One of the more interesting aspects of these Lakers teams is that in the seasons in which the Lakers ended up winning the championship, very few mid-season trades were made (six players were shuffled in the 1979-80 championship season, in the remaining four championship seasons, only Frank Brickowski was moved). In the six non-championship seasons, 15 mid-season personnel moves were made.
There were x Lakers who entered the NBA and won a championship: Kurt Rambis, Chuck Nevitt, Adrian Branch, Billy Thompson, Milt Wagner, Brad Holland, Clay Johnson, Kevin McKenna, Earl Jones and Magic Johnson. Take Magic off this roster and this team goes triple-overtime against your junior varsity high school team.
Also, congratulations to Billy Thompson and Milt Wagner for only playing championship-caliber basketball. Let no one credit Magic Johnson for any of L.A.’s success!
A few of you have sent me requests via U.S. mail for a post about draft pairings through the first two rounds. I planned on writing 1,500 words on the value of calling Alvin Robertson “Oscar” just to peeve him off, but it occurred to me that 1,470 of those words would probably be unprintable. Either that or you would love it and want me to write more stuff like that. It’s a lose-lose. Anyway, pairings are important. Imagine if Def Leppard just brought cream, but the girl pouring the sugar on him forgot to bring the peaches? Major bummer, man. Major bummer. And now you see why pairings are important. You’re welcome. Today we’re going to use the 1988 fantasy basketball rankings top 50 list from a couple weeks ago (Fourth wall: *wink, wink*) to pair each of the first round picks with whom they would fit well with from the second round. So remove the shoulder pads from your blazers, ladies ’cause you’re gonna want to get comfortable. Here are some pairings for the first two rounds of 1988 fantasy basketball drafts:
Michael Jordan – You can’t go wrong pairing the M.J. with anyone in the second round, but his weakest (least strong?) stats lend themselves to teaming him with a center. Moses Malone wouldn’t be bad, but Larry Nance would be perfect. Jordan’s high steals and assists would easily offset Nance’s low output in these categories and there’s a good chance he’d fall to the back end of the second round if your league is nervous about his below-average performance in Cleveland after last year’s trade. If you’d prefer to set him up with a backcourt mate, Danny Ainge is reasonable. Ainge is one of the few guards that has a skill Jordan doesn’t: threes. Pair that with their high percentages (a combined .513/.860) and you can afford to ease of the percentages a bit in the next few rounds. Fair warning: Jordan’s real life disdain for Ainge may be so embittered that it bleeds into the fantasy realm. But, still, it’s better than drafting Isiah Thomas.
Akeem Olajuwon – I always pronounce his name like it has an “H.” Is that racist? As the first traditional big man on the list (Size, not ego, M.J.), Olajuwon needs someone quick to pair up with. Isiah would be a good fit here, as his percentages and high turnovers have caused him to fall farther in mock drafts than the third best point guard in the league should. If not Zeke, maybe Mark Jackson, Fat Lever, and maybe Derek Harper if your league is deep and pick no.30 means you’re still in Round 2.
John Stockton – Stockton is many things, but he is not a big man. At least not Moses Malone or Larry Nance big. Pair him with one of those two. I’d prefer Malone over Nance simply because it’s the only way your team is ending up with both a Malone and a Stockton!
Magic Johnson – Magic is a passer. Give him someone to pass to. I like Moses, Karl, Alex English in that order.
Larry Bird – He’s a very balanced player without being gaudy (at least out of earshot). Guys like this need to be matched with other balanced players. Dale Ellis would be perfect and still likely available by the time the snake pick comes back around, as he’s boring and kinda forgettable. You can always ride the whitey train to championship town and add Chris Mullin to your Bird and enjoy your league-leading threes and percentages.
Charles Barkley – Close your eyes. Wait. First, set the mood. Dim the lights, throw on the new UB40 record and pour yourself some red, red wine. Okay, now close your eyes. Are they closed? Are you wondering why you dimmed the lights if you were just gonna close your eyes? Doesn’t matter. Clear your mind of that and imagine the Round Mound of Rebound paired with Kevin McHale. BAM! Their ADP suggests the two could easily fall to the same owner. Barkley needs someone as balanced as he is. McHale is just as hard-nosed and fluid as Barkley, if not quite the shot blocking scorer. Mark Jackson or Ellis would work here too.
