as high as Beasley for ranking him this high, I believe the Wolves are the perfect fit for a player who dominated in his freshman season in college at Kansas State with 26.2 points and 12.4 rebounds. I think he will be granted the opportunities in Minnesota that he was not with the Heat. Often times, the Heat benched Beasley for the 4th quarter because of his lacking defensive skills. The T-Wolves plan on playing at a faster pace this season and I believe Beasley could be in store for a breakout year with his change if scenery. That is--if he can stay out of trouble.

73. Rodney Stuckey PG -I honestly do not know what to make out of the Detroit Pistons. The team is log-jammed at every position with players who were prominent at some point in their career but are currently at their low-point. With that said, Stuckey is the player I like the most this coming season. Hey, someone has to stand out right? I only like Stuckey in points leagues as he is not a strong 3-point shooter (23%) or from the field all together (40-41%). As a side note, you have to admire this man's confidence. Stuckey recently stated that he believes the Pistons are the best team in the NBA on paper.



74. Luol Deng SF -Deng's numbers from last season (17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal and block) warrant a more favorable draft position than I am giving him this season, but keep in mind that the Bulls have loaded up this offseason and Deng is always the first player mentioned in trade rumors. Not to mention the fact that Deng has been quite injury prone over the last 3 seasons. Deng is a nice player if all things work out perfectly but all together, is not worth drafting before the 6-7th round in your fantasy basketball leagues due to the risks and lack of upside.



75. Hedo Turkoglu SF - It was one-and-done after a dreadful season in Toronto for Turk. This season, Turkoglu owners hope the playing for the Suns will translate into the stat-friendly success he had in Orlando. Is he past his prime or will playing with Steve Nash on the offensive-friendly Suns revitalize Turk's fantasy production? If the latter is true, Turk could be a solid producer across the board. If not, his days of fantasy basketball relevance are over.

