The new Fantasy Basketball season is about to begin as the 2014-15 NBA season kicks off on Tuesday. In case you are looking for shooting guards, James Harden should be on top of your priority list.
Harden, who will be playing in his sixth season in the league, was ranked as the best shooting guard in most draft boards, including NBA.com's big board.
The 25-year-old guard is widely considered as the best shooting guard in the NBA after averaging 25.4 points to go along with 6.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game last season. Harden also tallied 1.6 steals to go along with 2.4 three-pointers per game.
In case you are drafting between No. 3 and No.5 in your fantasy league, the Houston Rockets superstar guard is worthy of your high pick.
Overall, Harden is ranked fifth behind LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Toronto Raptors guard DeMar Derozan was ranked as the second-best shooting guard this season. The 25-year-old guard averaged 22.7 points to go along with 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 79 regular-season games last season.
Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward ended up third among shooting guards on NBA.com's draft board after posting impressive all-around numbers last season.
The 24-year-old guard, who got a fresh deal from the Jazz this summer, averaged 16.2 points, 5.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.1 three-pointers per game last season. However, Hayward also had 2.8 turnovers per game last season and shot just 41.3 percent from the field.
Fantasy owners should not hesitate in picking Hayward, though, because the former Butler standout is projected to have a bigger role under new coach Quin Snyder, who is reportedly high on Hayward's skill set.
On the other hand, Lance Stephenson had a great year last season, which means that fantasy owners should keep an eye on the two-way shooting guard.
Stephenson averaged 13.8 points to go along with 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game last season. The ceiling is very high for the 24-year-old point guard this year after moving to the Charlotte Hornets where he is expected to play a bigger role than last year with the Indiana Pacers.
