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As fantasy basketball season winds down, fantasy owners are in two positions. They're either celebrating fantasy steals like Anthony Davis and Isaiah Thomas or they're harping on the terrible drafting mistakes made on disappointing players. Any player can get hurt and miss an entire season or chemistry can affect how a player performs and what statistics they put up.
Who would've ever imagined that Grant Hill would play a total of four games in Orlando in his first season there. Also, who would've predicted that Steve Francis would not fit in with Stephon Marbury? Okay, you probably were able to predict that the Marbury-Francis pairing wouldn't work, but you get the point. If you thought Derrick Rose would be your fantasy basketball savior, you probably are in the fetal position, shedding tears of pain and misery throughout this long NBA season. Get back up again because if all else failed, you can always play in the consolation playoffs of your league, and of course there's always next year. So from Latrell Sprewell to Amar'e Stoudemire, here are the 25 Biggest Busts in Fantasy Basketball History.
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25. Don MacLean
Season: 1994-95
Team: Washington Bullets
Stats that season: 39 G, 11.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.3 APG
Winning Most Improved Player of the Year in 1994 made Don MacLean an obvious choice in fantasy leagues. The UCLA product lit up the NBA for 18.2 PPG during that season and seemed to be a good option to improve with even more minutes and the ball in his hands. Unfortunately, three things happened to MacLean. Injuries, Juwan Howard, and Chris Webber. After the Bullets acquired Howard in the draft and Webber via a midseason trade, MacLean was relegated to the bench.
On top of that, MacLean started to be hit by the injury bug which played a big factor in his downward spiral after showing such promise in his second season.
24. Larry Sanders
Season: 2013-14
Team: Milwaukee Bucks
Stats that season: 23 G, 7.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.8 SPG, 1.7 BPG
Larry Sanders was a fantasy favorite last year. The Milwaukee Bucks big man came out of nowhere and nearly averaged a double-double and almost three blocks per game. After signing a four-year, $44 million extension with the Bucks, Sanders was expected to be a high draft pick in fantasy. Unfortunately, Sanders has barely played this season due to injuries. Now all of the fantasy players that tried to out-think their competitors wasted a top pick on a player with no value.
23. Leandro Barbosa
Season: 2009-10
Team: Phoenix Suns
Stats that season: 44 G, 9.5 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.5 APG
One of the sneaky good fantasy options in the late 2000s was Leandro Barbosa. The former Sixth Man of the Year averaged 18.1 PPG during the 2006-07 season in just 32.7 MPG. He continued to be a solid scorer off the bench for Phoenix, but he fell off a cliff during the 2009-10 season. It was his first year averaging under double figures in five seasons and he also shot a career-low from the field, making him a weak fantasy option.
22. Steve Francis
Season: 2005-06
Team: Orlando Magic/New York Knicks
Stats that season: 70 G, 14.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG
One of the signature trades (in a bad way) of the Isiah Thomas era in New York was the acquisition of Steve Francis. It was a poor fit for all parties involved. Thomas thought he had the next Earl the Pearl and Clyde Frazier on his hands. That combined with his decreasing athleticism forced a rapid decline and it had to scare anyone who had drafted him off of his previous year's stat line of 21-6-7.
21. Sean Elliott
Season: 1993-94
Team: Detroit Pistons
Stats that season: 73 G, 12.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.7 APG
In one of the more random trades of the '90s, the San Antonio Spurs traded long time cornerstone Sean Elliott to the Detroit Pistons for master rebounder Dennis Rodman. The Worm flourished in San Antonio, but Elliott really struggled after coming to Detroit. He averaged five less points and his field goal percentage went down drastically. Elliott would return to his normal self when Detroit re-routed him back to San Antonio a year later.
20. Jason Kidd
Season: 1996-97
Team: Dallas Mavericks/Phoenix Suns
Stats that season: 55 G, 10.9 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 9.0 APG, 2.3 SPG, 0.4 BPG
It took Jason Kidd awhile to really figure out his jumper in the NBA. He was not a very good shooter in his first few seasons and struggled mightily in his third season. After an All-Star sophomore year, Kidd struggled with injuries and also averaged five less points per game after spending the season in Dallas and Phoenix. Ricky Rubio might need to take some notes for future reference.
