Fantasy NBA is as much skill as it is luck. It is almost impossible to predict how well a player will be throughout the whole year. Sometimes going into a better situation or avoiding injury, plays a much larger role in greater statistical output from a player. That being said, there are quite a few players who are producing amazing numbers as well as a few pleasant surprises.

For one, Anthony Davis is just completely dominating the game. The only thing he doesn’t do well is shoot 3 pointers, but he still has the whole season to improve on that. He is just the number 1 player right now all across the fantasy universe and it’s not even an argument. Until maybe Kevin Durant comes back to full health, Davis will reign supreme. Currently he is averaging 26.3 ppg 11.4 rpg 1.8 apg 3.5 bpg 2.2 spg while shooting 57.8% from the field 80% from the charity stripe and just turning over the ball 1.3 pg. He may even become the first player ever in history to lead the league in both steals and blocks in a regular season. These numbers are just out of this world right now and if you chose Davis as your number 1 pick before Lebron, you can breathe a sigh of relief now.

Another big man that is posting up early first round numbers that you probably could have drafted near the end of the first round or early second, is DeMarcus Cousins. He is posting up monster numbers, leading his team to victory and surprisingly hasn’t had many technical fouls yet. Cousins is averaging 23.2 ppg 12.3 rpg 1.9 apg 1.5 bpg 1.1 spg while shooting 51.9% from the field 79% from the line but turning over the ball 3.3 pg. Almost Davis-esque with less blocks, steals, a lower fg% and more turnovers. Not too shabby if you ask me. If you were lucky enough to grab him late first round or early second, you just struck gold in Cousins.

Two other big men who are having surprisingly great starts to the NBA season are Nikola Vucevic and Marc Gasol. Although Gasol has always been a great fantasy asset, this year he is proving to be a steal if you drafted him late second or early third. He is truly leading his team with fantastic numbers. His weight loss has and determination to be more aggressive is really paying dividends for both him and his team. Vucevic is also providing monster numbers. Nikola is a very underrated center in the league who can provide stats all across the board with the exception of the long ball, but that is to be expected from true centers. He is posting second round value right now and will probably finish in the top 30 when the season ends. There is no one to gobble up his minutes on the lowly Magic team so feel free to keep Vucevic on your team for the long haul.

We should also mention the big men situation on the Bulls. After signing Gasol to a contract, it would seem to shake up the Big Men rotation on this Bulls roster. Many pundits believed the Gasol wouldn’t have much fantasy value this year, but of course he is proving them wrong. Gasol has been a surprising fantasy stat stuffer this year providing just about everything across the board. He was supposed to help Noah improve offensively, but that hasn’t been the case just yet. In fact, Noah’s numbers are considerably worse than last year’s offensively and it is hugely due to the fact that Gasol is now on the team. Noah doesn’t have to do much work on the offensive end because of Gasol, Butler and a healthy Derrick Rose. He can now focus on anchoring the defensive end and being a playmaker on the offensive end. Gasol and Noah form the best passing duo in the NBA and they’re going to do a lot of damage together.

Unfortunately, Gibson will be the odd man out. After a breakout season last year, it would seem that he would repeat last year’s success with ease, but the Bulls’ front office had other ideas. Though Gibson would be upset that Gasol would be on the team, it is hard to bicker and banter when your team has a great chance to win a championship. Gibson can easily be a starter in this league and produce huge numbers, but the Bulls need him to be a spark plug off the bench and back up both Noah and Gasol. There is a slight chance that he will request a trade this season, but to give up a championship hope to getting more minutes would be a costly mistake he would regret. For fantasy purposes, you can probably leave Gibson in the free agent pool. He just doesn’t get enough minutes to produce stats to help your team win. Unless you’re playing in a deep league and want to take a chance that neither Noah nor Gasol will be healthy all season, then by all means pick him up right now.

There may be better big men out there in the waiver wire worth picking up ahead of Gibson to be frank. Gorgui Dieng, Anderson Varejao, Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green, Brandon Wright and many others would be a better option in my humble opinion. If you want to win in your fantasy league, you should definitely invest in a high quality big man. Look for buy low options right now in Al Horford and Andre Drummond as they will eventually get things going sooner rather than later.