FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Rookies are not very often key contributors in the world of fantasy basketball, but typically one or two guys every year finds a way to legitimately crack the Top 150 best fantasy players. Five years ago, it was LeBron James putting up ridiculous numbers by way of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists, while Carmelo Anthony scored 20 per contest and Dwyane Wade gave us great all-around numbers (16, 4.0, 4.5). In addition, Kirk Hinrich and Chris Bosh ensured that there were five "must-have" rookies in fantasy basketball. Then, we were blessed with a legit big man in Emeka Okafor, averaging a double-double to beat out fellow UConn Husky, Ben Gordon, who scored 15 points per game, as well as Dwight Howard, who also had a double-double every night.

However, over the last two years, we have only had one must-have rookie from each draft class come in and be a fantasy basketball star. Two years ago, it was Chris Paul unanimously winning the Rookie of the Year while dropping 16 points and nearly 8 assists every night. Last year, Brandon Roy had spectacular, and dare I say Dwyane Wade-level, averages of 16 points, 4 rebound and 4 assists every ball game. Yet, the rest of their respective draft classmates were very disappointing and often owned by fantasy teams based purely on the hype surrounding them when they were drafted.

This year has been more of the same. I feel bad for fantasy owners who have wasted valuable roster spots on guys like Mike Conley, Yi Jianlin and Jeff Green. These guys are solid players and will be valuable to the fantasy basketball world in a couple of seasons, however, now they are simply a waste to have on your fantasy basketball team. The only acceptable reason to own one of those aforementioned players is if you are in a keeper league and you are dead-set that they are going to have a great second year in the NBA.

So unfortunately, there are only four solid-to-good fantasy basketball players in this year's rookie class. One guy who just missed the cut is Sean Williams from New Jersey. He has had a solid rookie season so far and even had some really good games, but he is extremely inconsistent and still plays under 20 minutes per game. Nevertheless, the reason that he is still ownable in fantasy basketball is that Williams blocks 1.74 shots per game, and that is significant if your fantasy team is lacking in blocks.

Here are the four rookies worth owning for fantasy basketball...

Kevin Durant, SG, SEA - 19.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.02 bpg, 1 spg
Most people believe that he is the hands-down Rookie of the Year and have anointed him as so since Greg Oden had micro-fracture surgery. Durant has been extremely valuable in terms of scoring this year, with his near 20 points per game average, but where his value truly grows is his production in the steals and blocks department. He is the only rookie in this league averaging 1 block and 1 steal per game. That means that Durant is giving you what no other rookie is giving you. His value is extremely high going into next season, and Durant should be able to improve on his disappointing 4.1 rebounds per game (he averaged double-digits in college) and his poor shooting percentage (just 40% from the field this year).

Al Horford, C, ATL - 9.6 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1 bpg, 47.7% fg
Now, while this is my pick for the actual Rookie of the Year award, Horford is the runner-up for most valuable fantasy rookie this year. Nevertheless, the disparity is much closer than you would expect. He is close to averaging a double-double this year with 10 rebounds and 9.6 points per game. Add that to Horford's 1 block per game and much higher field goal percentage... (Read the full article here: Fantasy Rookies of Today and Tomorrow)