Posted by robusk on 4/10/2019 1:32:00 AM (view original):
Nothing too complicated on my side. After Malone and Wallace fell to me unexpectedly, I had a defensive frontline with pretty good rebounding set up, with 8 points of usage and a MID% focused. After that, I needed enough paint scoring and perimeter shooting to take the heat off of Malone with like another 4-6 points of usage total. I reached for Barry and apparently not Jrue since people right after me wanted him. He is good but honestly he is so close to Payton and other dudes who went undrafted.

I thought about both Ray Allen and Gary Payton in the Barry spot but both have features that bothered me. I traded down a couple times knowing I was reaching but ran out of benefit for trading down and just took the dudes I wanted. James Johnson is fine, he turns it over and fouls more than I like and you are paying for some wasted usage, but he defends all five positions well, combined with good passing and rebounding.

My other thought was Brandon Wright and picking three point shooting guard in the sixth. Instead Johnson was the move and then Ceballos/Powe combo gives me some usage with a heavy PNT% focus (and good boards) so I can offset anyone who wants to play + defense on me. The bench will just be about filling out rebounding and threes as cheaply as possible while meeting any usage needs.

Also, given how far PGs fell, I think I screwed up. I liked both Lowry and Conley and after they went I was worried there might be a run on good PGs. Getting an elite SF in the third and loading on on guards at the end of the draft would have worked out a lot better for me.

I notice a lot of other owners I respect waiting on PGs the last handful of drafts and maybe the strategy has always been there and I have just missed it.

Conley and Lowry are the two that have shaken up the PG market the most, but I’d give Jrue and Simmons/Oladipo Honorable mention too.

Mark Price and Charlie Ward didn't get picked up until the final round and I'm not sure that there's too much a difference but a matter of degree between those Conley/Lowry seasons and say

dnp

d51

Goran Dragic

13-14 Suns

PG

24.7

53.9

40.6

56.1

2.8

7.0

20.9

1.7

0.5

better rebounding I guess?

Yeah, that Dragic season is one of my favorite open league seasons to use. It's really a matter of inches in a lot of these cases. Same with Price. Ward is a slightly different beast, in the low usage/high threes/high D mold. I love using him on certain teams though.

Without naming names or specifics, there seems to be a pretty strong relationship between drafting +/- 750 minutes from a specific number and +/- $2 million from a specific number and win totals.

I'm excited for this season. The group of people in this league are super talented and I stress more about trying to build a good team for this league than any other fake sports thing I do. Now please don't put me in a division with a bunch of people who are going to light me up!

Just to clarify the 18-19 seasons are not allowed right?

Im assuming this is the case since they were released after the draft but figured it would be good to make sure everyone was on same page since it isn’t explicitly stated anywhere that I see.

Also I’m still amazed they released so fast after last year took forever.

No 18-19 players correct.

Posted by robusk on 4/12/2019 4:58:00 PM (view original):
Without naming names or specifics, there seems to be a pretty strong relationship between drafting +/- 750 minutes from a specific number and +/- $2 million from a specific number and win totals.

very mysterious!

NotoriusJ: LeBron (1); Tyson Chandler (2), Clint Capella (3), Clifford Ray (4), Walt Frazier (5): Can’t go wrong with LeBron #1 in this format. Great efficiency, flexibility and not crazy expensive. Chandler at 2 feels a little earlier to me. If it’s a budget pick, that’s fine. He’s not as good as your 3^rd round pick Capella who I love. Some usage to go with awesome efg, solid D and clean player. Clifford Ray, if you go with the high ast% season gives some flexibility to where you can play LeBron so I like that part. Starting to worry a little about usage. Frazier is interesting. He has some pretty interesting seasons, reminds me a little of Gary Payton – so nothing really wrong with him in the 5^th except that I think he goes undrafted sometimes. So you could consider a super sub in the 5^th and then grab him in the 6^th.
Summary: Getting Redick and Nater in the 6^th didn’t do much to change the fortures of this team. I really liked the 1^st 3 picks, but you didn’t do much after that to help out LeBron.
Prediction: 35-40 wins; miss the playoffs
RESULT: 43 wins, 6 seed

24kpyrite: Wilt (1); Billups (2); Klay Thompson (3); Carlos Boozer (4); JR Smith (5): Wilt is great and can be challenging with this budget, but a nice problem to have. Billups is a nice grab at the end of the 2^nd and pairing with Klay is interesting. Having Klay at the 2 means you need assists and rebounds, which Wilt can fit with. Boozer is interesting, great efg and boards, but a liability on D that Wilt can’t cover up. JR concerns me. Not just because I wanted to draft him in the 5^th myself, but he has a little too many minutes at the 2 with Klay. Neither of which pass or rebound.
Summary: Watson and Tarpley late are ok late, but you I sense you’re struggling with money to put together the right team around Wilt. I liked rounds 1 and 3, but Klay and JR just don’t fit well. I’m not even sure who’s playing SF.
Prediction: 35 wins; miss the playoffs
RESULT: ouch. 62 wins, best record in the league by 11 wins.

