SiriusXM Dynasty League Draft Update With Analysis: Rounds 2 – 6
Oct 16, 2012 Blog
Kay Adams will be on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tonight to talk fantasy sports, so tune in and give her some support. Kay is affiliated with a couple of the daily fantasy sites that I play on and is a great representative for the Daily Fantasy Sports Industry. It will be interesting to see if she mentions the growing Daily Fantasy Sports industry tonight during her appearance.
I posted last week about the first couple of rounds of the SiriusXM Dynasty League draft, which you can read here, and I have to say this is the slowest draft I’ve ever done. We’re now in round six. If you read the post from Thursday, you’ll remember that my first two picks were Marc Gasol and Dwyane Wade. I like posting these updates as the draft progresses so that you guys can get my entire thought process and planning strategy as it occurs rather than just a recap after all the action is done. Here’s what’s transpired since then:
Remainder of Round 2
Matt Deutsch SiriusXM Fantasy Sports RadioIguodala, Andre SF DEN
Tom Lorenzo-Damn Lies & StatisticsIbaka, Serge PF OKC
Andrew Feingold -RotoExperts.comGasol, Pau PF LAL
Tony Cincotta-SiriusXMCurry, Stephen PG GS
Kyle McKeown -RotowireWall, John PG WAS
Corey ParsonGay, Rudy SF MEM
Some real gambling going on in the second round with Serge Ibaka, Stephen Curry and John Wall. I’m not a huge Ibaka fan. Yes, the blocks are nice, but he’s definitely weak in most of the other categories and sometimes hitching your team to a one category player can be a disaster, especially if that player gets hurt. John Wall is out for the first month, maybe more, with a patella tendon injury. Stephen Curry is still dealing with chronic ankle problems that can flare up without warning. Not what you want from your second round pick in a 16 team league.
Round 3
Corey ParsonEllis, Monta SG MIL
Kyle McKeown -RotowireLillard, Damian PG POR
Tony Cincotta-SiriusXMDragic, Goran PG PHO
Andrew Feingold -RotoExperts.comGeorge, Paul SG IND
Tom Lorenzo-Damn Lies & StatisticsHorford, Al C ATL
Matt Deutsch SiriusXM Fantasy Sports RadioGortat, Marcin C PHO
Dustin Swedleson- College Sports NationHoliday, Jrue PG PHI
Adam Ronis -Rotoexperts.comLowry, Kyle PG TOR
Rich Wilson- Prospect361.comNowitzki, Dirk PF DAL
Jeff Andriese Damn Lies & StatisticsBatum, Nicolas SF POR
Justin Fensterman- SiriusXM Fantasy Sports RadioHibbert, Roy C IND
Charlie ZegersRose, Derrick PG CHI
Nick Raducanu-FantasyTrade411Parker, Tony PG SA
Drew Dinkmeyer- Fantistics.comNoah, Joakim C CHI
Allen Tippy – FantasyBasketballDaily.comConley, Mike PG MEM
Ethan Haskell- RotogrindersGranger, Danny SF IND
With Wade and Marc Gasol already locked up, I had my eye on a point guard to cover the the ‘small stats’ of assists, steals and threes. The third round saw 6 point guards go off the board before it got to me, in addition to the 12 point guards that went off in the first two rounds, so the pickings were pretty slim. With 18 PG’s off the board, I was thrilled to get Mike Conley, as he offers exactly what I was looking for with 1 three, 6 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Conley was second in the league in steals in 2012, second only to Chris Paul. His 13 points on 43.3% shooting aren’t too bad and I’ll definitely take the 77.5 career FT%. After selecting Conley, I now need to get some scoring and threes.
Picks I didn’t like in Round 3: Nic Batum, Paul George, Dirk Nowitzki and Damian Lillard. I think the ‘dynasty factor’ pushed these guys too far up on the draft board and made them really expensive gambles. Things are going to have to go perfectly for these players to justify their high selection, especially with established guys still available. The Nowitzki pick is just scary given his knee injury.
