Doctor MJ wrote:O_6 wrote:I know it's a weird question but do you guys take into account the personalities of players?
Like would you draft Player A who you feel is a lesser on-court value for your team than Player B, if you thought Player A was a much better teammate?
Yup, just like in real life.
There are justifications you can make in a project like this that help - "Player X took issue with his role on Team A, but on this team with Players Y and Z, he'd accept his place in the pecking order" - and from there it's really up to what the voters decide, but I try to think about the vibe I'm creating on my team.
Quoting myself here because I just now drafted Sheed, and that's clearly an example of this.
Sheed's personality is complex and it means that not every team should acquire him. He's very emotional, and that can be destructive, but can also galvanize a group of guys like nothing else.
What's useful to be able to recognize about Sheed is that his troublesome areas are not about failing to achieve the impact in line with his star talent, but in the pressures that come from having everything riding on his shoulders. He ends up resenting it, and then lashing out in very public ways...but also ways that tend to be directed "up" rather than "down". He has made the comparison between being an NBA player and being a slave, and while we can scoff at that, the literal truth or non-truth of the statement is irrelevant to understanding him. That's how he feels when guys in suits tell him what do do.
But put him on a team that already has leadership and a strong culture, and let's him have positive/wacky emotional outlets, and he doesn't get jealous of his teammates, he joins in.
I've put him on a team with
1. The single most mature, humble, joyful, and selfless offensive alpha (Nash) in NBA history, who also happens to be great at forming relationships that make others feel appreciated.
2. An unreal talent (Embiid) that will leave everyone on the team saying "Wow, that guy should be an MVP". That unreal talent is young and immature in some ways, but is already buddies with offensive alpha, and is himself pretty wacky.
3. A guy who just seems himself as a role player despite having enormous talents who focuses on just doing the things that his team needs and tends to be seen as utterly adorable by teammates, staff, and fans alike.
I'm betting that in this context this will take the pressure off of Sheed and he'll be able to thrive.
There is a non-zero possibility that he and the unreal talent will have some conflict together and this is something it would make sense to consider attacking if you're my opponent. One aspect of that would be Embiid's apparent struggle with Al Horford to fit together. If Embiid & Sheed can't fit, they each have immaturity that could bounce off each other.
But I think that most of the problem with Philly is that they just don't have enough shooting, and the problem with Horford is likely that he's just getting old. Sheed previously proved that he worked fantastically with a shot-blocking interior presence on defense, and he'd be quite content taking on a mostly-role-player level of responsibility on offense.
