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Hey all,

I have my first fantasy basketball draft tonight and I am looking for some advice. It is a yahoo 10 team head-to-head league with the categories as follows:

Field Goals Made (FGM), Field Goal Percentage (FG%), Free Throws Made (FTM), Free Throw Percentage (FT%), 3-point Shots Made (3PTM), Points Scored (PTS), Total Rebounds (REB), Assists (AST), Steals (ST), Blocked Shots (BLK), Turnovers (TO)

The line ups look like:

PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, Util, Util, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN

I have been doing some research and mock drafts and am leaning towards being PG heavy. The draft order is not set yet but I would like to take Rose with my first pick, 1 because I am a homer and 2 because I think he will have another great season. I would love to have a PG/SG start as my SG I am thinking Ellis (round 2) or Felton (round 3 or 4) if I can get value on one of them. LMA or Horford may be a better pick in round 2 over Ellis though. I like Teague as a later round 3rd guard maybe even Douglas, Jack, Bayless or George Hill depending on how the draft flows.

I am also thinking going heavy with centers (PF, C’s starting in the PF and possible F sports) to make up for the lower FG% form PGs. I am high on Nene and Jordan (I may consider even reaching a little to get him), LMA, Horford and Noah.

For wing players I am leaning towards Gallo, Deng, Diaw (due to his assists and 3s). For later round wings I am thinking Neal, Hayward, Meeks, Henderson or Paul George.

Clearly I am a little unsure here as it is my first basketball league so any advice would be much appreciated! I can post my roster post after the draft tonight too.

Looking forward to reading some responses.

you have the right ideas.

Thanks Apathy, good to know my heads in the right place. I have read some of your responses in other threads and you seem to have good advice.

Any players you recommend me staying away from for the various positions?

I think the most important thing in any draft is not to be locked in to anything before you start the draft. Take value when it's there. Recognize when it's best to reinforce a strength, when to bolster a weakness, and when all hope is lost in a category.

For instance, if your first three rounds just happen to be Dwight, Blake, and Josh Smith, at that point it probably makes sense to dump assists, FT%, and 3PTM, and instead focus on PTS, REB, BLK, STL, and FG%, with TOV in the back of your mind. Why? Because with those first three picks you already have a huge strength in those latter categories, and it will be all but impossible to make up for to former categories.

GSHBull wrote:Thanks Apathy, good to know my heads in the right place. I have read some of your responses in other threads and you seem to have good advice.

Any players you recommend me staying away from for the various positions?

ty and yw

quoting myself:

Blake Griffin: Player Rater: 51st. ADP: 14th.
John Wall Player Rater: 63rd.ADP: 17th.
Eric Gordon: Player Rater: 77th. ADP: 24th.
Zach Randolph: Player Rater: 43rd. ADP: 26th.
Gerald Wallace: Player Rater: 55th. ADP: 37th.
Andrea Bargnani: Player Rater: 90th. ADP: 52nd.
Brandon Jennings: Player Rater: 108th. ADP: 57th.

Who else:

Caron Butler, Jamal Crawford, Corey Maggette, Richard Hamilton, Stephen Jackson, Jimmer Fredette: Prime examples of how scoring is overrated.

David West, Derrick Williams, Tyreke Evans, and DeMarcus Cousins pretty much round it out. DeMar DeRozan.

So I had my draft tonight, it ended up getting pushed back a day. Here are the results:

1. (8) Russell Westbrook PG
2. (13) Deron Williams PG
3. (28) Rudy Gay SF,PF
4. (33) Serge Ibaka PF,C
5. (48) Raymond Felton PG,SG
6. (53) Ty Lawson PG
7. (68) JaVale McGee PF,C
8. (73) Wesley Matthews SG,SF
9. (88) Boris Diaw SF,PF
10. (93) Emeka Okafor C
11. (108) Paul George SG,SF
12. (113) Thaddeus Young SF,PF
13. (128) Glen Davis PF,C
14. (133) Jerryd Bayless PG,SG

I had a couple issues with my internet freezing for a second while I was on the clock and it auto picked Deron, Lawson, and Matthews for me, which I think is OK. I wasn't sure if I should pick Rudy Gay but I thought it was a good value at 28.

What do you guys think? Any players I should look to trade or target? I am thinking to put Lawson on the block and see if i get any offers.

what's your definition of good value?

to me it's at least 10 picks after where he should go. great value is 20+ picks. i think gay is faaar from alock to be a top 20 player and loses points for being a position that's not in demand. kobe/melo/AI/granger/gay are, in general, absurdly overrated because rayray/pierce/joe johnson/gallo give you better value

i dunno why people keep asking people to evaluate their rosters when they dont give the most important info: the categories.

you did a mediocre job drafting tbh. there's no excuse to have such terrible flexibility drafting this close to the season start date. it's unfortunate that trading one of wstbrook/d-will is the most convenient avenue for improvement.

if your league counts TOs your team isn't so hot.

you dont need more than 3 PGs.