Jhsukow: Steph (1); Oladipo (2); Mutombo (3); Kirilenko (4); Chris Andersen (5): Love Steph and would consider him with the 1^st pick. Oladipo is nice, his 90 D covers Steph – but a lot of usage for 53.7 efg. Any time you’re taking shots away from Steph it makes me question. Especially this earlier. Mutombo I like with Steph, efficient and you’re building a pretty good team defensively. With the K man I now see your plan. Fantastic team defensively with lots of blocks and steals. Adding Chris Andersen keeps the defense theme going. His best season is the 1400 min 99% at SF. The only concern so far is maybe minutes. But there seems to be more and more good players late so that’s not a big problem. It’s early, but JH won’t be high on my division draft for sure.
Summary: I like this team more than I thought I would. Oladipo still give me pause, but I’m intrigued by the Buck Williams pick. I still say he is one of the most undervalued players in the ODL. You have a lot of flexibility and as long as Isaiah is only usage off the bench, this is one of my favorite teams.
Prediction: 45-50 wins; Conference finals
RESULT: 43 wins, miss playoffs

Gerryred: Shaq (1); Shawn Marion (2); Mike Conley (3); Jerry Lucas (4); Jose Calderon(5): Great start with Shaq, think he was definitely the best player on the board. Marion in the second I like less. It was pretty late in the 2^nd so not too bad, but I feel you can get guys pretty close to Marion later. He is a very clean player with great D. Mike Conley starts to add some much needed assists and 3’s, good value here. I like Jerry Lucas ok, but on this team not so much. He’s too much money and not enough D. Shaq already eats up a good amount of money and Marion too for a moderate usage guy. I do like Calderon in the 5^th and he pairs fairly nicely with Conley although this pair is a little light on D.
Summary: Still concerned about the defense and Dumars can be nice, but given available seasons it sounds like he’s going to play a large role. I’m on the fence here, would need to see how the roster is fully built.
Prediciton: 40-45 wins; playoff bubble
RESULT: 41 wins, missed the playoffs by 2 games

dBKC: Jordan (1); Draymond Green (2); Mookie Blaylock (3); Robert Parish (4): It’s hard to say you don’t like Jordan, but I don’t. It’s hard to say why – 2 of his best seasons are in the 55 efg area which is good. It’s not Shaq or Howard level but good. And he adds everything else. Maybe it’s the price. I looked and the records say no one has one a title with Jordan and he’s only made the playoffs 8 of 18 tracked seasons. Let’s see what dBKC does with him! Draymond I love, especially with Jordan. I know some owners don’t love taking SF’s eary, but his D, 3’s, assists and rebounds should work well with Jordan. I also like Mookie here. You have a good amount of 3’s and guys to feed Jordan. Best of all 3 90 + defenders. Parish comes back to Earth after isacqbs58 took him 15^th overall last time. This is a better place for The Chief. Without looking closely I might have liked to see a better defender here to keep it going, but Parish adds some much needed efficiency.
Summary: Oakley and Sanders! Are pretty good adds for this team. Right inline with what you needed. I think this will be one of the best Jordan performances we’ve seen in the ODL for a while.
Prediction: 45-50 wins; playoffs
RESULT: 42 wins, missed playoffs

Sappy: Dwight Howard (1); Nash (2); Bill Russell (3); Nance (4); Wesley Person (5): Howard is the right pick here. He does everything you need with EFG in the paint, D and rebounding. Nash is a nice fit with Howard, great shooting to start for Sappy. Russell’s struggles in the sim is a travesty, but it is what it is. He’s made the playoffs once and team high wins of 43. I hope Sappy can make him successful. Maybe the better passing version of Russell with still top notch rebounding. Nance is a nice grab in the 4^th and checks a lot of boxes with D, EFG and pretty good rebounding at the 3 – which I’m assuming you’ll go with. I’m not sure Wesley Person is always drafted and if true, I’d rather see you grab a top notch bench player.
Summary: Love the David West grab, he’s nice – but I just don’t see enough assists here and as much as I want Russell to succeed, I don’t see it with this roster.
Prediction: 35 wins; miss playoffs
RESULT: 27 wins, miss playoffs

