Your Draft Day Steals and Busts

[fudgie]

With a little more than two months into the season we now have a pretty good picture of what each player is doing this season. So looking back at the draft who are some of your steal and guys you drafted way too high. They don't have to be really good or really bad players, just good or bad relative to the position you drafted them at.

Steals:
Andris Biedrins (83rd)
14/12/2 with 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals. Also excellent FG%. The FT% suck but the volume isn't big enough that it's not something I can't manage. I drafted him higher in another league but obviously this one is the steal.

Jason Kidd (44th)
Yes he's terrible in points but he does get a lot of assists, steals, and rebounds. Also with 1.5 threes and a FG% which isn't as terrible as usual. With an ADP of 24.1 on ESPN, who can argue.



Busts:

Josh Smith (6th)
Took him in a head to head league in which I was experimenting with tanking FT%. The next pick was D-Wade. Not a terrible pick, but his production is down a little and he was injured for about a month.

Andre Iguodala (15th)
This was in the same league as Josh Smith. A clear reach over guys like Granger, Bosh, Jefferson, Carter, Johnson etc.

Samuel Dalembert (55th)
The same league as Smith and Iguodala (if you can't tell, I'm doing terrible in that one). The double-double with over two blocks per game from last season must have gone to my head because I not only took him above his ADP (82.6 on ESPN) but over players Devin Harris, Derrick Rose, Tony Parker, Ben Gordon, etc. Dalembert is only borderline ownable, easily my worst draft pick.

Manu Ginobili(32nd)
I had forgotten about his injury when I made this pick. Even without considering an injury, that's too high for 15/4/4. Passed up: Caron Butler, Kevin Martin, Jose Calderon, Pau Gasol.

[-[P]-]

Steals:
Nene Hilario (105)
He has been doing great all year long. Constant double double threat with lots of steals and blocks and great FG%.

Paul Millsap (154)
Obviously a major steal, but that's more of a lucky pick, no one could expect that Boozer would miss so much time.

Nate Robinson (182)
He has cooled off as of late, but still a big steal.

Busts:
Mike Dunleavy (a couple of leagues)
Thought he would continue to perform as he did last year, but that injury put a spoke in the wheels. The end is near though.

Rudy Gay (27)
With the departure of Mike Miller, I though Memphis would be Gay's team, but Mayo seems to outshine him. He's really playing poorly as of late.

Andrew Bynum (53)
Gasol seems to take rebounds away from Bynum, I thought it would be the other way round.

Luol Deng (78)
Thought that last year was a bad year for Deng because of that injury and that he would be better again, but that's just not the case.

[OzSonic]

I'll list my roto league draft because my H2H has very few teams and it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Steals:
(99) Nene Hilario
He has been excellent the biggest steal of the year!

(129) Spencer Hawes
Hard to say it was a steal now because he has been playing ordinary because of injury. He was a top 20 player at one point and I firmly believe he will put up strong numbers again.

Busts:
(9) Shawn Marion
This pick alone put me way behind the 8-ball. i was able to trade him before the season started so it wasn't all bad.

(39) Mike Dunleavy
Fortunatly I managed to trade him away early as well

[theanimal23]

Steals:
Nene, 105
Rose, 113
Rudy F., 148

Busts:
Last year, 20 team league, 4th round pick was Bargnani. Biggest Bust I've ever had. He's not producing 4th round caliber this year, but at least he's giving some production.

[NetsForce]

I had a number of draft day busts who have since turned their game around... It's actually surprising I'm still first in my league. I'm somewhat regretting that I traded J.R. Smith for Tyson Chandler though...

My team isn't very good at 3PTM but with the way J.R. has played as of late I think I maybe have been able to get more.

