Fantasy Basketball Mock Draft Recap
Aug 30, 2010 Blog
I participated in my first mock draft of the season last Thursday night and I figured I’d post the roster and explain some of the picks. I showed up at the last minute to the draft, so someone had the comedic idea to assign me the draft name ‘Fantasy god’ before I got there. Not funny guys. Thanks again to Jason at fBasketballBlog.com for setting it up. You can check out Jason’s review of the entire draft at fBasketballBlog.com. Henry at WeaksideHelp.com also posted a review of the draft and his roster selections.
The roster settings were 3 starting guards, 3 starting forwards, 2 starting centers, 2 utility players and 4 bench spots. I was assigned the number 7 draft slot. It’s also important to note that this is a H2H league setup. Here are the entire draft results.
Round 1
With my first pick at number 7, I was lucky enough to grab a stud point guard in Deron Williams. Williams is my number one ranked point guard this year and I’m thrilled to have his assists, points and threes. Round 1 picks that I didn’t like: Pau Gasol at number 4 and Stephen Curry at number 9. Just way too early for both players.
Round 2
First, let me say that on the day of the draft I had only done rankings for PG, SG and SF, so I wasn’t very sharp with my PF and C knowledge. I took Carmelo Anthony with my second round pick because the SF pool is a little thin this year. It didn’t dawn on me until about round 5 that were were just drafting forwards, not separating them into PF and SF. I’m still happy with Carmelo though since he was my number 3 ranked SF. Round 2 picks I liked: Tyreke Evans at #19, Amare Stoudemire at #17. Picks I didn’t like: David Lee at #12. The Lee pick isn’t horrible, but I like Amare a little better than Lee this year.
Round 3
Somehow Monta Ellis was still available and I snatched him up to pair with Deron Williams. His 2.2 steals per game added to Williams 1.3 steals should help me in that category. At this point I’m pretty much punting the turnover category though. Picks I liked: Joe Johnson at #25 and Russell Westbrook at #26. I had both of those players queued up to take. Picks I didn’t like: Al Horford at #30. Just a little too early for him.
Round 4
With Williams, Melo and Monta, I’m now in the market for a big man. Tim Duncan is still there and he has Center eligibility. I’m not sure I would have taken him without the center eligibility, but I’m happy to plug him in at center. Picks I liked: Carlos Boozer at #31, Derrick Rose at #36. I would have taken Rose here, but I’ve already filled two of my three guard spots. Picks I didn’t like: Andrew Bogut at #35. His elbow injury just scares me and he might not be ready for the season.
Round 5
I’m still looking for another big man in round five and I grab Joakim Noah to plug in to my other center spot beside Tim Duncan. He should be a rebounding machine this season. No favorite picks in round 5. Picks I didn’t like: Nene at #43 (injury concerns), Darren Collison at #48 (too inexperienced, especially with guys like Mayo, Kevin Martin, Jennings and Brooks still on the board), Raymond Felton at #49 (he’s Raymond Felton).
Round 6
After selecting Duncan and Noah, I saw LaMarcus Aldridge sitting there with Forward and Center eligibility and I just couldn’t resist. Now I’ve got three guys who can play center, so I don’t have to worry about the position for the rest of the draft and I can concentrate on finding guards and forwards. It’s comforting not getting stuck with a really terrible center, and now I’ve got two good ones and a competent backup in case someone gets injured. The multiple position eligibility also provides me with a lot of flexibility for the rest of the draft. Picks I liked: O.J. Mayo at #62. I really wanted Mayo here, but Henry from WeaksideHelp.com stole him from me, even after he questioned my ranking of him on my SG board, haha. Picks I didn’t like: Kevin Garnett at #63. Garnett won’t see 30 minutes a game this year.
Round 7
At this point I’ve got 2 guards, 2 centers and 2 forwards (one of which can go at center), so I’m looking for a forward. I grabbed the underappreciated Luol Deng. Solid scoring and rebounding, and he has guard eligibility too. Picks I liked: Yao Ming at #69 and Aaron Brooks at #70. If you are going to gamble, Ming is a great lottery ticket. Picks I didn’t like: Rashard Lewis at #66. He’s just a three point specialist these days.
Round 8
My roster is evened out now, so I’m looking for an upside gamble to fill a spot. I selected Gilbert Arenas. Arenas was playing huge before the gun incident and he’s had a lot of time to rest and heal those nagging knees. I think it’s a good gamble and it fills my last starting guard spot, but now I’m probably going to have to select a backup guard, just in case he flakes out on me again. Picks I liked: Eric Gordon at #75 was excellent. Picks I didn’t like: Blake Griffin at #72 (just too big of a gamble for me), Anthony Morrow at #73 (he’s probably going to be just a three point specialist) and Jason Terry at #80 (not enough playing time).
Round 9
I’m still thinking about the Arenas pick and getting a backup guard as insurance is my primary concern. Tony Parker is still out there and I take him in round 9. Pretty good value and it lessens the anxiety of Arenas flaking out on me. At least I have a solid backup in Parker. Picks I liked: J.J. Hickson (He could be a monster this year) and Chris Kaman (excellent value at center in the 9th round, especially if he can repeat his first half performance from 2009). Picks I didn’t like: Carl Landry (the forward spot for the Kings is really crowded).
Round 10
The starting roster is pretty complete so it’s time to pick up some solid bench players with some upside possibilities. I selected the very disappointing Elton Brand in hope that a new head coach and new offensive system can get him going again. We’ll see. Picks I liked: Al Harrington at #95 (had I been more prepared and done my PF rankings, I would have gone with Harrington over Brand), Ray Allen at #96 (great threes and percentages) and Andre Miller at #99 (just a solid value pick).
Round 11
It’s at this point where I realize it’s two months before the season starts and I’m really not that prepared. I’m scouring the remaining players and take Andris Biedrins. Yuck. Just horrible. I should have gone with Emeka Okafor at least. Oh well, at least this convinces me that it’s definitely time to get those PF and C rankings done. Picks I liked: Terrence Williams at #103 and Josh Childress at #108.
Round 12
Emeka Okafor is still around and I take him, so I’m set with big men for sure. Picks I liked: Corey Maggette at #120 (great scoring and free throws). Picks I didn’t like: It’s hard to really criticize anything beyond round 11.
Round 13
I needed a guard here and totally blew it by selecting Shawn Marion. Mike Miller was still out there and I just missed it. Picks I liked: Mike Miller at #130 (Miller is going to play big minutes and his rebound totals will be insane for a guard).
Round 14
I needed another guard and took Wilson Chandler. If it were a real draft, I’d probably be cutting Chandler for the first promising thing that I could find on the waiver wire.
Complete Roster:
G Deron Williams
G Monta Ellis
G Gilbert Arenas
F Carmelo Anthony
F Luol Deng
F LaMarcus Aldridge
C Tim Duncan
C Joakim Noah
U Tony Parker
U Elton Brand
Bench Andris Biedrins
Bench Emeka Okafor
Bench Wilson Chandler
Bench Shawn Marion