Well, I guess it's time to explain my team/draft process.
First Round: Dr.JGoing into the draft, I was given the 15th pick. I simply went down my all time great list, and had Dr.J as the highest ranked guy. Was between him and the Malone(s). Picking Dr.J was an easy choice over them because I knew that if I couldn't get Karl I would get Moses and vice versa. I'm also of the note that Dr.J wasn't that much worse than he was in the late 70s even though he had injuries, he had figured out how to play the game so he never really fell off as a franchise player.
So with Dr.J as my core, I had a template of what else to secure. I needed shooters. I could afford to get a iso guy if I wanted too, because Dr.J could play off ball. Most importantly, I had a
defensive anchor in Dr.J in a very unorthodox ways. This gave me flexibility in what type of bigs I could get, because I am very big on Dr.J's help defense, and statistically speaking it was captured in raw stats so I am confident I could defend my stance on rim protection.
Second Round: Karl MaloneSo the plan was to pick what ever Malone didn't get picked by the person who had back to back picks. Neither one was picked to my surprise (and delight).
So I had to debate, Karl or Moses? It was extremely hard to be honest. Moses in all honestly, is easier to defend. He has the stats, the accolades, he also beat Kareem head to head (and I like Kareem in this format, very underrated player so I did want a hard counter to him). On my all time list, the two go back and forth quite a bit.
Ultimately, I thought Karl was a better fit. This early in the draft, I didn't want to limit myself on the type of players I could get. I knew that drafting Moses meant that it could potentially kill my spacing and I'd have to scramble for stretch 4s and lights out 3 point shooters. Karl gives a bit more breathing room for Dr.J to work with.
There were two bigger reasons for picking Karl, a little subtle but very important none the less. Moses Malone was a very poor passer, and I really did not want to deal with that. I didn't want to limit my teams offensive potential that early on by drafting a blackholish player.
The third problem was finding a defensive anchor. Much easier to find a defensive C anchor than a defensive PF anchor. Karl on the other hand is a good man defender, I knew if I got someone who could protect the rim, I would have a good defensive front court with J/Malone/Rim protector. Very fundamentally sound all around.
Moses did have the perks of playing with DR.J in real life, but I figured that based off reputation, Dr.J and Malone could probably co-exist. A perk of having Dr.J in my opinion, hard to see him getting into any fights with people.
Third Round: Artis Gilmore This was my hardest pick in the draft. This was the pick that I edited my pick asap, but then changed it back to what it was originally
.
I was really targeting a guard here. I wanted
Manu Ginobli really bad on my team. I thought he fit with Malone and Erving perfectly. I was also pleased to see Clyde and Stockton on the board. After thinking about it tactically, even though I think Manu was the most essential player, he had the highest chance of being still around at round 4. On the other hand, I was almost positive Stockton would be taken if I did not take him there.
So it came down to Stockton vs Gilmore. I wanted a legit C, someone who I could put on the Shaq's and Kareem's of this world. Someone who wasn't a offensive liability like Ben Wallace (the type of C you would have to settle for later if you didn't get a good one early on). I decided that the difference between Gilmore and the C's left were pretty big, so it made the most sense to take him. I could always find other perimeter players to compliment my team, since my front court at this point was already finished.
Round 4: John Stockton I was shocked that Stockton had lasted that long. There were some analysis that put Stockton on a pretty similar level to Nash, that I found to be pretty convincing, so I was very happy in landing John, and even more surprised people skipped out on him.
I was looking for any guard that had legit 3 point range at this point. PNR play was a plus, and John has that in spades. Stockton-Malone combo was a coincidence, a very good one at that.
At this point, I also liked the idea of having great out let pass defenders in Stockton and Erving, who were good at playing passing lanes. I would have picked Manu over Stockton if Manu did not get picked, because I kinda fancied having a better man to man defender on the wing.
Round 5: George Gervin I needed more range, and Gervin coincidentally the best player on the board by a pretty large amount. Was a no brainer even though I don't like Gervin since he's a one way player. Usage wise he is a bit troubling, but the baggage he brings is more than worth it for the elite offense that he has (I liked the idea of having a lot of good scorers, but not having a true go to guy like a Lebron James type). With Stockton at the helm, I think my team could feed the right guys at the right time.
I actually would have taken Mitch Richmond if he had been available ( he was picked earlier in this round). Two way player who had 3 point range, thought he was just a better fit for a roleplayer despite being a vastly inferior player.
Round 6: Kevin JohnsonLike Gervin, this was just a BPA no brainer. I lied when I said Gervin was the best player by a large amount, but at this time I wasn't fancying getting a 3rd guard. I did see that KJ was on the board in Round 5, but there was no reason to draft him when I could get him 2 or 3 picks later, Gervin was a higher priority since I needed a 2 guard.
Anyway, drafting KJ, I want him to be a God amongst men, which against most teams 2nd units he will be. Not going to be a start ideally, because Stockton has better roleplayer capabilities.
Last, I scanned everyone's players because I took KJ with the purpose of
crippling other people's teams. In other words, I had noticed that people held off at not taking a PG all the way to the 6th round, those that didn't I felt I punished significantly by taking Kevin Johnson off the board. I knew that there would be a few teams that would be very baron at the PG position. My bench PG was better than half of the teams starting PGs.
Round 7: Bill LaimbeerWas very happy Bill was on the board. I needed a "hustle" player, someone who would get in and just hack the other bigs too. Bill fit that pretty perfectly.
It was between him and Oakley. TBH at this point I was thinking I would draft both of them. I was really salivating at having Stockton, Laimbeer, Oakley and Bowen all on the same team - as well as having other physical players like Erving and Malone.
Ultimately, Bill has stretching capabilities which is something that my team lacked, so I had to take him over Charles.
Round 8: Bruce Bowen I could have got Charles Oakley here to combo with Bill. I really wanted to do it just because I thought it would be funny/intimidating, but I did the more rational thing and got a shut down defender at the perimeter position.
Thought about Tony Allen, but he's a D guy when I want a 3ND guy. So it was between Bowen and Battier, I basically did a coin flip. Shane prob a better shooter but worse defender, I actually think Shane was an inch better for my team. However, Bowen has a much better reputation, so I decided to just roll with that.
Round 9: Rip HamiltonI was kinda indifferent at this point because the players I wanted had been taken. I am planning on running 8 players, so Round 9 and 10 were not that important to me.
I did want Oakley as I stated.
I wanted Rashard Lewis, but I thought he had been taken (turns it out it was Reggie Lewis).
Went with Rip because he's a good off ball player. Basically does what Iceman does, really just a raw depth pick.
Round 10: Andrew Bogut I still wanted a goon, so I got a big guy who could protect the rim. Bogut's passing was a big plus too. Didn't really mind that I had to take Bogut when he was young since he still did the things he would need to be a roleplayer on my team. Figured more size is the best way to spend your 10th pick.