[jorgo]

2 Leagues:
1: 12 team 8 cat Roto
Steal:
Chris Duhon - Pick 150

Bust:
Kevin Love - Pick 91 (at that stage of draft I didn't have a single C and panicked.)
Mike Miller - Pick 67

2: 30 team 8 cat H2H - 6 starters
Steal:
Pretty much my entire starting lineup. The draft order is not snaked and order is based on your franchise player's pre-season ranking, so pick #'s are approximates:
Caron Butler (franchise player who I got for approx pick 30)
Jason Kidd - Pick 38
Memet Okur - Pick 68
David lee - Pick 98
Matt Barnes - Pick 128 (looking shaky now back to bench)
JR Smith - Pick 158 (will be a steal by season end)

And yeah, my team is sitting on top of the 30 team league.

[DNYLkiller]

Steals:
Mike Bibby @ 85
Jason Terry @ 86
Jeff Green @ 127 Might be the best pick of all time
Eric Gordon @ 156
Joel Pryzbilla @ 205

Elton brand @ 7 (ouch)
Jason Kidd @ 43
Andris Biedrins @ 66
Marc Gasol @ 138
Nate Robinson @ 151

Busts:
Allen Iverson @ 11
Andrew Bynum @ 38
Greg Oden @ 59
Lamar Odom @ 62
Mike Conely @ 107 (108 was Jameer nelson)

[amb1ent]

Busts:
Baron Davis - 14
Josh Smith - 19
Mike Dunleavy - 46
Sam Dalembert - 51
TJ Ford - 78 (traded him for Kaman, who has also been a colossal bust)

Steals:
Andray Blatche - 147


yeah, that's about it. naturally, i'm dead last in this league

[hermes]

steals
OJ Mayo (101)- wasn't sure on him, took a chance and has been great
Chris Duhon- didn't draft him but traded for him before the year and has really been my only major source of assists
Brook Lopez (132)- way better than chandler has been

Busts
Tyson Chandler (59)- so far anyway

[Jimmy103]

Steals
Marvin Williams (101)
Kevin Durant (43)
Rajon Rondo (83)

Busts
Bynum (38)
Beasley (63)
Deng (78) - I think I even got him later than most

I had the #3 pick, Chris Paul and LeBron James were off the board so I went with Amare. I wish I had taken Wade, but hindsight is 20/20 and I'm not sure if I'd call it a bust.

[crowd goes wild]

I got Chris Paul at 9 overall

[rutheredfox]

I got Chris Paul at 9 overall

that's not a steal, that's playing with retards.

i got milsap on the wire. and thaddeus young 11th round, 13 players/12 people league. biggest buts and i think this goes for everyone is mike miller. tony parker i picked him up at 6 or 7th round, that was a really good pick too. KG at 4 i think was the most (Please Use More Appropriate Word) pick i made though.

[jorgo]

Yeah CP3 at #9 is playing with retards.

Marvin Williams isn't a steal at 101.

Biggest steals overall (I didn't necessarily draft them):
Nene
Duhon
Kidd
Durant
Jameer Nelson
Millsap (due to injuries)
Rondo
Delonte West
Jeff Green
OJ Mayo
Nate Robinson

Busts: (Not a result of injury)
#1 Elton Brand (horrible prior to injury)
#2 Shawn Marion (The signs last year pointed to this, yet people still thought top10)
Mike Miller
Baron Davis
Allen Iverson
J-Rich
Chandler
Oden
Dalembert

Most are in line with what everyone has posted.

[SpeedyG]

Oden. Took a flyer on him on two of my leagues. He's...meh.

[ForeveRaptorFan]

A couple i can list, Baron (10), Butler (traded for him before season started, very inconsistent so far), Mike Miller (72).

Steals:

Rudy Fernandez (Late late round pick)
Troy Murphy (big time steal, beast)
Paul Milsap (stole him from FA)
Thadeus Young (played great beginning of season)

[Maritimer]

I'm only playing in a keeper league with a fake NBA style salary cap, so there was no draft, but I did target Barnes and Azuibuke as cheap bench options who are far outplaying their contracts.