19. Danny Granger
Season: 2012-13
Team: Indiana Pacers
Stats that season: 5 G, 5.4 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.6 APG
It's always a safe bet in fantasy to go with a player who's led their team in scoring for five consecutive years. Fantasy owners had to be a little leery of Danny Granger because his repaired knee was flaring up on him. What went from a small injury eventually became a serious one. Granger still has yet to return to form, and his season last year might've hurt anyone that took Granger in the second or third round based off of his previous production.
18. Derrick Coleman
Season: 1995-96
Team: Philadelphia 76ers
Stats that season: 11 G, 11.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.9 APG
It wouldn't be shocking that Derrick Coleman didn't get some love in fantasy because of his questionable work ethic, but the Syracuse product was a borderline elite power forward back in the '90s. He was an automatic double-double machine and he made an All-Star game back in 1994. During the 1995-96 season, Coleman surprisingly missed a large portion of the season due to an irregular heartbeat.
He also demanded a trade from the Nets and got his wish. He went to the 76ers and limped his way to 11 games in a very disappointing season.
17. Elton Brand
Season: 2008-09
Team: Philadelphia 76ers
Stats that season: 29 G, 13.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.6 SPG, 1.6 BPG
The Philadelphia 76ers took a risk when they signed free agent Elton Brand to a big deal after he came off a ruptured Achilles tendon. Brand only played in 29 games before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in his first season with Philly. Even when he was playing, Brand never looked like the two-time All-Star that was a force in the paint for the Clippers.
16. Amar'e Stoudemire
Season: 2011-12
Team: New York Knicks
Stats that season: 47 G, 17.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.8 SPG, 1.0 BPG
Sometimes it's forgotten how random and chaotic the 2011-12 lockout season was for the New York Knicks. Linsanity and the firing of Mike D'Antoni were big stories of course but the decline of Amar'e Stoudemire had to be one of the more underrated parts of that season. There was an expectation for Stoudemire to see a slight stat decrease if he was going to play a full season with Carmelo Anthony.
But no one expected him to completely fall apart due to numerous maladies (except for maybe Steve Kerr) including back and ankle problems. If only there were fantasy points for punching fire extinguishers.
15. Hedo Turkoglu
Season: 2009-10
Team: Toronto Raptors
Stats that season: 74 G, 11.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 4.1 APG
When free agency came around in 2009, the Orlando Magic broke up a key piece of their championship team. Hedo Turkoglu chose to sign a five-year, $53 million deal with the Raptors and was signed and traded in a four-team deal. However, the Raptors didn't realize that no Dwight Howard meant Turkoglu was a lot less effective. His scoring average went down five whole points in his first season for Toronto. It left fantasy owners scrambling to find some more offense after Turkoglu couldn't provide it.
14. Tyson Chandler
Season: 2008-09
Team: New Orleans Hornets
Stats that season: 45 G, 8.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.3 SPG, 1.2 BPG
The New Orleans Hornets formed an elite trio during the 2007-08 season. Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler, and David West won 56 games that year. Chandler was very important to the team's success averaging a double-double which was vital to any fantasy team's roster. The next season, Chandler struggled with injuries causing him to miss 37 games and play sub par basketball. Based on how he's performed over the past few years, that year was just an anomaly.
13. Tracy McGrady
Season: 2008-09
Team: Houston Rockets
Stats that season: 35 G, 15.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.4 BPG
It's hard to figure out when a player is reaching their decline. Tracy McGrady had dealt with numerous injuries over the years, but he still found a way to average at least 21 PPG for eight consecutive seasons. 2008-09 was tough for T-Mac as he struggled to play on the court with knee problems. He decided to have microfracture knee surgery making him unplayable in any fantasy lineup past February.
12. Andrei Kirilenko
Season: 2006-07
Team: Utah Jazz
Stats that season: 70 G, 8.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.1 SPG, 2.1 BPG
A former All-Star, Andrei Kirilenko was a fantasy owner's dream with the ability to fill up the box score in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He's in the vaunted 5x5 club. Later on his career, Kirilenko started performing with less confidence in his shot and became a shell of his former self. He hit a low when he averaged just 8.0 PPG with the Jazz and seemed to incur the wrath of fans for his declining play.
11. Metta World Peace
Season: 2004-05
Team: Indiana Pacers
Stats that season: 7 G, 24.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.9 BPG
The Malice at the Palace ruined the hopes and dreams of the Indiana Pacers, but also ruined any chance of fantasy owners salvaging their rosters. Ron Artest Metta World Peace had become an All-Star and was putting up career numbers across the board before he participated in one of the more unfortunate fights and incidents in professional sports history.
