My Fantasy Basketball Team
Every year, I play fantasy basketball and, since I typically do well, I decided last year to share my team prior to drafting. I opted to do the same again this year.
Last year, I ended up finishing 3rd (the first
time I didn’t finish in the top 2 of my league). I had a few riskier picks that didn’t work as
well as I hoped (most notably Kelly Oubre in the 5th round), but
most notably ran into trouble when Anthony Davis, my first-round pick, missed
substantial time due to injury.
This year, my draft felt safer than mine in other years, but
I think it is overall a solid draft.
Here is my current team.
1st round (8th pick): Damian Lillard, POR, PG
This was a no-brainer for me. Lillard is an elite scorer who is a strong
shooter and is a solid distributor. He
is also rarely injured, which makes it even more perfect. The only players I would have taken before
him (in no particular order) are Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka
Doncic, and James Harden, and all were taken prior.
2nd round (13th pick): Nikola Vucevic, CHI, C
I was considering between Bradley Beal and Nikola Vucevic
here. I went with Vucevic since he is vaccinated,
and Beal is not at this time. Vucevic’s
role in Chicago might be a bit dicey at times while they work out how he fits
with Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, but he can shoot, rebound, pass, and finish
as a big man, so that’s what I try to look for at center in the early
rounds. I also considered going way out
there and drafting Domantas Sabonis or Bam Adebayo, but I liked Vucevic’s
scoring potential more than Sabonis’ and I thought Adebayo would be available
when I next drafted.
3rd round (28th pick): Julius Randle, NYK, PF
Well, Adebayo was drafted 3 picks prior to me picking here. I considered taking either Devin Booker,
Khris Middleton, or Tobias Harris, but I went with Randle here due to
upside. While I don’t think he will be
the playmaker he was last year with Kemba Walker now on the team, he will still
pick up some assists and will still play hard on both ends, so the upside was
enticing enough for me to take what I consider a slight risk.
4th round (33rd pick): Devin Booker, PHO, SG
Booker, Middleton, and Harris were all still available here,
which surprised me a bit, but I wasn’t going to complain. I was going to take Harris since I thought
his upside was higher if Ben Simmons didn’t play, but I wasn’t sure how it
would go without Simmons’ playmaking ability.
I ultimately went with Booker over Middleton because I think there will
be points where Booker is the best offensive player for Phoenix where Middleton
will always have Giannis Antetokounmpo as a teammate.
5th round (48th pick): Terry Rozier, CHO, PG/SG
At this point, everybody I expected to be drafted already
had been selected, and there wasn’t anyone jumping out to me here that I couldn’t
take in the next round. I considered the
upside pick of Ben Simmons, but I went with Rozier instead because he is coming
off a year where he efficiently averaged over 20 PPG, numbers that could rise
as LaMelo Ball continues to improve as a playmaker (and if Gordon Hayward is
injured). I decided this was a high
floor pick here.
6th round (53rd pick): Collin Sexton, CLE, SG/PG
In a way, I wanted to go totally off the grid here and draft
someone like Jerami Grant, who wasn’t expected to go for another round or 2,
but I decided to debate between Sexton and Kyle Lowry. It wasn’t a long debate since I think Lowry
will take a step back this season and, most importantly, I don’t think Sexton
will be extended so he will try to score a lot to play for a massive
contract. I didn’t love this selection,
but I figured it’s worth the risk.
7th round (68th pick): Kyle Lowry, MIA, PG
Well, I can’t say I expected Lowry to be still available. I briefly considered Spencer Dinwiddie and
Chris Boucher, but opted against Dinwiddie since he’s coming off an injury and
against Boucher since I thought he would be available in the next round. Lowry is still able to score, shoot, pass,
and pick of some steals (though it would be more beneficial if forced turnovers
were a fantasy stat, since Lowry is great with forcing charges).
8th round (73rd pick): Chris Boucher, TOR, C/PF
I was debating for a bit between Boucher and Richaun
Holmes. Boucher is dealing with an
injury that will keep him out a few games (though it sounds like he is closer
to returning than I expected) which made me consider Holmes, but ultimately I
went with Boucher because he’s a better shooter. Boucher is a long athletic shot-blocker who
can shoot, rebound, and finish. I ended
up with him on my team last season (I think via free agency) and it was huge
for me.
9th round (88th pick): Mike Conley, UTA, PG
This pick is a risk given Conley’s injury history, both long-term
and recent (he only played 49 games last year).
Ultimately, I went with him because he can be a playmaker, scorer, and
shooter, but won’t have the best defender on him because Donovan Mitchell is
better. Since I hadn’t drafted a small
forward yet, I considered selecting Keldon Johnson (who I think will have a breakout
year this year) or Harrison Barnes (an immensely underrated player who would be
a nice late pick), but I thought both would still be available at my next pick.
10th round (93rd pick): Tim Hardaway Jr., DAL, SG/SF
Well, Harrison Barnes was drafted 91st and Keldon
Johnson was drafted 92nd, so that was a painful pill to swallow, knowing
I was one pick too late. At that point,
Devonte’ Graham briefly crossed my mind since I figure New Orleans will need
him to shoot well, but I needed a small forward, and I thought Hardaway was the
best fantasy option available. He was often
the second-best scorer for Dallas behind Luka Doncic, and I expect to see a lot
more of the same this year (you can probably guess how optimistic I am about
Kristaps Porzingis now).
11th round (108th pick): Mitchell Robinson, NYK, C
This was a difficult decision for a few reasons. First, I always draft Joe Ingles since his
shooting and passing ability tends to give at least 15 fantasy points a game
(which is nice considering I almost always draft him in the last round). I also considered taking the risk on Kyrie
Irving and keeping him on my injured list in case he gets vaccinated, but I’m
not optimistic that he will yet. I briefly
considered Jordan Clarkson due to his high volume scoring and improved
shooting, but I went with Robinson since he is a great shot blocker, rebounder,
and finisher. The risk here is that he
is oft injured, but I took Kevin Love last year around this time, so it can’t get
much worse than that.
12th round (113th pick): Jordan Clarkson, UTA, SG
I wasn’t expecting Clarkson to still be available (but I also
can’t say I was expecting the picks in between to go Kyrie Irving, Joe Ingles,
Evan Fournier, and Marvin Bagley III). I
went Clarkson here because he is a high-volume scorer who shot a lot of 3’s
last season, a trend that I expect him to not only maintain but increase.
13th round (128th pick): Mason Plumlee, CHO, C
I really wasn’t sure what to do here for a while, but
ultimately debated between Kyle Anderson and Mason Plumlee. Both give a nice blend of points, assists, and
rebounds, which I thought would be nice to have so late. Ultimately, I figured that Plumlee was more
likely to be Charlotte’s starting center than Kyle Anderson to be a starter for
Memphis, so I went with Plumlee.
Overall Analysis: I
don’t think this is the best team I’ve ever created, but I think this is a good
draft overall. My selections are more
reliant on scoring than I typically like, but I favored scorers who are also at
least good shooters in most of those cases.
I find my draft this year a bit boring and risk-free compared to other
drafts, but I think this team does have a descent floor at least. If enough works out, it also has a high
ceiling, which is what I’m hoping for by selecting several scorers.
What do you think about this team? Who are you looking to draft in fantasy this
year? Let me know in the comments!
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