5 Dynasty Shooting Guards on The Rise - NBA Fantasy Basketball by Noah Rubin

We’re continuing our dynasty positional series with the shooting guards!

There were a lot of breakout seasons at the two-guard position this year, and a lot of them have carried their strong play into the postseason. Here are five shooting guards that saw their value rise in dynasty leagues this season.

Amen Thompson

My fear for Thompson entering this season was that he simply wouldn’t play enough to expand on a strong rookie season. However, an early injury to Jabari Smith Jr. opened the door for Thompson to move into the starting unit, and he never relinquished the job. In 42 starts this season, Thompson averaged 16 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. He is truly a fantasy superstar, and he’s only 22 years old. It’s scary to think about what he will look like over the next few seasons. If he ever becomes a slightly below league average shooter, there simply won’t be an answer for him.

Dyson Daniels

Of course, this was all just a plot for me to talk about Daniels more. The Great Barrier Thief was dealt to Atlanta in exchange for Dejounte Murray, and his breakout season quickly made all Hawks fans forget about the DejounTrae era. Daniels averaged 14 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 3.0 steals, and 1.0 triple in 34 minutes per game, all of which were career highs. He is also a finalist for both Defensive Player and Most Improved Player of the Year. Daniels is now part of Atlanta’s core moving forward and will continue to play a significant role. He’ll make his money through the steals, and any improvements on offense will just be icing on the cake.

Tyler Herro

Herro was already an established stud in the NBA, but this was definitely the best season of his career. He made his first All-Star Game and averaged 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 3.3 threes per game. He set new career-highs for points, assists, and threes and truly established himself as the offensive engine in Miami. That has held true in the postseason as well. Herro may not have much more room to grow, but he’s only 25 and should continue to produce at a high level for a long time, especially if Miami doesn’t make any big swings.

Austin Reaves

I’ve long been pessimistic about Reaves’ upside in fantasy basketball, but he proved me wrong this season. He was even better after the Luka Doncic trade and solidified himself as a borderline All-Star talent and fantasy stud. In 26 regular season games alongside Luka, Reaves averaged 21 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and three triples per game. He may get overshadowed by Luka and LeBron James at times, but they’ll continue to turn to Reaves more during the regular season to keep the two future Hall of Famers healthy for the postseason. Plus, Reaves is just really good. Even if he never gets the honor, don’t be surprised when he is in conversations to be an All-Star next season.

Christian Braun

I liked Braun as a late-round flier this season, but I never expected this type of breakout from him. He moves well without the ball and is a frequent cutter, making him an elite fit alongside Nikola Jokic. He averaged 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 threes per game, but what was most impressive was his 58 percent shooting from the floor. That was the best in the starting unit, narrowly beating out Jokic’s 57.6 percent. Braun made 476 shots during the regular season, and Jokic assisted on 168 of them. 35.3 percent of Braun’s makes came courtesy of Jokic. Braun also shot 71.5 percent from the restricted area. That ranked 14th in the league among players who took at least five shots from the restricted area per game. The aforementioned Amen Thompson was the only guard who shot a higher percentage than Braun at 72 percent. This isn’t to discredit how well Braun played, but it begs the question of how he would look if he were ever separated from Jokic. Until that day comes, Braun should be a reliable option.

Noah Rubin - NBC Sports Rotoworld

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Robbin Marx

NBA Fantasy Analyst

Experience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, HashTag Basketball, Bleav Network