Fantasy Basketball: Top three tiers of players

When making a trade in fantasy sports, there are two parts of the equation: the guy you trade and the guy you get. While reading my blog will help you with one half of that trade, the other side is equally important. In order to lend a helping hand, I've created the top three TIERS of players in the NBA in terms of fantasy right now. The idea here is to know what you're getting back, or giving up in a deal. The very best trades involve selling a Tier 2 player High, and getting a Tier 1 player back. Or selling two Tier 3 players for a Tier 1 player. However you don't want to be selling a Tier 2 for a Tier 3, that's downgrading your team. Anyway, on to the lists:


TIER ONE - THE MUST HAVES
-In every league, every sport, there is one or two guys who are SO FAR AHEAD of everyone else, they are in a league of their own. They tend to dominate almost every category. It is a major advantage to have one of them (or both) and if you don't, you must try to get one-

LEBRON JAMES
CHRIS PAUL

TIER TWO - THE OLE RELIABLES
-These guys aren't nearly as dominant as Tier One players, but they are very consistent year in and year out and they offer outstanding stats usually in three or four categories-

DWAYNE WADE
KOBE BRYANT
DIRK NOWITZKI
DANNY GRANGER
KEVIN DURANT
PAU GASOL
AMAR'E STOUDEMIRE
CHRIS BOSH
KEVIN GARNETT
DERON WILLIAMS
STEVE NASH
TIM DUNCAN
DWIGHT HOWARD
GERALD WALLACE
CARLOS BOOZER
JASON KIDD
KEVIN MARTIN

TIER THREE - The Roster Fillers
Hopefully your team owns a Tier One player, a couple Tier Two's and then a bunch of these guys. They tend to be streaky, they can play like a top dawg or go on a dead streak.

Al JEFFERSON
BRANDON ROY
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS
CARON BUTLER
ANTAWN JAMISON
JOSE CALDERON
ANDRE IGUODALA
DEVIN HARRIS
JOE JOHNSON
VINCE CARTER
PAUL PIERCE
BROOK LOPEZ
GILBERT ARENAS
DAVID WEST
TROY MURPHY
RASHARD LEWIS
JOSH SMITH
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
BARON DAVIS
MONTA ELLIS
MARCUS CAMBY
DAVID LEE
STEPHEN JACKSON
RAY ALLEN
DERRICK ROSE
JAMEER NELSON
MO WILLIAMS
ELTON BRAND
CARMELO ANTHONY
JASON RICHARDSON
RAJON RONDO

That's roughly the top 50 guys. If I missed one, don't kill me, you should be able to tell where he belongs. Most importantly, my goal is to get as many of these guys on my squad. If I am dealing one of them, it's only because I expect to get AT LEAST one back in a trade. When I say sell Dirk High, it's to get CP3. When I say sell Josh Smith High, it's to get Dwight Howard or Carlos Boozer. When I say sell Danillo Gallinari high, it's to get whoever you can from any of those lists. The higher the better.

Always know your tiers, in every sport. You NEVER deal a player from one of these lists without getting back at least one from these lists. Else you are hurting your team.

Now go do some Thievin balla!