NBA

A Dozen Dimes: 2014-15 Fantasy Basketball Awards

Russell Peddle  —  @rustypedalbike Apr 17th, 2015
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Fantasy Bust of the Year

Winner: Lance Stephenson

Lance Stephenson was such a bust this season that this award should be named after him going forward. After a fairly promising 2013-14 in Indiana and a new contract with the Charlotte Hornets for 2014-15, Lance became a popular sleeper pick for a lot of people this year and his ADP of 68 reflected that. By the end of the season, though, he could be found on most waiver wires (and honestly, should've been on all of them).

He finished the season as the 370th-ranked player in nine-category leagues, sandwiched between Phil Pressey and Damjan Rudez (neither of which even had an ADP). He picked up several DNP-CDs this season on a non-playoff team and averaged 8.2 points, 0.3 threes, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.1 blocks, 2.1 turnovers, 37.6% shooting from the field, and 62.7% from the line.

If only someone had warned you to stay away from him.

All-Bust Team

PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Kobe Bryant
SF - Lance Stephenson
PF - David Lee
C - Nikola Pekovic

It's hard not to pick guys like Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh for this list, since their combination of being an early-round pick and missing a large chunk of the season due to injury harpooned a lot of fantasy seasons. Still, it's hard to fault guys for getting injured, especially when they played so well when they were actually on the court. The same can't be said for the guys on this All-Bust team, though.

Yes, Rose (51 games played), Kobe (35), Lee (49), and Pekovic (31) missed a lot of time due to injury, but they also stunk when they actually played (an infuriating combination). Rose didn't live up to the summer hype, Kobe killed field goal percentages beyond repair at 37.3% on 20.4 shots per game, Pekovic never took advantage of having Kevin Love out of his way, and Lee never managed to win the starting job back from Draymond Green. They were all early- to mid-round picks that ended the season on the majority of waiver wires. My condolences if you spent a valuable draft pick on any of them.

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