The end of the NBA regular season is nearly upon us. It's time to hand out some hardware. Here are the 2024-25 Fantasy Basketball Awards, one of which it's not exactly an honor to win.
Biggest Disappointment: Paul George, Philadelphia 76ers
Let's get the negative out of the way first. The 76ers had one of the most disappointing seasons of any team in the league. They entered with championship aspirations. They will exit the season with one of the worst records in the league. Injuries were a big reason why.
George was not immune to injury, playing in just 41 games. That was bad enough for fantasy managers, but the reason why he wins this "award" is that he struggled even when he was healthy. He finished with averages of 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.3 three-pointers per game. It was the first since 2012-13 that George averaged fewer than 21.5 points per game, excluding the 2014-15 season when he appeared in just six games. He also shot just 43.0% from the field. George was drafted inside the top 50 in most leagues, making him a massive disappointment.
Honorable Mention: Joel Embiid, Ja Morant
Rookie of the Year: Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
Castle began his rookie campaign coming off the bench for the Spurs. Injuries have forced him into the starting lineup a few times, including the last 15 games. He has thrived when it has mattered the most for fantasy managers,
The end of the NBA regular season is nearly upon us. It's time to hand out some hardware. Here are the 2024-25 Fantasy Basketball Awards, one of which it's not exactly an honor to win.
Biggest Disappointment: Paul George, Philadelphia 76ers
Let's get the negative out of the way first. The 76ers had one of the most disappointing seasons of any team in the league. They entered with championship aspirations. They will exit the season with one of the worst records in the league. Injuries were a big reason why.
George was not immune to injury, playing in just 41 games. That was bad enough for fantasy managers, but the reason why he wins this "award" is that he struggled even when he was healthy. He finished with averages of 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.3 three-pointers per game. It was the first since 2012-13 that George averaged fewer than 21.5 points per game, excluding the 2014-15 season when he appeared in just six games. He also shot just 43.0% from the field. George was drafted inside the top 50 in most leagues, making him a massive disappointment.
Honorable Mention: Joel Embiid, Ja Morant
Rookie of the Year: Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
Castle began his rookie campaign coming off the bench for the Spurs. Injuries have forced him into the starting lineup a few times, including the last 15 games. He has thrived when it has mattered the most for fantasy managers, averaging 19.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.3 three-pointers over that 15-game span. The downside with Castle is that he hasn't been very efficient, shooting 42.7% from the field and 71.8% from the free-throw line this season.
Castle is in a great spot to be a valuable fantasy contributor right now. Even if he remains a starter next season, he likely won't continue to have this kind of usage when Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox are healthy. Still, his current role and overall contributions for the season make him the top option for this award in what hasn't been the greatest of rookie classes.
Honorable Mention: Yves Missi, Kel'el Ware
Breakout Player: Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks landed Daniels in the trade that sent Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans. Daniels averaged only 18 minutes during his rookie campaign and 22 minutes last season, which didn't leave him with many opportunities to contribute. That also resulted in him going undrafted in many fantasy leagues heading into this season. If he was drafted, it was likely in the last couple of rounds, if not the last round.
Daniels ended up immediately becoming a starter for the Hawks and hasn't looked back. Over 74 games, he has averaged 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.1 three-pointers per game. He also had his most efficient season, shooting 49.5% from the field and 34.6% from behind the arc. The only real downside was that he has shot 59.6% from the free-throw line. Still, with his ability to rack up steals, as well as contribute in multiple other areas, expect Daniels to be selected early in drafts next season.
Honorable Mention: Ivica Zubac, Austin Reaves
Defensive Player of the Year: Jaren Jackson, Memphis Grizzlies
With how many steals he has racked up, Daniels is probably the better option for this award. However, for the sake of discussing someone else, let's give it to Jackson. It wasn't a great season for some of the best defensive contributors in fantasy. Wembanyama (shoulder) played in only 46 games, while Jalen Johnson (shoulder) appeared in just 36 games.
Jackson has been his reliable self on the defensive end, averaging 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Not only that, but he has already played in 72 games. This marks the fourth season of his career in which he has averaged at least 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks. Outside of his defensive contributions, Jackson has shot 48.9% from the field on his way to averaging 22.2 points and 1.9 three-pointers per game.
Honorable Mention: Dyson Daniels
Fantasy Playoffs Hero: Josh Giddey, Chicago Bulls
With injuries and rest days piling up across the league, it hasn't been an easy stretch run for fantasy managers. The Jazz started resting players in January, and many other teams shortly followed suit. It made for a crazy fantasy playoff stretch as managers were often left scrambling for replacements.
One star player who wasn't rested down the stretch is Giddey, who has thrived since the Bulls traded away Zach LaVine. Over his last 18 games, Giddey has averaged 20.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.9 three-pointers. He also shot 49.4% from the field and 80.4% from the free-throw line during that span. Giddey will be a restricted free agent this summer and may have made himself a lot of money with his recent play. He certainly helped fantasy managers who were lucky enough to have him on their squad.
Honorable Mention: Deni Avdija, Paolo Banchero
Fantasy MVP: Josh Hart, New York Knicks
In seasons past, the top players in the league have often been the Fantasy MVP. Nikola Jokic certainly deserves to be in the discussion for the award again this season, averaging 30.0 points, 12.8 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.0 three-pointers. He nearly set career bests across the board. However, if you weren't lucky enough to draw the first or second pick in your league, you likely never had an opportunity to add him to your squad.
Considering that Hart was drafted outside the top 100 in many leagues, I'm going to give the edge to him over Jokic. Given where he was being drafted, only Daniels is even in the discussion with Hart for best values of the season. Hart has played in 76 games, averaging 13.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 three-pointers. He is also shooting 52.5% from the field, which is a huge improvement over his mark of 43.4% from last season. The Knicks didn't have a deep bench, and coach Tom Thibodeau already loves to play his starters heavy minutes, so it ended up being the perfect situation for Hart to thrive.
Honorable Mention: Nikola Jokic, Dyson Daniels
