lovers + haters

8. Giannis Antetokounmpo — MIL

Eric: He’s looked excellent in preseason, suggesting that he’s fully healthy again. Lots of people are sleeping on Giannis and the Bucks, and that’s the perfect time for him to remind the NBA world just how dominant he can be.

Stan: The 65 percent free-throw shooting on massive volume is a huge obstacle to overcome.

7. Jayson Tatum — BOS

Eric: Steve Kerr inadvertently turned Tatum into a fantasy beast for the season ahead. With a revamped 3-point shooting form that is working well in preseason, we could see Tatum’s most efficient season ever.

Stan: Tatum is one of the most solid options. Unfortunately, access to the fantasy ceiling is likely limited because the Celtics are too good and deep. After garnering a usage rate of over 32 percent two seasons ago, that number was 30.4 percent last season.

6. Anthony Edwards — MIN

Eric: Is there anyone who doesn’t foresee an Ant breakout coming? You could quibble over how he’s going to return top-10 fantasy value, or you could sit back and enjoy the show.

Stan: It’s tough to envision Edwards not leveling up this season. That said, there is uncertainty about how he will fit with Julius Randle, who doesn’t space the floor well.

5. Anthony Davis — LAL

Eric: Not only did he stay healthy, but Davis helped LeBron do more of the heavy lifting last season as well. Look for even more of that this season.

Stan: JJ Redick wants Davis shooting more treys, but he’s converted at a sub-30 percent rate over the past four seasons. But it’s all about health and games played for Davis. He played 76 last season but exceeded 60 only once in the five prior seasons.

4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — OKC

Eric: The only real weakness you could point to for SGA would be his mediocre threes, but that’s the easiest category to improve upon. His shooting efficiency is absurd, and the stocks are elite.

Stan: A career-high 2.8 percent steal rate, which produced 2.0 steals, could come down. Shai has only been above 1.3 one other time in his career, and that was 1.6 steals per game in 2022. If Jalen Williams levels up, that could take away usage from Shai.

3. Luka Doncic — DAL

Eric: Is this the year we see someone average 30, 10, and 10, with four treys per game? Luka could do that this season.

Stan: Luka played 72 games during his rookie season and 70 last season. He was in the 60s the other four seasons. Are the 78 percent free-throw shooting and 38 percent from downtown real? He has career marks of 74 percent from the line and 34 percent from downtown.

2. Nikola Jokic — DEN

Eric: Jamal Murray’s ailing knee is simply more reason to force-feed the ball into Jokic and let him manipulate defenses. That means he could dish out 10-plus assists for the first time or set a career-high in scoring.

Stan: He’s perfect.

1. Victor Wembanyama — SAS

Eric: Stan is concerned about Wemby’s block rate possibly coming down, but I’m sure if he only averages 3.9 blocks per game instead of closer to 4.5, his fantasy managers won’t mind. As far as his efficiency goes, the man was below the league average of 54.5 percent on 2-pointers last season. Does anyone think he’s going to be below average on twos ever again?!?

Stan: Development isn’t always linear. What if he doesn’t level up like we expect him to? There are some shooting efficiency concerns and what if the block rate decreases a bit? The 10 percent block rate was tied for the fourth-highest in NBA history. Only Manute Bol, Alonzo Mourning and Mitchell Robinson have posted a double-digit block rate.