[Spicy P]

These are from a couple of leagues

Steals:
Devin Harris - I chose my point guard very late and Harris was one of the best available and I lucked out

Busts:
Andrew Bynum - I expected a little more out of him.

[eternalvendetta]

Steals:

Granger (17th) - playing like a top 5 pick... he does it all.
Kidd (44th) - 100 years old but still got enough in the tank to anchor my assists and steals.
Durant (57th) - my favorite pick =]
Zach Randolph (84th)
Troy Murphy (117th) - might be an even bigger steal than Durant relative to draft position
Thaddeus Young (137th) - not sure if he's doing so hot anymore, but I traded him really early in the season for Jameer Nelson. That's worked out well.

Busts:

Amar'e (4th) - I miss the blocks the most.
Villanueva (104th) - kind of hit-or-miss at this point, but I was really expecting more from him this season.
Conley (124th) - I was expecting a decent year from this guy too. And Nene was the last pick in my league! (140th)

I took Gay at 37th, and while he's been mildly disappointing, I wouldn't call him a bust. I did just trade him for Josh Smith today though; I need the blocks. Another bleh pick was Maggette at 77th. He's great for FT%, but I already have a strong team in that category. Plus he's made of vagina. I did take Ginobili at 97th, and while his play hasn't warranted him being considered a steal, I am pretty happy that he came back so early from the off-season injury.

As for waiver wire pickups, I haven't been as active as I wanted to be. I am happy that I got Westbrook off free agency though; he's been great and should be a very good second or third PG along with Nelson behind Kidd for my team. I also just picked up Kevin Love, who I'm hoping keeps up his hot streak and gets his minutes increased. If he's pulling down 8 boards per game in 22 minutes, he should jump to 12 in 33 minutes! That's how it works, right? =P

A friend of mine in the league took Brand in the first round, Deron in the second (okay now that's he back), and then Boozer in the third. Ouch.

[DeShaunRed]

Steal:

Chris Duhon (98th) - He's been doing good lately. Decent source of 3PM and AST behind my Chris Paul.
Devin Harris (50th) - The guy's playing All-Star like lately, except when he's nursing an injury (of course, duh.)
David Lee (74th) - Great source of rebounds after the Boozer injury.
Jamal Crawford (71st) - I know he's quite inconsistent but he's playing better than the ones who were picked before him (Mike Miller, Mike Dunleavy Jr)


Bust:

Carlos Boozer (23rd) - Did his 20 and 10 for a few games then disappeared. Not quite sure when he's returning but somebody wants to trade him for Carmelo Anthony, who's going to miss three weeks. I won't complain once this trade is done.

Greg Oden (47th) - I had that impression that he's going to be a beast inside the paint then he got injured on his first game (I think). I waived him the next day because it kind of gave me the impression that he needs a year or two to work on his game. As a fantasy stud, not for now.

[Anthrax]

16 team league, 9 cat H2H
Busts:
Amare(3):
Hasn't been terrible, but considering where I picked him he hasn't got the job done. He was considered a sure-fire top 5 player but has been a fringe top 10 guy of late.
Passed up: Kobe, Dirk, Wade

Gay (30):
hes been disappointing. Shooting poorly and has not adjusted well to the attention teams have placed on him. He has picked his game up a bit of late, hopefully that continues. Passed up: Johnson, West, Jamison

J-Rich (35):
He has been solid but hasn't come close to the type of numbers he put up last year. I was expecting a 20 PPG scorer with this pick. With the trade to PHX, his 3s have gone up along with his rebounding.
Passed up: Roy, VC, Kidd, Sheed

Dalembert (67):
This guy has flopped big time, was once a double double threat with decent percentages and solid block numbers. Now he can barely get 20 mpg.
Passed up: Terry, AK-47, Z-bo, Salmons, Rondo (big gap b/w picks)

Steals (waiver wire pickups):
Eric Gordon
Chris Andersen
Derek Fisher

As you can see, theres a good reason why I'm in 12th place. I've had no steals and most of my players have not played up to expectations.