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If a players fantasy hoops value was a rough equivocation of his perceived real-life NBA value, our jobs would be cake. Life would be one long Midseason Fantasy All-Stars column.Playoff performance would drive fantasy value. Championship rings accrued would drive fantasy value. Signing a big free agent contract would drive fantasy value. Points scored per game would drive a plurality of fantasy value. Draft position, defensive intensity, SportsCenter appearances, college program and market size would all drive fantasy value.Heres the trick: all of those factors do drive fantasy valuation, but not in a constructive manner.Instead, all of these factors combine to create noise. This noise begets variations in perceived fantasy value versus actual fantasy value.The result is perpetually overrated players like DeAndre Jordan, perennially underrated players like Mike Conley and, more often than not, solid values such as Paul Millsap.Winning in fantasy is simple. If you roster more undervalued players than your fellow owners ... you win. If you roster more overvalued players ... they win.Dont get caught up in name value. Stick to the numbers.Our job is to filter out the noise and focus only on eight or nine categories of statistical impact, and the factors that drive production in said categories.We here at ESPN do an industry-leading job in pinpointing fantasy value. Its a fact. Our tried and true preseason rankings represent just how much work goes into creating a superlative Draft Kit. These rankings are saturated with projections you can take to the bank of your choice.All the same, theres nothing wrong with a dollop of healthy disagreement. Every happy and well-adjusted family has the occasional behind-the-scenes pre-Thanksgiving argument.More often than not, my disagreements with our preseason rankings are fueled by atypical positional production. Players at certain positions tend to simultaneously excel and disappoint in certain categories.Point guards typically produce a surfeit of assists, 3s, steals and solid free throw percentages. They tend to suffer from a lack of rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage. Centers typically produce a surplus of blocks, rebounds and boffo field goal percentages. They tend to lack in assists, steals and free throw percentage.When players at certain positions deviate from these norms, they offer categorical surprises -- positive and negative.Lets take a quick jaunt through my most underrated and overrated players this draft season.Underrated players in the top 10In the first round, every single slot counts. Just moving up or down a couple of draft slots can win or lose your league.Stephen Curry, PG, Golden State Warriors (ESPN Rank: 4)I think were overweighting the Kevin Durant effect on Currys production. Curry is projected to drop about four points per game, less than one rebound per game and about a third of an assist per game.If those predictions hold relatively true, I have Curry still at No. 2 overall (behind newly minted PG James Harden). Currys otherworldly combination of 3-point production (projected 5.1 per game in 2016-17) and true shooting percentage (66.9 percent in 2015-16) could end up pushing him back into the top overall slot.Curry is utterly dominant in 3-point production, double any other player in the NBA save for Klay Thompson and Damian Lillard. When a player can win a category on his own while delivering elite production in multiple surrounding categories -- especially while bolstering efficiency -- you can forgive drops in volume.Hassan Whiteside, PF, Miami Heat (ESPN Rank: 13)Whiteside is elite in two categories: rebounds and field goal percentage. Like Curry, he occupies a one-man tier in a single category. Whiteside nearly doubles the blocks potential of every other player in the NBA.When you factor in that blocks are one of scarcer statistics in fantasy, Whitesides fantasy value climbs into the top 10. His free throw percentage (.650 in 2015-16) is somewhat disquieting, but was a big improvement over the .500 he laid down in 2014-15.Overrated players in the top 10Chris Paul, PG, Los Angeles Clippers (ESPN Rank: 6)I have Paul valued between No. 9 and No. 10 overall (in non-turnover leagues). Im not projecting the drop based on possibility of injury. (For the purposes of this column, Im assuming everyone stays reasonably ambulatory. If we got into whom we thought was going to get injured, this would turn into a different, darker column.)Pauls drop is due to slight, predictable slides in three categories. Looking over his past three seasons, Paul is trending down ever so slightly in assists, steals and field goal percentage. As long as Paul stays around 10 assists per game, hes a top-10 player. But if, in his age-31 season, his steals rate starts dropping from 2.0 per night to 1.5 per night? Thats a problem because the secret sauce in Pauls Hall Of Fame value has always marinated in his undervalued elite steals production.Underrated players in the top 40Victor Oladipo, SG, Oklahoma City Thunder (ESPN Rank: 27)As of this writing, Oladipo is a top-20 fantasy player. This isnt an educated guess. Over the last third of 2015-16, Oladipo quietly posted top-20 value.He overcame a developmental situation in Orlando, slogged through inconsistent minutes