Cjok1051: Kareem (1); McHale (2); Otto Porter (4); Kevin Johnson (4); Nate McMillan (5): Chalk so for in the 1^st round IMO. Kareem is the best player on the board. Can be a little pricey in this format, but offers so much he’s a no brainer here. McHale I struggle with personally because he’s such a poor rebounder. I looked at him more closely – if you go with the big season it’s a ton of money for a guy with only ok usage and will hurt you on the boards. His shooting is great, very clean with great D. You can go with a lesser minutes but then you used a 2^nd pick and he doesn’t really change at the lower price. A lot of money probably on the first two guys. I like Otto Porter and have used his recent season – great 3 point shooting and rebounds. But you may have an assist problem now if you play him at the 2. I like the Kevin Johnson pick. KJ is a bit under rated in this format I believe and is a good solid PG who does a lot of the things you need… except play D. With McMillan I’m starting to get a little lost on the approach here. With KJ he helps assists if they play 1-2, but then your rebounding is in serious trouble with McHale a the 4 and Porter at the 3. Lets see how this wraps up.
Summary: Don’t love the 6^th round picks. Did nothing here to address serious rebounding shortage. Maybe you can overcome some of that with shooting, but I doubt it.
Prediction: 30-35 wins; miss playoffs

Copernicus: Chris Paul (1); Karl Anthony Towns (2); Shawn Kemp (3); Ibaka (4); Robert Covington (5): Depending on your approach I think you can make the case CP should go higher, so I really like grabbing him here. I haven’t dug fully into the analyzing the value of PG vs big men, but I will say the first round is dominated by quality big men and taking a PG here gives you an advantage over others. How many PG can score efficiently, play top notch D, super clean, shoot 3’s and extremely high assists? I think just one and some brilliant owner will pick him soon. Steph warrants his pick because of his ridiculous shooting and usage, but he doesn’t match CP’s assists or D? Moving on…. Another great pick with KAT. I’m starting to wonder why he’s not a 1^st rounder. He does everything but play D. 22.9 usage at 59.6 efg! Or 27.5 usage at 57.6 efg, both with real good rebounding, no TO’s to speak of and as many as 120 3’s – which allows you to be aggressive at positions like the 2 and 3 and not worry as much about checking the perimeter box. So far my favorite team. With Kemp you can go the full 100 D season and he will very nicely cover up KAT. Also has a few other 80 + D seasons if you want better shooting. He is a sloppy mess with high TO’s and Fouls, but with a 3^rd rounder you have to sacrifice something. Ibaka in the 4^th, for this team, a big steal. Not only the D, ORreb and efg – but also a very clean player like CP and KAT. Those are the types of guys you want to pair Kemp with. Copernicus will also not be high on my division draft list. Covington is the first imperfection here. I would rather have seen more assists. Can you run a 1^st team only with CP’s assists? I’m not sure. Covington is the very definition of “3 and D” and is great for that, just not sure on the fit due to lack of assists. Maybe some bench assists to help out… we’ll see.
Summary: Would like to have seen better guard selected than Cory Alexander. And I’m not sure what George T. Johnson does here. I really liked this team through 4 picks, one of my favorites. But some kinks in the armor since then. Still enough to make some noise though.
Prediction: 45-50 wins; playoffs

Pharrop: Anthony Davis (1); Deron Williams (2); Marvin Williams (3); Danny Green (4); Andrew Bynum (5): You can make the case for AD here. His most recent season with 30 usage and 55 efg is pretty nice. A little mediocre on the boards, but 100 D and super clean. Definitely a lot to build around. There’s nothing wrong with Deron Williams here. He has that one 54.4 efg season with great assist, real good D, a few 3’s and 2^nd banana usage….. no concerns yet. I was about to say I didn’t like the Marvin Williams pick, but decided to research him first. He’s actually better than I thought. I was going to say he’s a poor man’s Donyell, but he’s pretty darn close to Donyell. Better overall efg, defense is close and more 3’s per minute than Marshall. Not a bad pick. Danny Green feels like the wrong pick here. I feel one of the bigger challenges when building a team is getting enough assists AND 3’s. If you go with 3 point shooting at SF or even front court with some more recent players, you don’t have the pressure to get a lot of 3’s at the 1 and 2. But if you don’t get assists in the front court I think you have to get them from both guards. So Marvin Williams with Green just isn’t enough. Bynum is fine next to AD. Nothing spectacular and doesn’t help with assists. But a good rebounder with good efg and D.
Summary: Trey Burke helps a little, but only a little. I’d have thought there would be better options. Huphries will help on the boards, but I think this team will suffer from lack of passing and offensive efficiency.
Prediction: 35 wins; miss playoffs