10. Antonio McDyess
Season: 2001-02
Team: Denver Nuggets
Stats that season: 10 G, 11.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.8 BPG
Antonio McDyess was a consistent option. He collected points and rebounds at an extremely high rate and was a consistent All-Star with no serious injury history. McDyess suffered a patellar tendon rupture that caused him to play in just 10 games and really changed the trajectory of his career from leading star to supporting player later on in his career.
9. Eddy Curry
Season: 2007-08
Team: New York Knicks
Stats that season: 59 G, 13.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 0.5 APG
Eddy Curry really looked like he was figuring out what type of NBA player he was when he averaged 19.0 PPG and 7.5 RPG on a bad Knicks team. Curry returned to his out of shape, poor work ethic style of play when he could barely do anything for a 59-loss Knicks team. If you thought Curry was going to star for your fantasy team, you probably shouldn't think about a career as a GM.
8. Vin Baker
Season: 1998-99
Team: Seattle Supersonics
Stats that season: 34 G, 13.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.9 SPG, 1.0 BPG
The Seattle Supersonics thought they were getting an All-Star caliber talent that they could build around for years when they got Vin Baker. He had made four consecutive All-Star teams and was a double-double machine. The NBA lockout ruined all of that when Baker came in out of shape and struggled mightily putting up career-lows across the board.
7. Gilbert Arenas
Season: 2007-08
Team: Washington Wizards
Stats that season: 13 G, 19.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.1 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.1 BPG
Gilbert Arenas was one of the brightest stars the NBA had to offer. He was an elite scorer who could turn a game around very easily with his scoring. Arenas suffered knee injuries that limited him and made him a weak fantasy option after being ranked so high for his big numbers.
6. Latrell Sprewell
Season: 1997-98
Team: Golden State Warriors
Stats that season: 14 G, 21.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.4 BPG
When the NBA suspended Latrell Sprewell for choking out coach P.J. Carlesimo, fantasy owners had to be upset. Sprewell was a major NBA talent that had major success as a scorer. To lose him that early in the regular season must've destroyed hundreds of owners that had selected Sprewell in the first and second round of their drafts.
5. David Robinson
Season: 1996-97
Team: San Antonio Spurs
Stats that season: 6 G, 17.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG
The last time the San Antonio Spurs missed the playoffs was the 1996-97 season when David Robinson only played in six games. Spurs fans and fantasy owners had to be upset with an elite player in Robinson missing time with a back injury as well as a broken foot. That of course led to the Spurs tanking and getting the opportunity to take Tim Duncan as the first pick in the '97 Draft. So it kind of worked out for the real life organization.
4. Grant Hill
Season: 2000-01
Team: Orlando Magic
Stats that season: 4 G, 13.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 6.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG
Grant Hill signed a big deal with the Orlando Magic and was set to make some noise with other big free agent Tracy McGrady. Unfortunately for Hill, he could never get over an ankle problem and he only played in four games in his first season there.
3. Steve Nash
Season: 2013-14
Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Stats that season: 10 G, 7.6 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 4.7 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG
Coming off a bunch of injuries in his first season with the Lakers, Nash was looking to bounce back. But he only managed to play in 10 games this season as injuries continued to dog him. Fantasy owners with faith in the Hall of Fame point guard have to go back to church. It looks like his career is just about done.
2. Larry Bird
Season: 1988-89
Team: Boston Celtics
Stats that season: 6 G, 19.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.8 BPG
Larry Legend was forced to miss 76 games during the 1988-89 season because of bone spurs in his heels. After years of consistency and a lack of injuries that forced him to miss time, Bird was finally hit with the injury bug. After coming back to play nearly the entire 1989-90 season, Bird's injury was just a case of bad luck for all fantasy owners that had drafted him previously.
1. Derrick Rose
Season: 2013-14
Team: Chicago Bulls
Stats that season: 10 G, 15.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.3 APG
Derrick Rose suffered another setback this season with a torn meniscus after just 10 games with the Bulls. The loss of course was a blow to the Bulls franchise but also hurt anyone who had drafted Rose in the first round of their draft. Essentially, that was a wasted pick for this season leaving many fantasy owners scrambling for stopgap solutions so early in the fantasy season. Don't expect Rose to be taken in the first round next year.