and quietly built one of last seasons most improved fantasy portfolios. Now Oladipos going to ride shotgun next to Russell Westbrook? Reap all of the spacing Westbrook creates? Vacuum up the touches -- and open looks -- Kevin Durant left behind? (And yes. I know Durant will get even more space in Golden State, but Im touting Oladipo here).Were talking Westbrook lite, across-the-board fantasy value with no particular statistical weakness, elite steals and solid (for a SG) free throw percentage. Dont forget SG is looking particularly thin this draft season. If Oladipo eventually qualifies at PG as well -- another thin position -- itll just be another subtle plus.Nikola Jokic, C, Denver NuggetsIf the sight of Jokics minutes per game inching above 30 a night doesnt warm the cockles of your old and embittered fantasy heart, its time to explore other hobbies. This young man doesnt have a single statistical flaw. Double-doubles, blocks, assists, steals, 3s, terrific percentages: Jokic contributes across the board. He qualifies at a position of scarcity. Hes 2004 Andrei Kirilenko with some extra height.Jokic has momentum -- not playoff momentum (an outlier); end of 2015-16 momentum that translated into Olympic momentum. Jokic is a top-30 player right now, end of story.Overrated players in the top 40Damian Lillard, PG, Portland Trail Blazers (ESPN Rank: 11)In reality, Lillard and C.J. McCollum are a great basketball pair. In 2015-16, Lillard combined his 23.7 points, 7.1 assists, 2.8 3s and 4.4 rebounds with McCollums 20.3 points, 4.0 assists, 2.5 3s, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals to deserved acclaim.Volume-based acclaim.If you look a little closer, youll notice Lillard is not the kind of player you want to overdraft. Hes quietly inefficient.He sports a scary .419 field goal percentage. Lillards 3-point production (.375) doesnt effectively offset such a low field-goal percentage because Lillard takes (and misses) too many mid-range to long-range jumpers. His 3-point percentage is higher than his percentage from 3 to 15 feet. Almost 15 percent of his attempts are from 16 feet to the 3-point line.A .419 field goal percentage. Lillard launches 20 shots a night. Thats a lot of drag. The effect is enough to knock Lillard down by 8-10 draft slots.Blake Griffin, PF, Los Angeles Clippers (ESPN Rank: 23)This isnt about the punch. If I was folding in propensity toward injury and/or suspension, Griffins actual value would drop by two full rounds. It isnt about his formerly atrocious, now merely mediocre free throw shooting. Griffin has improved at the line.Griffin simply doesnt help out enough in the defensive categories to warrant a top-25 pick. A top-25 big man needs to chip in with at least a block and/or a steal per night. The once-gaudy points and rebounds are subtly trending downward.Ignore the hype. Griffin is an early fourth-round pick.Al Horford, C, Boston Celtics (ESPN Rank: 25)Horford is one of my most-drafted players of the past five seasons. Every year, he tends to a half round later than he should.His being underrated stemmed from three factors: Being more of an efficiency guy, he excels in out-of-position production, and the Hawks style tends to share the wealth up and down their lineup.His 3.2 assists per game in 2015-16 was one of the best (for a center) in basketball. He emphasized 3-point production, shooting .344 percent from deep and converting 1.1 3s per game. While his overall FG% was over 50 percent, Horford also shot an atypical (for a big man) 80 percent from the line.Its hard to be overhyped in Atlanta. After signing the second-biggest free agent deal of the summer, Horford is riding a wave of hype.Now Horfords coming off a much ballyhooed free-agent deal. Hes going to Boston, playing for it coach Brad Stevens and joining a team that should enter the season as the second-best team in the East.A team with a very deep rotation. Thats what gives me pause. While much of Horfords value is also efficiency based, you have to add some volume to give those ratios some weight.The Celtics are deeper up front than the Hawks. Stevens egalitarian system is not a good environment to add volume. Throw in that this is Horfords age-30 season, and youve looking at a player thats going to go 5-10 spots higher than he should.Kevin Love, PF, Cleveland Cavaliers (ESPN Rank: 34)I dont buy that Love is line for a bigger role in the Cavs offense. In reality, Love is a couple less rebounds per game away from becoming Ryan Anderson 2.0. For a guy ranked 34th overall, thats not a compliment.DeMar DeRozan, SG, Toronto Raptors (ESPN Rank: 42) DeRozan goes a little higher than he should because hes a points per game guy and a volume guy. In fantasy, his lack of 3-point production drags him down by about half a round.Underrated outside of the top 40DAngelo Russell, PG, Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN Rank: 66)Russell should be the biggest immediate beneficiary of playing in a post-Kobe Bryant universe. Kobes last lap around the NBA after All-Star Weekend took attention away from Russells second-half improvement.Kobes departure wasnt the only exodus that will benefit Russell. Byron Scott is also gone. Developing young upside is in. New coach Luke Walton is saying all the right things about Russells role headed into the season. Still only 20, Russells usage rate should take a nice leap from the 23.5 he posted during his (somewhat tumultuous) rookie campaign. I expect all of his volume-based numbers to improve, and his efficiency (13.22 rookie PER) has nowhere to go but up. Fake Panthers Jerseys . