Now that the NBA season has completed its second month of games, I thought it would be interesting to see how the Average Draft Picks stack up against the NBA’s current top-scorers. In the below table, you will find the top 50 scoring players in the NBA – according to the DSE scoring system – and where they were drafted in start-up leagues this year.

As the season progresses, I will post an updated table that will highlight players who climb or fall in the rankings. Any player taken in the Free-Agent rounds of the start-up draft whose +/- differential is greater than or equal to 10 has been marked in BOLD, whereas any player whose +/- differential is less than or equal to -10 has been ITALICIZED.

Player	Team	Position	Total Points	PPG	Rank	Minors/Free-Agent	Draft #	+ / -
Nikola Jokic	DEN	PF,C,Flx	1647	54.9	1	F/A	6	5
Nikola Vucevic	ORL	PF,C,Flx	1525	49.19	2	F/A	26	24
Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL	SF,PF,C,Flx	1486	49.53	3	F/A	2	-1
LeBron James	LAL	PG,SF,PF,Flx	1314	41.06	4	F/A	14	10
Luka Doncic	DAL	PG,SF,Flx	1313	46.89	5	F/A	1	-4
Stephen Curry	GS	PG,SG,Flx	1252	41.73	6	F/A	15	9
James Harden	BKN	PG,SG,SF,Flx	1229	47.27	7	F/A	9	2
Joel Embiid	PHI	PF,C,Flx	1220	48.8	8	F/A	15	7
Domantas Sabonis	IND	PF,C,Flx	1217	41.97	9	F/A	21	12
Julius Randle	NY	PF,C,Flx	1200	38.71	10	F/A	52	42
Rudy Gobert	UTA	C,Flx	1192	38.45	11	F/A	30	19
Damian Lillard	POR	PG,Flx	1186	40.9	12	F/A	13	1
Clint Capela	ATL	PF,C,Flx	1143	42.33	13	F/A	44	31
Fred VanVleet	TOR	PG,SG,Flx	1047	33.77	14	F/A	43	29
Bam Adebayo	MIA	PF,C,Flx	1046	36.07	15	F/A	9	-6
Kawhi Leonard	LAC	SG,SF,Flx	1046	41.84	16	F/A	17	1
Bradley Beal	WAS	SG,Flx	1042	40.08	17	F/A	20	3
Zach LaVine	CHI	PG,SG,SF,Flx	1030	34.33	18	F/A	28	10
Trae Young	ATL	PG,Flx	1023	36.54	19	F/A	7	-12
Zion Williamson	NO	PF,Flx	1004	34.62	20	Minors
Brandon Ingram	NO	SG,SF,PF,Flx	990	33	21	F/A	25	4
Andre Drummond	CLE	PF,C,Flx	981	39.24	22	F/A	21	-1
Jerami Grant	DET	SF,PF,Flx	976	32.53	23	F/A	102	79
Pascal Siakam	TOR	PF,Flx	974	34.79	24	F/A	29	5
Malcolm Brogdon	IND	PG,SG,Flx	968	33.38	25	F/A	65	40
Jayson Tatum	BOS	SF,PF,Flx	959	38.36	26	F/A	7	-19
Khris Middleton	MIL	SG,SF,Flx	934	30.13	27	F/A	54	27
Tobias Harris	PHI	SF,PF,Flx	930	33.21	28	F/A	49	21
Deandre Ayton	PHO	C,Flx	923	30.77	29	F/A	15	-14
Anthony Davis	LAL	PF,C,Flx	922	40.09	30	F/A	3	-27
Jaylen Brown	BOS	SG,SF,Flx	921	32.89	31	F/A	33	2
Enes Kanter	POR	C,Flx	904	30.13	32	F/A	180	148
Donovan Mitchell	UTA	PG,SG,Flx	898	30.97	33	F/A	23	-10
Jarrett Allen	CLE	PF,C,Flx	889	29.63	34	F/A	57	23
Malik Beasley	MIN	PG,SG,SF,Flx	873	28.16	35	F/A	120	85
Gordon Hayward	CHA	SG,SF,Flx	867	30.96	36	F/A	64	28
John Collins	ATL	PF,C,Flx	862	28.73	37	F/A	18	-19
De'Aaron Fox	SAC	PG,Flx	861	29.69	38	F/A	32	-6
Chris Boucher	TOR	PF,C,Flx	856	27.61	39	F/A	115	76
Chris Paul	PHO	PG,Flx	844	29.1	40	F/A	78	38
Ben Simmons	PHI	PG,SF,Flx	843	32.42	41	F/A	14	-27
Dejounte Murray	SA	PG,SG,Flx	819	30.33	42	F/A	70	28
Terry Rozier	CHA	PG,SG,Flx	817	29.18	43	F/A	100	57
Kyrie Irving	BKN	PG,SG,Flx	815	37.05	44	F/A	30	-14
LaMelo Ball	CHA	PG,Flx	810	27	45	Minors
Russell Westbrook	WAS	PG,Flx	806	38.38	46	F/A	33	-13
Kelly Oubre Jr.	GS	SF,PF,Flx	789	25.45	47	F/A	53	6
Jamal Murray	DEN	PG,SG,Flx	783	27.96	48	F/A	25	-23
Jordan Clarkson	UTA	PG,SG,Flx	778	25.1	49	F/A	140	91
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	OKC	PG,SG,SF,Flx	775	31	50	F/A	23	-27

