With the first month of the season in the books, it's time for another game of fun with numbers, focusing on recent trends and splits for the month of November.
The Top 130
Note: Brian McKitish's top 130 players are ranked for their fantasy value from this point forward in the 2012-13 NBA season. Previous rank is indicated in parentheses.
1. Kevin Durant, OKC (1)
2. LeBron James, MIA (2)
3. Kevin Love, MIN (3)
4. Chris Paul, LAC (4)
5. Russell Westbrook, OKC (5)
6. James Harden, HOU (6)
7. Deron Williams, BKN (7)
8. Serge Ibaka, OKC (8)
9. Kobe Bryant, LAL (9)
10. Dwyane Wade, MIA (11)
11. Nicolas Batum, POR (10)
12. Josh Smith, ATL (12)
13. Carmelo Anthony, NY (13)
14. Jrue Holiday, PHI (18)
15. Al Jefferson, UTAH (15)
16. Marc Gasol, MEM (17)
17. LaMarcus Aldridge, POR (16)
18. Rajon Rondo, BOS (19)
19. Damian Lillard, POR (20)
20. Brandon Jennings, MIL (21)
21. Kyle Lowry, TOR (14)
22. Dwight Howard, LAL (23)
23. Stephen Curry, GS (25)
24. Rudy Gay, MEM (24)
25. Greg Monroe, DET (26)
26. Ty Lawson, DEN (27)
27. Al Horford, ATL (28)
28. Goran Dragic, PHO (22)
29. Paul Pierce, BOS (32)
30. Monta Ellis, MIL (30)
31. Zach Randolph, MEM (31)
32. Anthony Davis, NO (33)
33. DeMarcus Cousins, SAC (29)
34. Joakim Noah, CHI (34)
35. Mike Conley, MEM (36)
36. Kenneth Faried, DEN (37)
37. Dirk Nowitzki, DAL (38)
38. Chris Bosh, MIA (42)
39. Pau Gasol, LAL (35)
40. Kemba Walker, CHA (41)
41. Brook Lopez, BKN (39)
42. Andre Iguodala, DEN (44)
43. David Lee, GS (47)
44. Paul George, IND (40)
45. Paul Millsap, UTAH (43)
46. Wesley Matthews, POR (48)
47. Roy Hibbert, IND (49)
48. Ryan Anderson, NO (50)
49. Anderson Varejao, CLE (58)
50. Blake Griffin, LAC (45)
51. Kyrie Irving, CLE (53)
52. Steve Nash, LAL (46)
53. O.J. Mayo, DAL (51)
54. Tim Duncan, SA (59)
55. Marcin Gortat, PHO (52)
56. Raymond Felton, NY (54)
57. Tony Parker, SA (60)
58. Luol Deng, CHI (61)
59. Kevin Garnett, BOS (62)
60. Joe Johnson, BKN (55)
61. Kevin Martin, OKC (64)
62. J.R. Smith, NY (56)
63. Danilo Gallinari, DEN (65)
64. Omer Asik, HOU (66)
65. John Wall, WSH (63)
66. Klay Thompson, GS (68)
67. Jeff Teague, ATL (69)
68. Marcus Thornton, SAC (70)
69. Andrei Kirilenko, MIN (57)
70. Andrea Bargnani, TOR (67)
71. Nikola Pekovic, MIN (71)
72. Mo Williams, UTAH (77)
73. George Hill, IND (85)
74. Jeremy Lin, HOU (72)
75. Evan Turner, PHI (100)
76. Dion Waiters, CLE (73)
77. Carlos Boozer, CHI (75)
78. Tyreke Evans, SAC (79)
79. Brandon Knight, DET (83)
80. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, CHA (74)
81. Ricky Rubio, MIN (99)
82. Tyson Chandler, NY (81)
83. Manu Ginobili, SA (86)
84. Gerald Wallace, BKN (89)
85. DeAndre Jordan, LAC (76)
86. JaVale McGee, DEN (78)
87. Jameer Nelson, ORL (84)
88. Arron Afflalo, ORL (80)
89. Nene Hilario, WSH (85)
90. Byron Mullens, CHA (91)
91. Greivis Vasquez, NO (96)
92. Jamal Crawford, LAC (82)
93. Thaddeus Young, PHI (95)
94. Amare Stoudemire, NY (92)
95. Jason Richardson, PHI (87)
96. David West, IND (103)
97. Lou Williams, ATL (93)
98. J.J. Hickson, POR (98)
99. Derrick Favors, UTAH (94)
100. Glen Davis, ORL (90)
101. DeMar DeRozan, TOR (102)
102. Chandler Parsons, HOU (110)
103. Ramon Sessions, CHA (107)
104. Patrick Patterson, HOU (128)
105. Chauncey Billups, LAC (NR)
106. Chris Kaman, DAL (104)
107. Andrew Bynum, PHI (101)
108. Gordon Hayward, UTAH (108)
109. Ersan Ilyasova, MIL (105)
110. Jason Terry, BOS (109)
111. Kawhi Leonard, SA (112)
112. Ray Allen, MIA (111)
113. Kris Humphries, BKN (106)
114. J.J. Redick, ORL (116)
115. Luis Scola, PHO (114)
116. Jonas Valanciunas, TOR (125)
117. Metta World Peace, LAL (127)
118. Luke Ridnour, MIN (120)
119. Darren Collison, DAL (97)
120. Rodney Stuckey, DET (113)
121. Jose Calderon, TOR (123)
122. Kyle Korver, ATL (117)
123. Mario Chalmers, MIA (124)
124. Derrick Rose, CHI (126)
125. Jason Kidd, NY (129)
126. Larry Sanders, MIL (NR)
127. Ben Gordon, CHA (NR)
128. Nikola Vucevic, ORL (119)
129. Tristan Thompson, CLE (130)
130. Antawn Jamison, LAL (NR)
5.2: Free throw attempts per game for Marc Gasol, who is shooting a career-high 89.7 percent from the line this season. Gasol's free throw percentage, combined with his incredible statistical diversity (15.9 points, 7.1 boards, 4.4 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.4 blocks per game), makes him extremely valuable in the fantasy space. There's no single number that's going to jump out at you, but when you put them all together, you are looking at a top-20 fantasy player. Gasol probably won't continue to shoot close to 90 percent from the free throw line all season, but he will continue to be one of the best across-the-board contributors in the game.
