flaco wrote:Fadeaway_J wrote:flaco wrote:I was targeting Luka at #7 despite his high FGA cost for the reason you just mentioned. Didn't expect Embiid to be available though. Luka-AD spaming the spread PnR are unguardable. The fit is optimal, but Fade had to make compromises in terms of talent with his subsequent picks. Talent-wise, he may have been better off with a star wing and a rim runner at the 5. I mean, db drafted his starting Center in the 8th round and I think he has the best team in the draft. The Center position was very deep. Unless you got Jokic/Embiid (MVP-level bigs, game changers), I don't think it was worth it taking a Center that early.
Haliburton in round 3 was an absolute steal. I consider him a top 10 player in the league, plus he's relatively cheap at 15.8 FGA. Still hate myself for passing up on him. I was kinda worried about the fit with Butler. Both of them are at their best with the ball in their hands. Haliburton can certainly play off the ball, but I wouldn't maximize his passing ability anymore which is his biggest strength.
I consider AD a game-changer, especially defensively. (Possibly a hot take: I'd pretty much always take him over Embiid, especially when you factor in FGA cost.) Rim-running bigs tend to have so-so impact against a well-prepared team.
He's certainly a game changer on D, but he relies on a ball handler to set him up on offense. To put it another way, he's a 2nd option on offense. For instance, the same goes for KG. Neither of them enjoyed team success as the #1 option. They won a ring when they weren't expected to carry the scoring load anymore. You got an elite creator in Luka, that's for sure. Thing is, most teams have two/three 1st options on their roster. It's up to the voters to decide whether their synergy is good enough to counter your optimal fit. It's the ever-present fit vs talent dilemma.
I’m always more on the fit side. Never mind any philosophical implications, I don’t find “let’s see how many stars I can squeeze onto this team” to be a particularly enjoyable way to build.
2 of my recent wins were teams that, to be honest, I didn’t love. They won because I had an extra star.
Thats how voting has been going though.
Fade and I saw our respective spread P/R teams (mine with Harden, his with Luka) flame out in round one without a single vote. They didn’t have enough star power despite both being pretty synergistic.