Clyde Drexler – No Adrian Dantley or English. You’d just be drafting lesser versions of Glide. His only real statistical weakness is his three point shooting, so you have the freedom to choose among the solid shooters (Ellis – your SGs are taken care of!, or maybe Mark Price or Harper) that might still be available in the second-round and whatever stats in which you feel like dominating early. But this is Clyde Drexler we’re talking about, it’s hard to go wrong when you’ve already started off so right!
Patrick Ewing – Stay away from Otis Thorpe or Tarpley. You’re looking for assists and threes (if your league incorporates advanced stats) to pair with Ewing, so go ahead and look at Isiah or Terry Porter. If not them, it’s possible one of the next two guys on this list falls low enough to grab early in the second round. If that happens, do it and then give me full credit.
Mark Aguirre – Go for a big man ’cause Aguirre is going to be shooting for the stars this season and you’ll want someone under your fantasy basket to pick up his misses. He shot .475 last season and, while I think his scoring numbers are going to be bad like Michael Jackson’s record, his percentages are going to be bad like everyone’s understanding of the word before Michael Jackson released that record. Someone like McHale, Malone or Malone would work here. You want a reliable FG% and low-to-average turnovers without sinking you anywhere else.
Dominique Wilkins – I’d go for a big man here, too. Preferably a reliable one like the Malones, Roy Tarpley, or Otis Thorpe if your league is a bit deeper. ‘Nique owners are going to be worried about his secondary stats (if they’re worried at all), so taking a big with a heavy skillset in one of those categories will make for a less nerve-wracking winter. Ewing would also be perfect but unless both players are undervalued and last until the turn in the draft, you won’t have the option of both of them. Karl Malone is easily going to shoot over .500 from the floor this season and steal a fair amount to boot.
With fewer than three weeks until the start of the NBA’s 41st season, we’re previewing all 25 teams. Whatchu say? Twenty-five teams? Yup. We’re looking at every franchise in addition to shining a light on the new Eastern Conference expansion Charlotte Hornets and Western Conference expansion Miami Heat. And if Charlotte’s more East than Miami, I’ll apparently be previewing the new United States map. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 1988 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Razzball‘s got all the ins-and-outs of the season covered. Who’s new to each team, who’s old (Kareem!), and how are you possibly going to compete with whoever takes Jordan with the first pick of your draft? Unless the first pick in your draft belongs to you, in which case, turn off your IBM PS/2, kick up your feet and put your fantasy roster on cruise control. Next up – The Utah Jazz (history makers!).
Gained – Jose Ortiz, Eric Leckner, Jim Les, Mike Brown
Lost – Kelly Tripucka, Melvin Turpin, Rickey Green, Eddie Hughes
Probable position depth -
PG – John Stockton, Jim Les
SG – Darrell Griffith, Bobby Hansen, Bart Kofoed
SF – Marc Iavaroni, Scott Roth
PF – Karl Malone, Thurl Bailey, Mike Brown
C – Mark Eaton, Eric Leckner, Jose Ortiz
Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – Frank Layden’s 108.5 point per game was the lowest scoring average of any playoff team in the Western Conference. If there were a stat to quantify and rate a team’s defense, I’m sure the Jazz would be first on that list. Still, a team with Malone, Bailey and Stockton should be a better offensive team. If coach Layden can’t get more out of his offense than this, I can’t imagine he’ll be this team’s coach much longer.
Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players (par 0-1) – 2, Stockton, Malone Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players (par 1-2) – 0, Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players (par 2-3) – 3, Bailey Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 4, Eaton Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 5, Griffith
3 Concerns Heading Into the Season
1. Marc Iavaroni: the worst starter of this season or the worst starter in Jazz history? As unsure as I am about who the 5/4/1 career wunderkind (or whatever the Italian word for the German word for child prodigy is) blackmailed in order to last six seasons in the NBA, I’m even more unsure how that same guy is starting on a playoff team. If your league had 14 teams and each of those teams had a 12-man roster, I’d almost certainly draft every other starter on every other team before I even consider Iavaroni. “Bambino prodigio!”