15.4: Rebounds per 48 minutes for 36-year-old Tim Duncan, who is averaging an amazing 18.9 points, 10.1 boards and 2.4 blocks in just 31.3 minutes per game. I have to admit, I did not expect Duncan to be this productive this season. In fact, he's probably too low at 54th in my top 130 rankings. I still have major concerns about his ability to keep up this per-minute pace all season, particularly when I expect his minutes to be cut to less than 30 per game as we get deeper into the season. However, Duncan continues to prove he has a few years left in the tank.
2.9: Assist-to-turnover ratio for Pacers point guard George Hill, who is as hot as can be with averages of 18.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.2 3-pointers per game over his past five contests. Averaging 14.8 points, 4.0 boards, 5.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.5 3-pointers per game on the season, Hill is turning himself into a quality fantasy point guard despite some lingering inconsistency issues.
7.1: Rebounds per game for Philadelphia's Evan Turner, who is averaging a versatile 14.1 points, 4.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 3-pointers per game. Turner still struggles with inconsistency on a night-to-night basis, but his skills are beginning to pay dividends for both the Sixers and his fantasy owners. Turner has shown this sort of promise in the past, but I think he's here to stay this time around. Just remember not to get too discouraged if he has a few off nights.
39.1: Minutes per game for Portland breakout Nicolas Batum, which ranks second only to Chicago's Luol Deng. After spending the past three seasons stuck playing just 24 to 32 minutes per game, Batum finally has gotten an opportunity to show the fantasy community what he could do with extended minutes. The results have been simply terrific: averages of 17.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.1 blocks and 2.6 3-pointers per game. The Blazers, by the way, have four players averaging 37-plus minutes per game, including Batum, Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews. With little depth on the roster behind them, all four players should continue to have huge fantasy seasons as they rack up minutes and stats.
36.7: 3-point field goal percentage for Indiana's Paul George, who has struggled to take the next step that many fantasy owners were hoping for prior to the season. George is getting more minutes (34.7), more shot attempts (13.0) and more 3-point attempts (5.3) per game than ever before, but he seems to have lost some confidence in his shot as opposing defenses have keyed on him with Danny Granger out of action. I believe in George's long-term value and he's a great buy-low candidate, but I'm not sure we are going to see him make a Batum-like leap for another season or two.
6.0: Offensive rebounds per game for Anderson Varejao, best in the league. There are few players who attack the offensive glass like Varejao (Kevin Love, Zach Randolph and Kenneth Faried come to mind), and his relentless play on both sides of the court has allowed him to post career highs in points (15.1) and rebounds (15.3) after 16 games. Varejao might come back down to earth at some point, but he's going to remain among the league leaders in rebounds and double-doubles for as long as he stays healthy.
4.3: Assists per game for Kevin Durant, who continues to improve in his sixth NBA season. Durant's assists per game have been trending up for the past few seasons, from 2.7 in 2010-11 to 3.5 in 2011-12, and with playmaker James Harden in Houston, both Durant and Russell Westbrook owners should get used to seeing high assist totals in the nightly box scores. Not surprisingly, Durant sits firmly atop our Player Rater as fantasy's most complete player, and it's not even that close.
3.6: Steals (1.4) plus blocks (2.2) for Joakim Noah in 39 minutes per night for the Bulls. Stepping up his game in the absence of Derrick Rose, Noah is having a career season with averages of 13.3 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists to go along with his impressive steal and block numbers. I do slightly worry about his durability playing so many minutes per game, especially given his injury history, but Noah is playing great basketball and is even showcasing his passing skills with the high assist totals.
3.3: Blocks per 48 minutes for Pistons rookie Andre Drummond. Drummond is still too raw to earn consistent minutes for coach Lawrence Frank, but it's becoming quite clear that there is plenty of talent and potential here. Drummond is averaging 5.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 1.2 blocks in just 16.8 minutes per game, and one can see he will be a fantasy force as his playing time increases.