Tau1624: KD (1); Camby (2); Kyle Lowry (3); Al Horford (4); Eric Bledsoe (5): I won last season with KD, so I’m biased. But I as much as I’ve loved Bird for years, KD now is the guy here. With his more recent seasons with lower minutes KD has added flexibility and even more 3’s and defense, yet hasn’t sacrificed is rebounds and assists. At this point in the draft you have several options – I think KD is a good one. Some will say you should wait on SF and I get that, but a SF who checks all the boxes allows you to take the best player on the board more often as the draft progresses. We all know what Camby brings. Great boards and D with some helper assists. Solid pick. I love the most recent Lowry season with a ton of 3’s, his best efg season and sneaky good dreb. I’ve wanted to try him myself. With Horford I wonder if you’re going to slide KD to the 2 with the slight eligibility hit and try one of Horford’s 99 or 98% eligibility at SF. Intriguing… The Bledsoe pick may not be as terrible as I first thought. He has basically one season broken up with partials if you need to flex minutes where he has good D and shooting, but not a ton else. Or will you use a lesser minute season for him off the bench and keep KD at the 2 and Horford at the 3?
Summary: Wallace is a steal in the 6^th and if used correctly here, will put you over the top. And sneaky good grab with that Moreland guy. I think you’ve got all the pieces. My only concern is who you round out your front court with Camby and Horford (who’s very light on rebounds). But if you can hold your own on the glass…..
Prediction: 55 wins; Champion

Robusk: Karl Malone (1); Ben Wallace (2); Brent Barry (3); Jrue Holiday (4); James Johnson (5): Another good 1^st round pick here. Malone gives you nearly top notch efg with a ton of usage. You can choose from the passing Mailman later in his career or the more blackhole version from the late 80’s. All have good rebounding. With Wallace robusk has a formidable front court. Awesome D and perfect compliments. Malone will get all the shots Wallace doesn’t want. Barry is sneaky good and one of those guys that make me wonder if we drafted stat lines, not player names, would he go higher? 61.1 efg, 13.7 dreb, 17.8 ast%, 2.2 stl %, 2.6 TO per 48 minutes, 164 3’s and 63 D. There are guys with low usage in the 2^nd round and I think he’s that good. The new Holiday season is nice, great D and good efg even though his 3 point % isn’t great. Also very clean. But assists are very low at the 1 and 2 so you’ll need to go with that higher passing Malone. James Johnson, I like his SG eligible season. With your front court rebounding you can probably get away with him at SF, but why lose that advantage. Great looking team.
Summary: Ceballos and Powe are interesting guys that can do things at the 2 and 3. Ultimately you have too few assists I think to contend for the finals, but you’ll be close.
Prediction: 45-50 wins; 2^nd round of the playoffs

Benhoidal: Charles Barkley (1); Ben Simmons (2); Donyell Marshall (3); Kyle Korver (4); Andrew Bogut (5): Barkley is a 4 time champion and better owners than me can build a winner around him. As we’ll see with ben’s later picks he’s going with Barkley’s PF season rather than trying for SF and a rebounding advantage. With Ben Simmons, Ben has two guys who I think would lose to my 13 year old son and I in a 3 point shoot out. But there’s time for 3’s later. For now Simmons brings almost unheard of rebounding and assists at the point (but not the 2? Ha! Eligibility joke there) with good usage, defense and efg. Do a search on PG eligible players with 18% dreb, 28 ast% and 54% efg. It’s a very short list and the other guy was picked first overall. And I love the 60% shooting in the paint. Donyell brings some much needed 3’s and won’t take too many shots from Barkley or Simmons, and is shaping up to be a top notch rebounding team. Korver brings those much needed 3’s. Pretty weak everywhere else, but he fits well with this team. Bogut in the 5^th is a solid pick. If you go with the higher efg season you get real good rebounding and 70 something D. You need someone to cover Barkley on D and will need to pick up more help in the 6^th round or later.
Summary: O’Quinn and Hill are nice fits here. Think you could use a little more interior D which you may get from undrafted players. Very nice roster that will contend for a the title.
Prediction: Conference Finals

Mikee1: David Robinson (1); Anfernee Hardaway (2); Joakim Noah (3); Marques Johnson (4); Enes Kanter (5): that rookie season for The Admiral is pretty nice, although pricey for $10m. Probably the guy I would have taken given who was on the board at the time. Hardaway is as good as you can get without being really great at anything. Very nice player, pretty good value here that pairs fairly well with Robinson. I think my hesitation with him has been that he’s assists are kind of low for a PG and his 3’s and maybe boards too light for a SG. I like Noah here and his assists allow you to not worry too much about playing Hardaway at the point. Great defensive team so far too. Good ole’ Marques Johnson. I remember back in the day how excited I’d be to grab his 10/20 reb% at SF with that 74 D. These days you tend to look for more from your SF like shoot 3’s and/or get assists. But it’s hard not like him as a 4^th round pick. Kanter’s 17-18 is an awesome 22 minutes off your bench. I like grabbing a great bench player in the 5^th instead of fighting for scraps in the 6^th. That said – you need 3’s BIG TIME. Good luck in the 6^th round!
Summary: You got some 3’s for sure with Price and Redd. And Price helps back up Hardaway or maybe even starts. Getting Price, if used correctly, changes the outlook for this team. Had you out of the playoffs until the 6^th but….
Prediction: 45 wins, playoffs

