The realm of fantasy basketball is of course significantly different than that of real life. There are many an instance where an individual fantasy player can be an absolute stud while his real life alter-ego is just a stat-stuffer for a losing team.
A prime example of this is Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Love is as valuable as they come in terms of fantasy worth; however, even with him the Wolves are two games under .500 and currently are out of the playoff picture.
I got to thinking, what team out there has the most fantasy talent yet can’t equate it to actual wins? Certainly teams like the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trailblazers and Miami Heat have well-balanced rosters that are complemented by elite players and they each enjoy on-court success in their own right.
Looking down the standings I see that a certain ‘Least-ern’ Conference team that is currently five games under .500 and holding onto the seventh seed in the conference is not only under-performing their are doing so with a stacked fantasy roster.
The Detroit Pistons are loaded with top-tier fantasy talents but that clearly isn’t translating into success on the court. Despite having four top-tier performers their team record speaks for itself.
Brandon Jennings is currently the 11th ranked fantasy guard as he is averaging 16.4 ppg, 8.4 apg and 3.3 rpg. Solid production for a point guard and clearly one would expect more team success given that he is posting over 8 assists per game. In terms of fantasy value, Jennings is mere percentage points behind James Harden and Kyrie Irving and he actually ranks higher than DeMar DeRozan and Isaiah Thomas.
Checking out the forward situation on the Pistons we see that both their starters are top twenty talents. Josh Smith, despite his shortcomings, is ranked as the 11th best fantasy forward out there. Moving down the list we find Greg Monroe holding down the 19th spot on our ranking.
Smith is averaging stats right around what his career numbers look like as he has a slash line of 15.5 ppg, 3.3 apg and 6.9 rpg. Why anyone thought the numbers would be better I have no idea, but Smith is clearly the fantasy player we all thought he would be. Still an effective player, his fantasy value is far greater than that of his on-court contributions.
Monroe on the other hand is performing better than the likes of Serge Ibaka, Thaddeus Young and David West this season. Monroe’s slash line is a consistent 14.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg and 0.5 blk per game. Monroe would probably fare even better on another team with a different offensive mindset and scheme; however, he still gets his every night and is a solid option at the four spot.
Our man in the middle is of course none other than the super-sophomore Andre Drummond. Drummond is asserting himself in a huge way this season as his play has propelled him into a class of centers that includes the likes of Al Jefferson, Joakim Noah and DeAndre Jordan.
Despite performing like a top ten center in the league, which he is currently ranked as 8th best, his fantasy value rarely reflects his true worth. Drummond is a double-double machine and if he didn’t have the trigger-happy Josh Smith to take away from his touches he would be putting up even more impressive numbers.
Here’s what it boils down to. The Pistons have one of the most fantasy stacked roster a team can have. Granted they don’t have the best at any one position, they do have four players all ranked in the top twenty and three of those are either a top-ten value or very close to it.
If as a fantasy general manager you comprised a roster of similarly ranked players you would likely be at or near the top of your league. In the Association however, such a roster nets you a losing record and on-court dysfunction that is a model for where team chemistry can get you.