Round 4
Ethan Haskell- RotogrindersBargnani, Andrea C TOR
Allen Tippy – FantasyBasketballDaily.comPierce, Paul SF BOS
Drew Dinkmeyer- Fantistics.comAnderson, Ryan PF NO
Nick Raducanu-FantasyTrade411Millsap, Paul PF UTA
Charlie ZegersEvans, Tyreke PG SAC
Justin Fensterman- SiriusXM Fantasy Sports RadioKidd-Gilchrist, Michael SF CHA
Jeff Andriese Damn Lies & StatisticsThompson, Klay SG GS
Rich Wilson- Prospect361.comStoudemire, Amar’e PF NY
Adam Ronis -Rotoexperts.comIlyasova, Ersan PF MIL
Dustin Swedleson- College Sports NationJohnson, Joe SG BKN
Matt Deutsch SiriusXM Fantasy Sports RadioLopez, Brook C BKN
Tom Lorenzo-Damn Lies & StatisticsThornton, Marcus PG SAC
Andrew Feingold -RotoExperts.comBosh, Chris PF MIA
Tony Cincotta-SiriusXMRandolph, Zach PF MEM
Kyle McKeown -RotowireRubio, Ricky PG MIN
Corey ParsonTurner, Evan SG PHI38 min 18 sec
I had Danny Granger all lined up to bolster my teams three point shooting, but like most good plans, it didn’t happen. Granger went to the team drafting behind me on the turn, so on to plan B. Maybe I could add some scoring and threes from a non-traditional spot at center. Andrea Bargnani, gone with the next pick. On to plan C. Paul Pierce was still there, but in a dynasty league I just didn’t want to take him at 35 years old, but the need for scoring and threes was pretty desperate and I hit the draft button. I like Pierce and I think he’ll go for 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1.5 threes, but next season he could be a problem. One thing I do like about Pierce though is his game could become more perimeter oriented as he ages, which helps me in three pointers for the future. I also considered Ryan Anderson here, but I’m down on Anderson and just don’t think he’s going to get anywhere close to last season’s production. Paul Millsap also crossed my mind, but his contract status and the presence of Derrick Favors concern me and his lack of three point shooting didn’t help me either. I’ve used up my one free ‘old man’ pass on Pierce, so I’m probably not looking to draft anyone else over the age of 30 in this dynasty league setup.
Picks I didn’t like in Round 4: Evan Turner and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Turner just doesn’t have it and now he’s got to compete with a couple of similar players in Dorell Wright and Thaddeus Young at SF. He’s also fourth in the backcourt rotation behind Holiday, Richardson and Young. MKG is an ok pick I guess, but it seems like a really expensive gamble this early in the draft when guys like Chris Bosh, Brook Lopez, Amare Stoudemire, Zach Randolph and Danilo Gallinari were still out there at the forward spot.