Tarheel1991: Moses Malone (1); Manu Ginobili (2); Nikola Jokic (3); Clearance Weatherspoon (4); Joe Ingles (5): I’ve fallen off the band wagon on Moses. Just too much money for too little usage and his primary strength of rebounding seems to be easier to get every year. Has anyone every tried the higher 57% efg season? His rebounds are quite as high as the top season, but still good. And saves a couple million. Nothing wrong with Manu in the 2^nd. Does a lot of things well at the 2. Love Jokic especially if you pair him with a defender, which Moses can do fairly well. Opens up so many other possibilities. Spoonman in the 4^th I don’t know about, especially for this team. He has creb over 30 which is nice and pretty good D. But I think you needed more here. Ingles is an intriguing player on his own, but that means Manu at the point? Or maybe a PG later, we’ll see. Some work to do here, feels a little off to me.
Summary: Cooper is interesting in the 6^th and I love Monroe as a bench usage guy, so nice grab there. A lot of good players here, but I just don’t see them fitting together to be successful enough.
Prediction: 35-40 wins; miss playoffs

Dh555: Larry Bird (1); Scottie Pippen (2); Bob McAdoo (3); Tree Rollins (4); Jamaal Tinsley (5): What’s not to like about the Legend. I grew up on Bird in New England, he’s my favorite. I’ve tried to build some winners around him but haven’t been successful. Kinoa won with Bird and Pippen a few seasons ago… speaking of which I love Pippen paired with Bird. Your options are wide open now. You have usage, 3’s, very good boards and assists and good D. Great flexibility. McAdoo is expensive, especially when paired with Bird and Pippen. Great big 3, but have to keep an eye on the money. Tree Rollins is not expensive, so there’s that. Good fit here, some boards, 100 D, good efg and doesn’t turn the ball over. Probably because he’s too busy fouling! A serious hack. Maybe pick up Danny Ainge late for a great team name? Tinsely is a little strange here. Cheap, which his good. Pretty good but not great D. You have to take one of his lower usage seasons so that his sub 45 efg isn’t taking shots away from the big 3.
Summary: Jason Terry is nice here and I think should minime what you need Tinsley to do. And I love that Montrezl Harrell season. I think your 6^th round made a big difference and pushed you over the top.
Prediction: 50-55 wins; Finals

Jackedjamie: Hakeem Olajuwon (1); Terry Porter (2); Ray Allen (3); Horace Grant (4); Wes Unseld (5): I think this is Jackedjamie so I’ll be gentle… pretty good team so far. Hakeem can be scary because of his cost and below average efg for a top notch player. And good not great rebounding. Wouldn’t be my choice, but not a bad pick. Terry Porter has been my pick very often, just not quite this high. It seems every draft he gets picked earlier and earlier. How long before he goes end of the 1^st!!! I talked about why I like Chris Paul so much earlier and you see much of that here with Porter. He does nothing wrong and is plus almost everywhere. Great player. I personally hate Ray Allen, hate UConn and hate that he choked for the Celtics in the finals against LA including a missed wide open layup. But those aren’t reasons to not pick him. He hits a ton of 3’s and chips in solid boards and assists. Pretty basic defensively, but a nice clean player. Love that Horace Grant season. Good fit here with the oreb, good D and great efg. Nice pick. I don’t know about Wes Unseld. I guess you go with the higher efg season and grab the assist bump, but you’ve got a pretty weak defensive team here even with Dreamy.
Summary: Charlie Ward is a popular grab late who is helpful off the bench and I like Jordan Bell, will have to park him away for future reference. Overall I want to like this team, there are pieces that can help you succeed. But historically it’s hard to win with Olajuwon running the show and getting significant contributions from Unseld and Ray Allen.
Prediction: 30-35 wins; miss playoffs

Clayolson1: Giannis Antetokounmpo (1); Artis Gilmore (2); John Wall (3); Kevin Willis (4); Patrick Ewing (5): The Freak is a just great. I can’t wait to see his current season in the sim. Gives you everything except 3 point shooting. Gilmore seems to have settled in to the 2^nd round and I like him better here. Can do a lot of things and score very efficiently. When I saw John Wall I decided to double check his stats before typing in a big YIKES. After checking them I realized HOLY YIKES! I think Clayolson is a new owner and I’m happy to have new blood in the ODL. Especially happy to have him picking right in front of me. Wall is just a bad pick as you’ll come to realize. Shoots way too much for a bad shooter and takes shots away from the Freak and Gilmore, who can score north of 60% efg. Turns it over a lot and he’s not that cheap. He does have pretty good D, so there’s that. Kevin Willis is back! An old staple when rebounds ruled the world. If you want that top rebounding season it comes at the cost of 48% efg around 22 usage. I can tell you at this point Gilmore will be getting ****** with all these clowns taking his shots. Someone may get pounded in practice. And then Ewing. Ewing is actually a pretty good pick here at this point in the draft, just not for this team. I don’t know how it works with Willis, Gilmore and Ewing. Not to mention some of the best Ewing seasons are ~ 98% eligible at PF. It will be interesting to see what shape this team takes to stay under budget.
Summary: Wayne Ellington shoots 3’s and World B. Free shoots too much. WbF is a fitting end to this team. I think you really missed an opportunity to crush it with your team name. “Usage Wins Championships!” “When in doubt, just shoot it”. “Just Shoot Me”. I’m not great with team names, but this writes itself. It’s never too early to start building your team around LeBron, Wilt or Stef with the 1^st pick in the next ODL. That’s what the exhibition seasons are for!
Prediction: 20-25 win; closer to 1^st gets you first!