2. Can’t Thurl Bailey just play the swing spot? One of the game’s best Sixth Men stands 6’11” weighing 215 lbs., which is a body type that doesn’t much make for a very good swingman. Then again, not being a good swingman hasn’t stopped Iavaroni from playing the position … Aw, SNAP!
3. What exactly is Mark Eatin’, anyway? Babies. Fella’s led the league in blocks four of the last five years. He can’t shoot a lick, but his rebounding is solid and anyone leading the league in a counting stat deserves a top 100 pick. I’m more sure of that than Dukakis winning next month’s election. Come on, the United States is never going to go for getting led by a guy with such an easy name to make fun of.
Rookie Review!– Jazz get Ortiz in America/ Okay by me, in America / So long as he, in America / Averages his 22.3 in America! Ay-ay-ay! (Truthfully, Utah has a glut of big men and I don’t know if Ortiz has the toughness, quickness or general skill to appear like anything more than your average Joe. And I don’t mean to give away the ending, but Ortiz looks to be Utah’s best incoming rookie). Speak of the devil, Eric Leckner (no.17) is not the devil. What he is, however, is another lumbering white guy for the Mailman, Bailey and Eaton not to get off the court for. Grab him if your league awards points for high fives given from the bench during a time out. Then there’s Jim Les, the other white rookie whom the Hawks took two years ago with the 70th pick in the draft and pawned off on Utah. It looks like another long season for Stockton’s shorts.
Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 – Karl Malone. He averaged 28/12 in his third season, which was a huge jump, but nowhere near as huge as his leap from 6.6 free throw attempts per game in 1986 to 9.6 tries from the line last year. He’s a powerhouse, but what are the odds that a guy throwing elbows around like he does, getting mauled as much as he will stays healthy? If he plays 72 games this season, I’d consider yourself lucky. And even if he manages to stay healthy, he has Thurl Bailey behind him. I think this is the year Stockton shows us a little three-point shooting and takes on the heavy scoring load. More on that in about 1/3 of an inch …
Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 – John Stockton. Stockton is all alone in that backcourt. There’s a chance Dr. Dunkenstein comes alive, but there’s a bigger chance that he doesn’t. Bart Kofoed? Bobby Hansen? these are not guys likely to be a part of any championship teams – ever. But I believe Johnny Boy wants to prove me wrong and I believe he’ll bust his booty trying to make it happen.
Fantasy Sleeper - Darrell Griffith. Look, Doc Dunkenstein hasn’t been the same since he missed all of the ’86 season, and he missed a hefty chunk of last year too, but he’s only 30 years old. In Kareem years, he’s only halfway through his career. Do like those new Nike ads tell you, and “just do it,” D.G. (yeah, I don’t really know what that slogan means either.)
With fewer than three weeks until the start of the NBA’s 41st season, we’re previewing all 25 teams. Whatchu say? Twenty-five teams? Yup. We’re looking at every franchise in addition to shining a light on the new Eastern Conference expansion Charlotte Hornets and Western Conference expansion Miami Heat. And if Charlotte’s more East than Miami, I’ll apparently be previewing the new United States map. From now until the start of the season, we’re bringing you the 1988 Fantasy Team Previews, which will focus on each team in order to paint a clearer fantasy picture. Razzball‘s got all the ins-and-outs of the season covered. Who’s new to each team, who’s old (Kareem!), and how are you possibly going to compete with whoever takes Jordan with the first pick of your draft? Unless the first pick in your draft belongs to you, in which case, turn off your IBM PS/2, kick up your feet and put your fantasy roster on cruise control. Next up – The Seattle Supersonics (Heed Olden: Hoop it up!).
