Can you believe another month’s gone by? It’s true! This time it’s January that’s gone by. As is tradition, I’ve pulled the numbers, crunched the data, activated the almonds, and come up with fantasy basketball awards for January 2024. Scroll below to see this month’s winners.
Fantasy Basketball Awards January 2024
Most Valuable Player – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Stats: 17 GP, 33.8 MIN, 19.2 FGA, .543 FG%, 1.4 3PTM, 10.8 FTA, .859 FT%, 31.5 PTS, 5.6 REB, 6.4 AST, 1.5 STL, 0.7 BLK, 2.5 TO
That makes three monthly MVPs in a row for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. This time Shai narrowly edged out Kawhi Leonard for the honours. Devin Booker, Nikola Jokic, and Lauri Markkanen make up the rest of the top 5. What else is there to say but Shai Gilgeous Alexander is now the best fantasy player in the NBA. He’s the league’s top scorer with elite percentages and great assist and steal numbers. Rebounds and blocks aren’t that bad either, particularly for a point guard. He is, obviously, a great shooter so ideally we’d love to see more threes. Maybe in February?
Rookie of the Month – Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs)
Stats: 14 GP, 26.9 MIN, 17.2 FGA, .506 FG%, 1.6 3PTM, 5.9 FTA, .831 FT%, 24 PTS, 9.6 REB, 3.3 AST, 0.9 STL, 3.3 BLK, 3.6 TO
After two months of the Spurs experimenting with bizarre line-up choices, common sense has been restored and Victor Wembanyama picks up his first FantraxHQ Rookie of the Month trophy. In fact, he’s playing so well that people are speculating that he will be the player to break Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point record. No pressure, Victor. However that will turn out, it does seem that going forward Wembanyama has separated himself from Chet Holmgren as the top fantasy rookie. Wembanyama’s offensive role is just too big for Holmgren to compete.
Sophomore of the Month – Keegan Murray (Sacramento Kings)
Stats: 15 GP, 34.1 MIN, 13.5 FGA, .512 FG%, 2.4 3PTM, 2 FTA, .700 FT%, 17.7 PTS, 5.8 REB, 1.6 AST, 1.1 STL, 1 BLK, 0.9 TO
Keegan Murray gets another one! It would be Paolo Banchero’s award but he’s just sinking his value with bottom-of-the-barrel field goal and free throw percentages. Murray ain’t that hot from the line either but, luckily, he barely gets any attempts. And that’s how it goes in category leagues. Murray is solid across the board, which gets the job done.
Most Improved Player – Daniel Gafford (Washington Wizards)
Stats (2022-23): 78 GP, 20.6 MIN, 5.1 FGA, .732 FG%, 0 3PTM, 2.4 FTA, .679 FT%, 9 PTS, 5.6 REB, 1.1 AST, 0.4 STL, 1.3 BLK, 1.1 TO
Stats (January): 13 GP, 27.2 MIN, 6.2 FGA, .721 FG%, 0 3PTM, 2.6 FTA, .647 FT%, 10.5 PTS, 8 REB, 1.5 AST, 1.2 STL, 2.1 BLK, 1 TO
You wouldn’t think so but that January stat-line ranks Gafford in the top 50 in 9-cat fantasy. And that is an improvement from the 120-range Gafford ranked the previous season. In fact, it’s such an improvement that he picks up the Most Improved Player award for January. Congratulations! Players like Gafford are silent fantasy league winners. Shh!
Most Declined Player – Christian Wood (Los Angeles Lakers)
Stats (2022-23): 67 GP, 26 MIN, 11.5 FGA, .515 FG%, 1.6 3PTM, 4.2 FTA, .772 FT%, 16.6 PTS, 7.3 REB, 1.8 AST, 0.4 STL, 1.1 BLK, 1.8 TO
Stats (January): 14 GP, 16.5 MIN, 5.9 FGA, .488 FG%, 0.6 3PTM, 1.9 FTA, .852 FT%, 7.9 PTS, 5.2 REB, 1.3 AST, 0.6 STL, 0.9 BLK, 0.9 TO
The Christian Wood experience has never been a straightforward one, however last season he would have been considered a generally rosterable player but this time there’s just not much there. He has the per-minute chops so if a Lakers trade happens and Wood finds himself in another team, you can still talk yourself into rostering him. If all goes perfectly, he could even end up as a decently impactful fantasy playoff player.
Best Single-Category Player – Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs) – BLK
Stats: 14 GP, 26.9 MIN, 3.3 BLK
Victor Wembanyama blocked 46 shots in January for an average of 3.3 per game or 5.1 per 100 possessions. Interestingly enough, he only ranks 25th in January in contested shots, which is the precursor of blocks. I suppose it makes sense considering Victor is a very tall man with very long arms and if you combine these two things… pfft offenses better watch out.
Performance of the Month – Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) – 2024-01-26 @ATL
Stats: 45 MIN, 33 FGA, .756 FG%, 8 3PTM, 16 FTA, .937 FT%, 73 PTS, 10 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK, 4 TO
Luka enters the history books with his 73-point performance and, more importantly, wins his second consecutive FantraxHQ Performance of the Month award. The scoring categories (points, fg3m, fg%, and ft%) are just overwhelming, which is why Luka takes down the prize. Also, this is the first season Luka ranks in the top 10 in category fantasy. Still probably overrated by the general fantasy player but not by much anymore.