Kevin Durant joins a Seattle team which will not bring back its top two scorers (Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis) from the previous season.  At Texas he showed his fantasy potential by averaging 26 pts, 11 reb, 1.9 blk, and 1.9 stls.  These numbers put Durant in a league of his own.

Other than Wally S, the Sonics will not have any proven NBA scorers on the team.  They will look to get as much offense as possible from Durant and as a result he should see extended playing time (for a rookie).  Along the way, he should be able to rack up some healthy stats in the other categories.  Durant being the number one fantasy rookie is about as much as a sure thing as you can have considering all the variables that typically are associated with evaluating a rookie class.  While Oden should block a lot more shots and be strong in rebounds, he will not score as much as Durant as he won’t be needed to score as much on a team that has Brandon Roy and other capable scorers. 

Boston gave up their draft pick (Jeff Green), Wally S, and Delonte West to get Ray Allen.  This noticeably moves Rajon Rondo up the depth chart and makes Boston reconsider their ban of Sebastian Telfair.  In 25 games as a starter last season, Rondo averaged 35 min, 10.6 pts, 6 ast, 5 reb, and 2.4 steals.  The steal numbers in particular can make a positive impact for fantasy teams and makes him a draft day sleeper. 

The addition of Ray Allen could slow down the progress of Al Jefferson offensively.  Al Jefferson and Paul Pierce, on the other hand, should contribute to putting a downward pressure on Ray Allen's scoring when compared to last season. While Allen claims his ankles are fully healed, at age 32, fantasy owners must consider if he is beginning the phase of his career with diminishing output.