Jcred5: John Stockton (1); Andre Drummond (2); Kyrie Irving (3); Alonzo Mourning (4); Jonas Valaniunas (5): I’ll try to be brief here, feel free to offer opinions. I have the idea of a plan that I used for the first time last season and that’s how I won it. It’s a fairly simple concept that I hope offers me some flexibility since better owners than me have said you shouldn’t have a plan and need to adjust to how the draft goes so you can take the best player/fit. Stockton fits and I’ve wanted to use him for a while. I like guards early. Drummond is earlier than I think is usual, but you guys took all the ones I was hoping for here like DeAndre, Gobert and Whiteside. So I took what I hope is the next best thing. I’ve wanted to try the new Kyrie season for a while and someone always grabs him right before me. I needed usage and didn’t want to risk waiting. Mourning was definitely not on my radar originally and a little pricier than I had wanted, but again needed the usage with some efficiency and D to cover Drummond. I love the Valanciunas season and as mentioned in a few evals, like take a great bench player in the 5^th instead of a 5^th starter. I have some work to do in the 6^th.
Summary: I went with SF’s late in David Lee and old reliable Kenneth Faried. I don’t like this team as much as last season, but I should remind myself I was unsure of that team too and it started the season like 3-7 and was .500 through 30-40 games before going on a tear. Think I will pay the price for waiting until the 3^rd and 4^th rounds to get my usage and while I like Drummond, too early in the 2^nd. I need to do better next time.
Prediction: 45-50 wins; playoffs

Mptrey: Dennis Rodman (1); Hassan Whiteside (2); Paul George (3), Troy Murphy (4); Derrick Rose (5): The expensive Rodman can be tough to build around because of his low usage, but he is so valuable with the rebounds at the SF you can make it work if you us the front court positions to add some diversity. Love Whiteside – he was on my board for an early 2^nd round pick. Great value here. Paul George’s recent seasons where he’s 52-53 efg are intriguing. Good D and a ton of 3’s. Clean player too with rebounds. Nice guy to have if you can find assists – which right now you definitely need. Troy Murphy won’t give you assists for sure, or defense. He does rebound Swen Nater style and of course gives you 3’s from the front court. You have Whiteside to cover him on D and 2 other good to great defenders – but you have no assists to speak of so far. I don’t get Derrick Rose here at all. I don’t think I see evidence that he’s going to be a sneaky bench player, so as you’re starting PG he has below average (for an ODL) ast% with 32.4 usage at 48.5 efg, taking shots away from every other player on your team who is far more efficient at scoring. I think this team is in trouble.
Summary: Varejo and Reggie Evans late because, ya know….. there’s a few rebounds Rodman and Whiteside might not get so you want to get those too. An interesting start to this team that went downhill fast. I always appreciate the creativity and trying something new, just don’t think this mix will get you very far.
Prediction: 30-35 wins, miss playoffs
Mid way: 56 wins, 1st Div

Midge: DeAndre Jordan (1); Kawhi Leonard (2); Bobby Jones (3); Kevin Love (4); Kirk Hinrich (5): Love DeAndre. Great start and a good guy to build around. I’m not a hug Kawhi fan. Mostly because you have to take him in the 2^nd round and unless he’s paired with a top notch PG, you’re now limiting your options because you need to grab assists. It’s not the end of the world, just not my preference. He does give fantastic D, good rebounds at the 2 and a couple of efficient scoring options at tier 2 or 3. Bobby Jones is in the same category for me as Kawhi – almost nothing wrong with his stats except he doesn’t pass or shoot 3’s. It can be done for sure, but on this team you are now desperate for assists and still need 3’s. Love gives the 3’s and with Jordan’s defense you can get buy, so nicely done there. He’s also a pretty clean player too. Your starting 5 is rounded out with Hinrich who I actually like a lot and think he is very undervalued in the ODL. I like him more than guys who go ahead of him like Derek Harper or Terrell Brandon. But I don’t love him for this team. I think you’re very low on assists. Great defensive team, maybe piece together bench assists to work into the rotation.
Summary: Added Brandon Rush and Jameer Nelson added in the 6^th, I like Nelson for this team. He’s a top notch PG who will bring assists and shooting from the bench. Rush is fine but not spectacular. For this team it ultimately comes down to whether you can score enough. Your D is excellent but you have pretty low usage and assists. If you go with Kevin Love’s top usage seasons you can get by, butyou’re your top offensive player is Kevin Love. You probably don’t have a ton of money left, but maybe enough to piece together some help from the bench.
Prediction: 45-50 wins; playoffs
Mid way: 42 win, playoffs