Thanks for the input. The categories of my league are in my original post. Both Williams and Lawson were auto picked when I lost connection while on the clock, I was targeting Gallo but felt it 28 was too high for him. Do you think I should try and deal a PG for a big man or a wing player? A Gallo or Marc Gasol, maybe?

you start nine so


1. (8) Russell Westbrook PG
2. (13) Deron Williams PG
3. (28) Rudy Gay SF,PF
4. (33) Serge Ibaka PF,C
5. (48) Raymond Felton PG,SG
6. (53) Ty Lawson PG
7. (68) JaVale McGee PF,C
8. (73) Wesley Matthews SG,SF
9. (88) Boris Diaw SF,PF

is your best by far.

from that you need another big. diaw gives you an assist cushion but you need boards desperately. you don't need blocks as long as you have gay/diaw/mcgee/iblaka.

target carlos boozer. felton for boozer.

that'd be perfect and from there i'd like your team.

then your problem would be okafor, who's an uninspiring big but prolly the best you're gonna do with the 93rd pick as far as bigs go. i woulda preferred deandre jordan but he was probably gone. you don't need bayless or young and they should be dropped for upside.

Here is a trade I am working on.

I offered Lawson and Okafor for Boozer and Jordan. He was interested but didn’t like it enough.

I am thinking to counter with Felton, Okafor and Davis for Boozer, Jordan and Meeks. What do you think, should I go for Hibbert over Jordan?

I like Felton over Lawson so I am not sure, even more so now with Lawson’s ankle. He keeps asking about Deron or Russell saying anyone on his team is available.

His roster is:

1. (7) Dwyane Wade
(Mia - PG,SG)
2. (14) Amar'e Stoudemire
(NY - PF,C)
3. (27) Rajon Rondo
(Bos - PG)
4. (34) Kevin Martin
(Hou - SG)
5. (47) Tyreke Evans
(Sac - PG,SG)
6. (54) Roy Hibbert
(Ind - C)
7. (67) Carlos Boozer
(Chi - PF,C)
8. (74) DeAndre Jordan
(LAC - PF,C)
9. (87) Antawn Jamison
(Cle - SF,PF)
10. (94) Chris Kaman
(NO - C)
11. (107) Corey Maggette
(Cha - SF,PF)
12. (114) Jodie Meeks
(Phi - SG)
13. (127) Kemba Walker
(Cha - PG,SG)
14. (134) Shawn Marion
(Dal - SF,PF)

youre getting greedy. just take what you need and keep it moving. people aren't stupid. the person with boozer/jordan knows enough to like those guys, and probably likes them a lot. when he says he doesn't like it enough you're just insulting him by adding davis for meeks, esp considering meeks is BETTER than davis.

jesus your squad is desperate for 3s. and you don't need jordan's blocks. forget about trading for him.

felton for boozer. lawson for boozer. whatever. both of their upsides are overstated, imo, but i like lawson's upside a lot more than felton's because denver runs and portland does not.

trading deron or russell is not a bad idea ebcause you seriously need 3s. too bad his team isn't compatible.

stop trying to get caught up in finding the perfect deal. as soon as boozer plays and goes off you're gonna find it impossible to deal for him. if he rejects felton for boozer then devise something else up. he'll prob reject cuz he needs boozer more than felton. so find another trade.

maybe package felton/matthews for gallo/whatever.

So here is the deal I made. I traded Felton, Big Baby and Thad for Greg Monroe and Jason Terry. How do you think I made out?

Another guy offered me Felton and Okafor for Hibbert or Kamon and Meeks or Kemba (this guy also has boozer and would not do Felton for Booz straight up). I went with the Monroe deal as I feel him and Hibbert are kind of a wash, Terry > Meeks and I get to keep Okafor.

I also dropped Bayless for Favors. The guy I traded with had to drop Jamal Crawford as a part of the deal so I am either going to pick him up Gary Neal, Ryan Anderson, Casspi, Wes Johnson, James Johnson or DeJuan Blair when the trade goes through to fill my empty roster spot. Who do you think would help my roster the most out of those guys?

I will be very satisfied with my roster after all of this.

Man I have already having more fun with this than fantasy football and the games have not even started yet

perfect deal. congrats. major rip-off

out of the dudes you mentioned ryan anderson, blair and JJ stick out.

pg: westbrook, d-will, lawson
sg/sf: gay, terry, matthews
pf/c: ibaka, monroe, mcgee, diaw

that's a damn good team. you may have just barely enough 3s to get a 6 in em. keep an eye on blair. too bad you cant grab okur, he'd be near-perfect. i'd grab anderson, wait and see if blair/JJ have a big game or two and not be shy about making the change; anderson fits your team better but has much lower upside

Good to hear I did well, I take it you like the deal I chose compared to the other one then?

Okur is actually available, should I snag him up after the trades goes through?

yes and yes. cross your fingers

I was offered LMA and Davit West for Deron and Gay. I thought this was an awful deal so I declined. I am thinking of countering with Deron and Okafor for LMA and Holiday. I don't think he would accept this but if he did what would you think of the deal? He may do it for one of my better bigs (Monroe, Ibaka or McGee). I am not sure if a deal with one of those three over Okafor would still be worthwhile.

he's not gonna accept it. deron and LMA are about equal. i dont wanna eff with david west. each of the bigs u mentioned i like more than west

So I have put Deron on the block to field some offers. One offer was J-Rich, Bargs and Scola for Deron and Okafor (I feel this offer is really insulting). I countered with Ellis and Bargs for Deron and Okafor.

What would you think of this as a deal?

I need some scoring so I think Bargs would fit nice as I would have Monroe, McGee and Ibaka still so I will be ok with boards and blocks. I am thinking he will not like this offer judging by his first offer. If this is the case what would you think about me trading Deron and one of Monroe, McGee or Ibaka for Bargs and Ellis? How would you value those 3 bigs of mine?

Avoid Bargs. he's awful.