My answer, with regards to the fantasy rankings, was that Curry has had more issues with injury than Durant has, and I have to factor that in. Sure enough, the very night after that Jump episode, Curry went down with a groin issue that has sidelined him for at least two games with no announced return date.
Despite the immediate short-term confirmation of my rankings, I still want to take a closer look at that comparison for both fantasy basketball and overall impact. Is Durant, the two-time Finals MVP on the last two Warriors championship teams really the best player on the team? Or is it Curry, the two-time regular season MVP, who would really make the better player to build your fantasy and real-life teams around?cheap nike nfl jerseys paypal
As I’ve mentioned in the past, there are big parallels between what we consider “advanced” box-score analytics and fantasy point-based scoring systems. Both sets of stats are composite scores calculated by weighting the box scores, primarily some combination of points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, 3-pointers and turnovers.
During both of their seasons together, Curry has finished with the better RPM score, among the top scores in the league. These results would estimate that over the past two seasons, Durant’s presence on the court has correlated to about a 4.7-point improvement in the Warriors’ scoring margin for every 100 possessions, while Curry’s presence on the court has correlated to about a 7.1-point improvement per 100 possessions.
Curry’s unique brand of high efficiency shooting out to 30 feet, mixed with strong ball-handling and an unstoppable pick-and-roll/pop pairing with Draymond Green has all types of outstanding positive effects on the Warriors’ offense. Durant could arguably be the more productive individual player, but Curry’s on-court impact on the fortunes of his team dominates even his MVP-caliber teammate.cheap nfl nike jerseys free shipping
Put it all together, and it appears that I was correct in telling Rachel, TMac and Pierce that Durant should be ranked slightly higher than Curry.
Their two-season association backs that up: Durant has the slightly higher fantasy scoring average thus far this season, and Curry is currently on the shelf while Durant is healthy.