Takeaways:

Jerami Grant, DET, SF/PF

Whenever you can draft a player in the 9th round and have him put up 2nd round points, you grin a little stronger for sure! Jerami Grant is that guy in basketball right now. Up till this season, Grant has been a bit of a journeyman, but something in Detroit has him firing on all cylinders this season.

Enes Kanter, POR, C

The 28-year-old Kanter is having a fairly good season thus far. He’s reminding owners of his 2017-2018 season with the Knicks in that he’s stepped up his defensive rebounds, cut down on his turnovers and penalties, and making more shots on fewer attempts. While I don’t expect Kanter to keep up this production level, owners of Kanter are surely pleased after two months of games. Kanter may be a sell-high candidate.

Malik Beasley, MIN, PG/SG/SF

Malik Beasley has been scoring more points, getting more rebounds, making more assists, and simply being more efficient on the court. That being said, his production may very well be the product of getting more opportunities on the court, with other starters being on injury reserve.

Chris Boucher, TOR, PF/C

Bouchers’ current rank may very well be a product of opportunity. As a back-up C for the Raptors, Boucher takes more shots, makes more assists, and grabs more rebounds than his previous seasons. If he can sustain this improved version of himself, look for Boucher to linger among the top-50 fantasy points scorers for the remainder of the season.

Terry Rozier, CHA, PG/SG

Terry Rozier has flat-out been more efficient this year compared to previous seasons. He’s increased his FG% by almost 9%, his FG3% by over 7%, and as a result, is averaging 11 more points per game. Providing Rozier can keep this up, look for Rozier to stay in the top-50 fantasy point scorers.

Jordan Clarkson, UTA, PG/SG

Jordan Clarkson has dialed up his total court performance as of late. He’s averaging more points, rebounds, and is nearly perfect from the free-throw line this season. His overall floor performance is well above average this season. Look for Clarkson to keep out performing his 10th round start-up ADP.

Anthony Davis, LAL, PF/C

Anthony Davis is hurt, so a slide in his rankings is expected; however, his total rebounds percent is at an all-time low for Davis. When he does return to the court, don’t expect Davis to put up crazy numbers because the type of injury he has can linger for the remainder of the year. The Lakers would rather use Davis in the playoffs, which does not help your team for fantasy purposes. Unfortunately, in terms of fantasy, Davis may end up riding the bench for most of the remainder of this season.

Ben Simmons, PHI, PG/SF

Saying Ben Simmons is injured is nothing new. The “silver lining” to this season is his production is on par from previous seasons when Simmons is on the court, but that is always the question. I’ve never been a fan of players who can’t stay healthy, so, for me, Simmons is a trade-now candidate if you own him – once, he’s back from his current injury, of course.

Jamal Murray, DEN, PG/SG

Jamal Murray spent some time on the injured list this season, which accounts for his drop in the rankings. When Murray is on the court, his points, rebounds, FG%, and overall efficiency are all up compared to his career numbers. Look for Murray to rise back up the rankings in the coming months.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC, PG/SG/SF

Thus far this season, Shai has been outperforming his previous seasons’ numbers by a fair amount. He’s scoring more, getting more rebounds, making more assists, increasing his FG%, and increasing his FG3%. In fact, the only area Shai isn’t outperforming in is his previous seasons FT%. So if Shai is doing better than the previous season number, why has he slipped down the rankings? Perhaps because the Thunder are in a rebuilding phase that could last a few years?

Kevin Durant, BKN, SF/PF

Nagging injuries have caused Kevin Durant to miss a fair amount of games so far this season. Coming off an ACL tear last year, it’s not surprising the 32-year-old is having nagging injuries this season; however, what is surprising was how high he was drafted in dynasty leagues. Averaging a late 2nd round free-agent pick in start-up leagues seemed high but now shows its true colors. I don’t expect Durant to finish in the top-50 fantasy points scorers by the season end.

As always, feel free to reach out to me via Twitter @drunkenangelz.