Round 5
Corey ParsonFaried, Kenneth PF DEN
Kyle McKeown -RotowireMcGee, JaVale C DEN
Tony Cincotta-SiriusXMScola, Luis PF PHO
Andrew Feingold -RotoExperts.comMatthews, Wesley SG POR
Tom Lorenzo-Damn Lies & StatisticsMayo, O.J. SG DAL
Drew Dinkmeyer- Fantistics.comTeague, Jeff PG ATL
Dustin Swedleson- College Sports Nation*Felton, Raymond PG NY
Adam Ronis -Rotoexperts.comGallinari, Danilo SF DEN
Rich Wilson- Prospect361.comWilliams, Mo PG UTA
Jeff Andriese Damn Lies & StatisticsGarnett, Kevin C BOS
Justin Fensterman- SiriusXM Fantasy Sports RadioHumphries, Kris PF BKN
Charlie ZegersGordon, Eric SG NO
Nick Raducanu-FantasyTrade411Collison, Darren PG DAL
Matt Deutsch SiriusXM Fantasy Sports RadioKnight, Brandon PG DET
Allen Tippy – FantasyBasketballDaily.comDeng, Luol SF CHI
Ethan Haskell- RotogrindersWalker, Kemba SG CHA
I have to say that the player I wanted, Luol Deng, actually fell to me in this round, and that hardly ever seems to happen. I had Deng queued up first and Danilo Gallinari second to add a ‘small stat, big stat’ combo type player for points, threes, rebounds and steals. Every mention of Deng seems to be about his wrist problem and how it’s going to kill his shooting percentage, but I’m not really sold on that arugment. First, if you go back and look at last season’s game log, Deng hurt his wrist at the end of January. He was already shooting about 41% up to that point anyway, so maybe he was already slumping before the injury. When he returned, he finished the season around 41%, so his shooting didn’t really get worse after the injury. You would think that the worst shooting would occur nearer to the injury and the further away we get from it, and the more time it has to heal, the better his shooting will get. Also, Deng had this same injury to his right wrist during his rookie season, so it’s an easily correctable situation, which makes me feel confident about his value for the next couple of years. All reports have the wrist doing just fine, so the only concern I have is that the Bulls fall out of the race and Deng sits the last month or so to finally get the surgery.
Picks I didn’t like in Round 5: JaVale McGee is in a logjam in Denver and I don’t think he gets more than 25-27 minutes a game. Eric Gordon has an injury, and an attitude problem, neither of which help the other. Kevin Garnett has two years at most left in the NBA, which isn’t what you want in a dynasty league, but I can’t really criticize since I did the same thing with Paul Pierce.
Round 6
Ethan Haskell- RotogrindersAfflalo, Arron SG ORL
Allen Tippy – FantasyBasketballDaily.comPekovic, Nikola C MIN
Drew Dinkmeyer- Fantistics.comChandler, Tyson C NY
At this point, I’ve filled both guard spots and both forward spots and one of my center spots, now I need to fill my remaining center spot. With 28 picks before I get to draft again, there won’t be anything left on the center board by the time it gets back to me. I’ve just selected Luol Deng and his 41% FG shooting, so now I definitely need someone to offset that. It’s a choice between Tyson Chandler and Nikola Pekovic. Chandler had an insane 67.9 FG% last season, but he only got 5.7 shots per game. Pekovic shot 56.4% on nearly twice as many attempts. I’ll take the volume at 56.4%. Pekovic is also just 26 years old with room to grow, while Chandler is 30 and his ceiling is pretty well capped. While I’d like to have Chandler’s blocks, if you’ll remember I set this up earlier in the draft by taking Dwyane Wade and his shotblocking from the guard spot, so now I don’t have to let blocks rule my choice at center. Even though Pekovic will only get 1 block per game, he should get 15 points a night with excellent percentages from the field and free throw line. I think Drew had the same needs as me, as he selected Chandler with the very next pick. I’m now pretty certain that the cupboard is going to be very bare at center when the draft returns to me.
At this point, I need 1 G/F, 1 F/C and 2 G/F/C utility players, therefore my roster positional needs are very flexible and I can simply go for the best talent left on the board. Here’s my roster as it currently stands with last seasons stats:
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl Blk TO FGA FG% FTA FT% 3PA
G Wade 22.1 4.8 4.6 1.7 1.3 2.6 17.1 49.7 6.1 79.1 1.1
G Conley 12.7 2.5 6.5 2.2 .2 2.0 11.0 43.3 2.5 86.1 2.6
F Pierce 19.4 5.2 4.5 1.1 .4 2.8 14.6 44.3 5.6 85.2 4.5
F Deng 15.3 6.5 2.9 1.0 .7 1.8 14.0 41.2 3.1 77.0 4.0
C M. Gasol 14.6 8.9 3.1 1.0 1.9 1.9 11.4 48.2 4.9 74.8 0.0
C Pekovic 13.9 7.4 .7 .6 .7 1.9 9.7 56.4 4.0 74.3 0.0