Another year, another dollar. Happy 2024! And with the start of something new, something has to end. This time the thing that ends is the month of December in 2023. As is tradition, that means we’re going to give out a handful of awards for fantasy basketball stat accumulation. Scroll below to see the winners!
Fantasy Basketball Awards December 2023
Most Valuable Player – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Stats: 13 GP, 35 MIN, 20.5 FGA, .553 FG%, 0.8 3PTM, 9.5 FTA, .887 FT%, 31.9 PTS, 5.4 REB, 6.6 AST, 3.1 STL, 0.7 BLK, 1.7 TO
Gilgeous-Alexander keeps performing as the best player in basketball fantasy. This time, finishing well ahead of Nikola Jokic and Derrick White(!!) for the December MVP. With Gilgeous-Alexander’s ADP at only 5.8, he must surely be among the top players in league-leading teams right now. And sixth will definitely not be where you can draft him in 2024-25 if he keeps this up. And there is no reason for him not to. Gilgeous-Alexander is also among the top real-life basketball players according to any sufficiently advanced stat. If there were a quibble to his fantasy game, it would be the very low number of three-pointers for a guard. The attempts likely won’t increase but he has been shooting below his own average so we might expect slightly better numbers for January.
Rookie of the Month – Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Stats: 13 GP, 29.7 MIN, 12.2 FGA, .551 FG%, 1.5 3PTM, 3.2 FTA, .870 FT%, 17.4 PTS, 7.7 REB, 2.4 AST, 0.4 STL, 3.5 BLK, 1.5 TO
Holmgren, ranking as a top 10 player for November, now moves down a little to a top 25 player for December, which is still more than good enough to win Rookie of the Month for the second time this season. Top 25 does seem more sustainable than 10, and, again, I see no reason for Chet to fall too far below. Holmgren led the league in blocks in December and, impressively, managed to maintain a 55% field goal percentage while making 1.5 threes per game. Now, you might be wondering where a certain seven-foot-plus rookie center playing for a Texas-based team is. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten him – Dereck Lively II ranked fourth in December, behind Victor Wembanyama and Brandin Podziemski.
Sophomore of the Month – Keegan Murray (Sacramento Kings)
Stats: 14 GP, 31.8 MIN, 12.9 FGA, .492 FG%, 2.9 3PTM, 1.9 FTA, .852 FT%, 17.2 PTS, 4.6 REB, 1.3 AST, 1.1 STL, 0.3 BLK, 0.6 TO
Keegan Murray ranked as the 38th-best player in 9-cat fantasy for December, which is good enough to win the prestigious SotM award. The fourth pick in the 2022 NBA draft does an all-around solid job for a tweener forward. Nothing really spectacular stat-wise. Wouldn’t really highlight the 38th-best player unless there was an award for it. Hey, did you know that Keegan has a twin brother Kris Murray, who plays for the Blazers? Not many people do.
Most Improved Player – Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors)
Stats (2022-23): 77 GP, 34.8 MIN, 13.2 FGA, .456 FG%, 0.8 3PTM, 3.2 FTA, .772 FT%, 15.3 PTS, 6.6 REB, 4.8 AST, 1.1 STL, 0.8 BLK, 2.0 TO
Stats (December): 13 GP, 35.8 MIN, 17.4 FGA, .525 FG%, 2.7 3PTM, 3.9 FTA, .765 FT%, 23.8 PTS, 9.9 REB, 6.2 AST, 1.3 STL, 1.6 BLK, 2.8 TO
Somewhat unexpectedly, Barnes has been far and away the best Raptors player this season in both fantasy and real life. He delivers big-time in 7 out of the 9 fantasy scoring categories. I would hazard a guess that he, too, like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, sits in many fantasy league-leading rosters.
Most Declined Player – Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat)
Stats (2022-23): 64 GP, 33.4 MIN, 13.9 FGA, .539 FG%, 0.6 3PTM, 8.7 FTA, .850 FT%, 22.9 PTS, 5.9 REB, 5.3 AST, 1.8 STL, 0.3 BLK, 1.6 TO
Stats (December): 9 GP, 33.4 MIN, 13.6 FGA, .467 FG%, 0.3 3PTM, 7.6 FTA, .882 FT%, 19.7 PTS, 4.4 REB, 5.3 AST, 0.7 STL, 0.2 BLK, 1.8 TO
It’s not looking good for old Jim Butler and the teams that drafted him. He misses games and when he does play the stats aren’t looking too hot. The field goal percentage and points are down from a year ago, and, more importantly, his elite category – steals – is way down. Butler is still getting to the line at a good clip, which would otherwise be a sign of aging so things are completely disastrous just yet.
Best Single-Category Player – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder) – STL
Stats: 13 GP, 35.1 MIN, 3.1 STL
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets his second award for December with 40 total steals or 3.1 per game. The second-best player (De’Anthony Melton) had 29 or 2.2 per game. So, there you go. If you wanted to win steals in December, you better have had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Performance of the Month – Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) – 2023-12-25 @PHX
Stats: 44 MIN, 25 FGA, .600 FG%, 8 3PTM, 12 FTA, 1.000 FT%, 50 PTS, 6 REB, 15 AST, 4 STL, 3 BLK, 4 TO
Luka Doncic said “Merry Christmas” with his vintage performance headlined by 50 points. But, if you were to look at things through a category fantasy lens, the 8 threes and 15 assists might be even more impressive. And the 4 steals and 3 blocks don’t look bad either… and the 12-for-12 from the line.