Uptowngbv: James Harden (1); Jason Kidd (2); Elton Brand (3); Amare Stoudemire (4); Buddy Hield (5): If you can put Harden around players who don’t turn the ball over at all, Harden can be intriguing. I would opt for the most recent better shooting and D version. A little light on minutes for a first rounder, but he makes up for it with sheer volume of shots (wait until the new season comes out!). Kidd is a great fit here and I like him better as a 2^nd rounder than a 1^st. Brand keeps the fit going as another low TO guy with great D. Same with Stoudemire – really like how this team is shaping up if you can put a defender next to Amare. Hield is a fun pick, I’d think behind Harden to put up 3’s when Harden slides to the 1. Definitely an interesting start to the team with some work to do in the 6^th round.
Summary: Ruland is fine I guess. There’s the TO’s but he scores and dishes in the FC which is nice. Not sure how much you needed that aspect. I guess you’re putting Julius Keye besides Amare to cover his defense. A strange pick for sure, his usage can be super low so don’t worry about the shooting. But he’s a pretty pedestrian player otherwise and I’d have thought you could do a bit better here. He is cheap.
Prediction: 40-45 wins; playoff bubble
Mid way: 38 wins, 5th in division

Ysw128: Kevin Garnett (1); Bill Walton (2); Derek Harper (3); Terrell Brandon (3); Maurice Cheeks (5): KG at SF is an absolute beast. You need to be careful with the money right off the bat. You need usage and need to pick your spots. Walton is a pretty good pair with Garnett, I love Walton. Might have looked for more usage here. Same is true with Derek Harper. If you have all your boxes checked already and want a guy who won’t mess anything up…. Harper’s your guy. But you don’t have that yet. You still need 3’s. And adding Terrell Brandon does help much with that and if I can jump right to the Cheeks pick, I’m pretty confused by this approach. More than enough assists and without checking the minutes you probably have a 3 man rotation set for the 1 and 2, just not enough 3’s. A 3 point shooting big man will help you a lot in the 6^th round.
Summary: Now this is a 6^th round I can get behind! Sabonis is a personal favorite that is worthy of a 5^th rounder. He pairs fantastically with Walton. Dedmon is another nice big man to keep KG at SF and not take up too much money. Nicely done in the 6^th. I had you on the bubble but now…
Prediction: 45-50 wins; playoffs
Mid way: 50 wins, tied 1st in division

6theluckyone: Rudy Gobert (1); Dwayne Wade (2); Rajon Rondo (3); Tom Boerwinkle (4); Paul Millsap(5): Rudy Gobert is another very good pick end of the 1^st and pairs well with Dwayne Wade. Nice D, usage set up. Need some 3’s and Rondo doesn’t do that. And it’s pretty early for Rondo. There were a lot of better options here in the 3^rd who shoot 3’s I would have gone with. Boerwinkle is great on the boards and obviously assists and doesn’t hurt you on D. And Paul Millsap is a really nice grab in the 5^th. The team is shaping up with great D, boards and assists. But you’ll need 3’s off the bench big time to keep your defenders out of the paint.
Summary: I like both Iguodala and Anderson. Anderson especially given what you need for 3’s. If you go with a more recent Millsap, the minutes aren’t too high, he shoots a few 3’s and allows you to use high minutes and more 3’s from Anderson. Iguodala is a very nice player if you don’t need the usage, which does concern me a little. Wade will take all the shots you need with the 1^st team, but who’s avoiding the penalty with the 2^nd team? I think that could hold you back.
Prediction: 40-45 wins; miss playoffs
Mid way: 36 wins last in division