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. 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The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2.SEATTLE -- For the past few seasons playing in England, even as he participated in a Europa League final with Fulham and was on the cusp of a Champions League berth at Tottenham Hotspur, Clint Dempsey felt the pull to come back to America grow stronger. He didnt want to be an aging player on the back side of his career when he finally made the decision to return to Major League Soccer. "I was already starting to get the itch to be honest with you, to come back to the States. I just missed being in America. I wanted to help continue the growth of the game here. You cant help the growth of the game if you come back and you dont perform," Dempsey said Monday after he was formally introduced as the newest designated player for the Seattle Sounders. "I understand there is a lot of pressure on me to succeed, a lot of expectations that others have on me, but also the expectations I put on myself and when I decided to come back to this league, I want to make an impact. I want to do a good job. I dont want to come and be passive and not be able to make a difference in games. I want to win things." That pull was at the heart of Dempseys decision to have his representatives reach out to MLS in late July and start the process that was finalized over the weekend when Dempsey signed with the Sounders, bringing back arguably the best American player currently to play for his domestic league. Even though theyre not currently in the playoffs, it also makes Seattle an instant contender for the MLS Cup. Less than 48 hours after he was greeted with a huge ovation from the nearly 40,000 fans in attendance Saturday night at Seattles game against FC Dallas, Dempsey was finally able to fully explain the reasons behind his surprising move. While giving up the chance to stay in the Premier League was difficult, Dempsey felt it was the right time to come back to MLS, where his career began with the New England Revolution. "Ive been in Europe for 6 1/2 years and I just wanted to come home. Each year was getting more difficult to go back and I think everything just has to do with timing," Dempsey said. "The Seattle Sounders moved mountains to get me here. It was an opportunity to come back when I was in my prime and continue growth in the league and its a challenge." The 30-year-old Dempsey played for the New England Revolution from 2004-06 before joining Fulham in 2007. He moved to Tottenham last summer and scored 12 goals in 43 games, but wasnt a regular starter for tthe Spurs while being used in rotation with other attacking players.dddddddddddd Dempsey had two years remaining on his contract at Tottenham. Dempsey said he has yet to talk with U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann about the move and a step back in competition level from what he would get staying in the Premier League. "I look back with no regrets. I thought my time over there, if you want to crunch numbers, I was successful. I want to continue to do the same here," he said. The process for getting Dempsey to Seattle didnt take long but was filled with potential stumbles. MLS first informed Seattle general manager and co-owner Adrian Hanauer and fellow Seattle owner Joe Roth of Dempseys interest in late July. For the past two years, Hanauer and Roth had Dempsey at the top of their wish list and suddenly the chance to acquire him was real. While Dempsey was jetting between London and Hong Kong for an Asian tour with Tottenham, his representatives were pulling together a deal with Seattle, plus a transfer fee paid to Tottenham to bring Dempsey back beneath the MLS umbrella. The final stages of the negotiation were set into motion last Thursday when Dempsey was first spotted by fans boarding a flight at Heathrow Airport in London and later making a connection in San Francisco. When he arrived in Seattle, Dempsey was slipped out a back door of the airport and avoided a throng of Sounders fans who had converged for a chance to see if the rumours were true. Dempsey went unnoticed, but Hanauer never exhaled until Friday night when Dempsey finally signed the contract. "There were some anxious moments to some degree in that," Hanauer said. "Again, Im kind of a worrier." The move to get Dempsey, coupled with the acquisition of forward Obafemi Martins earlier this season backed up what Roth had told supporters last off-season after Seattle lost in the Western Conference finals to Los Angeles. Roth promised to pay back fans for the unprecedented support the Sounders have received. While Seattle could see increased interest because of Dempseys acquisition, Hanauer said the team didnt view this as a profitable move. "This is for soccer," Hanauer said. "This is to win a championship, raise the profile domestically, globally, pay our fans back for their support. ... If you do good things as a business, the financial rewards will come down the line, so this feels like were doing the right things by our customers, our fans." ' ' '