NBA Fantasy time! Oh yes, I love this time of the year and I can't wait to play for real. For now, practice practice practice! When it comes down to the actual live drafts, draft position
determines a lot of things so I am going to practice drafting from every
position at least twice. For this mock draft, I am drafting Eighth Overall. My players and thoughts after the jump.
Quick fantasy primer: Basically, you select a team of NBA players, adjust your roster activating guys with games on a certain night and benching those who aren't playing, and their statistics in actual games will count for your team.
H2H Standard Nine Cat, 12x13, 8th Pick
1st round (8th overall) - Kevin Love PF, C (8, 8.9) AVG
2nd round (17th overall) - Derrick Rose PG (15, 12.6) FALL
3rd round (32nd overall) - Mike Conley PG (28, 31.6) AVG
4th round (41st overall) - Monta Ellis PG, SG (40, 42.1) AVG
5th round (56th overall) - Jonas Valanciunas C (73, 73.7) REACH
6th round (65th overall) - Greg Monroe C (71, 68.8) REACH
7th round (80th overall) - Andre Iguodala SG, SF (70, 62.4) FALL
8th round (89th overall) - Andre Drummond PF, C (95, 91.9) REACH
9th round (104th overall) - Kyle Korver SG, SF (108, 111.2) REACH
10th round (113th overall) - Victor Oladipo SG (133, 122) REACH
11th round (128th overall) - Jarrett Jack PG, SG (160, 138.9) REACH
12th round (137th overall) - Chris Kaman PF, C (139, 139) AVG
13th round (152nd overall) - Danilo Gallinari SF (160, 131.1) FALL
Depth Chart:
5 Centers
3 Power Forwards
3 Small Forwards
5 Shooting Guards
4 Point Guards
Bold: Rookie
Depth Assessment: Would have preferred that either my third PF or SF were a combo F, especially since my 3rd SF (Gallinari) will be out a while. Maybe should have taken another forward before that fifth center.
Took a chance on two guys (two superstars, really), Rose and Love, returning from serious injuries with my foundation picks. Both players are young enough that the injuries shouldn't affect them much going forward. Plus, Love is a beast on the boards, and will give you great stats in PTS, 3FG and FT% as well. His AST totals are nice too for a center. Derrick Rose is Derrick Rose, I drafted him with my 1st pick two years ago, and he only underperformed because of the injuries that year. Getting two former top 5, top 6 picks is pretty great at 8th overall.
Conley and Ellis are value picks, because I drafted them at around the right time and I'm confident both will give me good stats in AST, STL, and will provide me with a decent source of PTS and 3FG. On the other hand, getting Andre Iguodala at 80 when his ADP is 62.4 was a steal for me. I like his ability to provide AST and STL from the 3 spot (you can see what stats I like), and he can give you decent REB, PTS and 3FG.
I like my young corps of bigs and I even went and drafted two teammates (I limit myself to one pair of teammates a team, max of two pairs, and never three teammates at a time) in Drummond and Monroe, but those two plus Valanciunas should keep me competitive in the rebounds department. Monroe is a good source of STL and AST from the center position as well.
With that, my core of eight was set to compete in almost all categories save maybe FT% since Drummond shoots them terribly and Iguodala, Ellis and Monroe aren't exactly great from there either. BLK might be a category I might struggle in as well.
I took Korver to shore up 3FG, Jack for AST as he averaged 5 a game last year backing up Steph Curry in Golden State and I hope he can give something similar this year, and Kaman for big man stats as the projected starting center for the Lakers.
My one rookie is Victor Oladipo and since it's been reported that he will log many minutes at both guard spots for the Magic, I love his potential to be a fantasy contributor in his first year.
Interestingly enough, that same year I drafted Derrick Rose, I also had Ellis and Gallinari. That was a strong team that was only derailed by injuries. Gallo might be out a while, but I like getting him with my last pick (especially since he was averaging an ADP of 131.1) since he is a potential fantasy stud as well. If this were my actual fantasy team, if I get impatient waiting for him to return (very likely), I would probably cut him for an emerging FA.
Overall, I like this team except for the fact that I wish I had more forwards. Getting stats from uncommon positions (AST from C, 3FG from PF, etc.) is important, as is position flexibility, which I like about this team. Scheduling is also important, and having players from teams like the Bulls, Lakers, Warriors and Grizzlies should ensure games on National TV nights, unclogging the roster for the other days.
Final Verdict: I would be pleased if this were my actual fantasy team.
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