Gained – Michael Cage, John Lucas
Lost – Tom Chambers, Clemon Johnson, Danny Young
Probable position depth -
PG – Nate McMillan, Sedale Threatt, Avery Johnson
SG – Xavier McDaniel, John Lucas
SF – Dale Ellis, Jerry Reynolds
PF – Michael Cage, Derrick McKey, Russ Schoene
C – Alton Lister, Olden Polynice
Surprising Team Fact From Last Season – The Sonics led the league in personal fouls and,unsurprisingly, opponent free throws. Adding Cage and Lucas only barely increases the slap-happy number of fouls Tom Chambers levied onto the team.
Number of Top 20 Fantasy Players (par 0-1) – 1, Ellis Number of Top 50 Fantasy Players (par 1-2) – 3, McDaniel, McMillan Number of Top 75 Fantasy Players (par 2-3) – 4, Michael Cage Number of Top 100 Fantasy Players (par 3-4) – 0 Number of Top 200 Fantasy Players (par 6-7) – 7, Lister, Polynice, McKey
3 Concerns Heading Into the Season
1. Can the Sonics recover from losing Chambers with the acquisition of Shaft? [SHUT YO MOUTH!] Just talkin’ ’bout Michael Cage!
Who is that man / Who’d take a rise from the three-point land?/ Tom! / Can you dig it? Look, I know that joke is almost 20 years old, but it’s still funny. You watch. People another 20 years from now will still appreciate it. I’m sure. T.C. is among the most athletic forwards this game has ever seen, and the Sonics aren’t quite replacing that with Cage’s 15 ppg. What they are replacing is a slightly better defender, with slightly younger legs, willing to get a little more bruised down in the block. Not to mention getting a player who’ll play more minutes than Chambers because he’s not in so much damn foul trouble.
2. McMillan underwhelms me. Will this team ever have a quality PG? There are just some teams that just seem destined to play one type of game throughout their history. The Celtics will always be defensive dynamos. The Warriors will always play shoot-first individual basketball and there just won’t ever be a truly premiere Seattle point guard. McMillan will provide an elite number of steals and assists, but he can’t shoot. At all. You wouldn’t ever see the Celtics or Lakers running around with point guards with terrible shots providing little offense, would you? McMillan is a fine second point guard, but if you’re resting your entire fantasy roster around this guy, your fantasy roster is in trouble.
3. Could there have been a worse first-round draft pick than Olden Polynice last season? No. I’m not really sure what the Sonics are doing with this team. Frankly, I’m convinced half the active roster could manage this team better than the executives. Heck, throw McMillan, or Lucas or, oh I dunno, Avery Johnson out there to call the shots. Couldn’t do much worse, right? What’s the worst that could happen, they draft 4/4/0 Polynice again!?
Rookie Review!– Free agent rookie Avery Johnson is Seattle’s only acquisition new to the league. I don’t like his height or any of his skills, but seeing as how Sedale is certainly no – ahem – threatt for any of McMillan’s minutes, there’s an outside chance this little guy breaks in, surprises everyone, shows that he can actually shoot the ball, and steals 15-25 minutes a game. I wouldn’t bet on it though.
Fantasy Disappointment in ’11 – Derrick McKey. Some people expect a huge leap this season, but dude’s young development is totally gonna get Shafted.
Biggest Fantasy Contributor in ’11 –Dale Ellis. 26/5/3 with a flattop fade that isn’t likely to ever go out of style. The only problem here is, you’ll almost certainly forget you drafted this guy immediately after doing so. Ellis is like that new McFerrin jam Don’t Worry Be Happy: both undesirable, yet completely unavoidable.
Fantasy Sleeper - Olden Polynice. Polynice was ineffective last year, sure. But there’s still time for him. He might not be a bust. This is the NBA. Anything can happen. Mark Eaton, Danny Ainge and Craig Ehlo were all chosen in the second round of their respective drafts and they’re all important parts of their teams’ offense now. Surely, someone like Ehlo will be remembered more for his sturdy play and excellent defense than any embarrassing incidents or defensive missteps, right? Why not a top 10 pick? I’d take a chance sometime after the first dozen rounds of your draft.