isacqbs58: Tim Duncan (1); Magic Johnson (2); Dr. J (3); Clyde Drexler (4); Dennis Scott (5): Tim Duncan is a great value late in the first and pairs very well with Magic on the wrap around. Really good 1 to 2 combo to start, one of the best so far. It’s a shame Dr. J is falling this far. He’s a victim of not shooting 3’s and taking too many long 2’s (mid range shots). He’s also pretty pricey, but he’s D, rebounding and solid assists are great. Drexler in the 4^th is a head scratcher. Not a reach, but don’t like the fit at all. If you have the balls to go old school Doc with really high boards at the 3, hats off to you for trying. Otherwise you have an old school 2 with 3’s point shooting flaws (Doc) and then drafted a poor mans’ Dr. J. Neither are usually best suited at the 3, wasting their rebound advantage. I know I said you need 3’s and you must have though so too since you drafted Dennis Scott. He certainly solves that problem, but you now have a 3 headed SG/SF monster and no PF next to Duncan. You made Duncan and Magic sad ?
Summary: Manute Bol and Wayne Embry just don’t fit in this league I believe. Perhaps you were running into a serious minutes and money crunch. I think Embry has to start for you? That is frightening. If not you have Bol who will give blocks and D with terrible rebounding for a Center.
Prediction: Neck and Neck with clayson1 for the top pick. 25-30 wins; miss playoffs
Mid way: 20 wins, 2nd to worst in the league

Sweet, glad to have some extra reading. Going to start now. Thanks jcred5.

Team	Py Wins	Dreb%	Oreb%	Creb%	TS%	Opp TS%	eFG	Opp eFG	TS%Diff	Actual Wins	Actual minus Expected
Big Dipper on a Fur Coat	57.8	69.6%	30.6%	100.2%	58.4%	56.6%	56.1%	53.5%	1.8%	62	4.2
No Chance	53.0	70.2%	20.8%	91.0%	57.4%	53.6%	54.6%	50.4%	3.8%	51	-2.0
Born Again	50.5	73.8%	30.9%	104.7%	53.5%	55.4%	50.0%	52.6%	-1.8%	48	-2.5
Holiday in Cam-Powe-dia	48.2	70.4%	24.3%	94.6%	56.3%	54.7%	53.7%	51.6%	1.7%	48	-0.2
Ours Is The Fury	46.8	69.2%	24.3%	93.5%	57.5%	55.4%	54.0%	52.2%	2.2%	44	-2.8
Suck My Bird	46.2	66.7%	23.8%	90.5%	56.5%	54.8%	53.7%	51.2%	1.7%	46	-0.2
Captain Kyrie	45.3	69.1%	29.5%	98.6%	58.8%	58.8%	56.4%	55.6%	0.0%	47	1.7
Tune Squad	44.9	69.5%	26.7%	96.2%	55.6%	55.9%	52.4%	52.4%	-0.2%	42	-2.9
Big & Sexy	43.8	69.8%	24.4%	94.3%	58.3%	57.5%	56.1%	54.9%	0.8%	41	-2.8
Otto-matic	43.7	66.3%	20.2%	86.6%	59.7%	57.6%	57.0%	54.7%	2.1%	43	-0.7
All You Need Is Love	43.0	69.4%	20.6%	90.0%	56.8%	55.7%	53.3%	52.4%	1.1%	43	0.0
Ben Simmons 3 point shootout!	42.6	69.2%	24.7%	93.9%	59.1%	56.5%	56.6%	53.1%	2.6%	42	-0.6
Trust the Prophet	41.9	70.8%	27.7%	98.5%	57.6%	57.5%	53.9%	54.9%	0.2%	38	-3.9
Taking my Talents	41.9	69.4%	24.0%	93.4%	57.8%	57.9%	55.0%	55.0%	0.0%	43	1.1
That's All Folks	41.8	67.3%	20.9%	88.2%	55.6%	55.1%	52.0%	52.3%	0.5%	42	0.2
Sailing to Tibet	41.0	69.7%	25.3%	95.0%	56.3%	56.8%	53.0%	53.7%	-0.4%	38	-3.0
my committee of power fowards	40.9	69.5%	25.3%	94.8%	56.5%	56.7%	53.3%	53.1%	-0.2%	44	3.1
PennypackerWealthyIndustrialis	40.7	68.1%	29.5%	97.6%	55.8%	57.3%	52.1%	54.4%	-1.5%	43	2.3
Wade County	38.2	68.4%	24.7%	93.1%	55.1%	55.9%	52.2%	53.0%	-0.7%	34	-4.2
Bono's 1st Draft	37.8	67.6%	25.7%	93.3%	54.8%	55.6%	51.7%	52.4%	-0.8%	39	1.2
IDK	37.7	64.2%	23.9%	88.1%	57.1%	56.5%	53.3%	53.3%	0.6%	43	5.3
Pooh's Crew	26.3	68.0%	23.8%	91.8%	53.7%	54.6%	50.8%	51.6%	-0.8%	27	0.7
Medina Mudslides	21.6	66.7%	23.1%	89.8%	52.7%	56.4%	49.5%	53.2%	-3.8%	25	3.4
Charleston	11.6	68.6%	24.8%	93.4%	50.0%	59.1%	46.3%	56.1%	-9.2%	11	-0.6