So we’re through my top-50 and now getting into the mid-rounds. We’re taking this through the whole top 100, but some of these are going to be gold and some fool’s gold. As in, Larry Sanders‘ gold. If I got to the end of a rainbow and Larry Sanders was there, I’d ask for a refund…
Through the Top 20 and Top 50, I think I’ve done the rankings pretty well. They tell you towards the end of high school, “the smart ones get the As, but the most successful get Bs.” I might have made that up since I never studied for virtually anything and got Bs… But a 3.00 GPA thus far sounds about right! Rankings are based on my final updated top 200, comparing them to the FantasyPros aggregate Draft Day Rankings along with Basketball Monster’s Total Value for 9-cat leagues on the season. Slim then grades me. I asked him, “will you give me As if I show you my double-Ds?” He then flunked me… Here’s a look back at the Top 75 for the 2013-14 Fantasy Basketball Season:
51. Monta Ellis
FantasyPros Draft Rank #41
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #41
I think this one was fine, a little surprised he was all the way up at 41 in aggregate ranks. Nothing too bold or special here.
Slim’s Grade – B
52. Jrue Holiday
FantasyPros Draft Rank #39
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #209
Yeah, I mean I don’t want an injury to ever prove me right, but the low rank for Jrue ended up working out. I had him at 42 earlier on in the preseason but kept passing when available, so moved him down. He was playing well until the stress fracture, but who knows what would’ve happened down the stretch.
Slim’s Grade – B – We were a little too down on him. Before the injury Jrue was playing like a top 10 PG. I bet he’s going to be undervalued and on most of my teams next year.
53. Greg Monroe
FantasyPros Draft Rank #53
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #60
Looks like a win across the board, and while Monroe’s per-game wasn’t exemplary, playing 82 games with decent returns is going to boost your overall value. I think he’s a pretty good player, but that is a toxic team that takes terrible shots and Andre Drummond is going to gobble down a ton of the boards. Going to hate him next year.
Slim’s Grade – C – Didn’t work out and I don’t think it’s ever going to. Monroe is barely a top 100 fantasy player and it’s going to get worse for Monroe as it get’s better for the other big in Detroit… Where is he JB? #91?!? That’s days away.
54. Tobias Harris
FantasyPros Draft Rank #71
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #132
Obviously this was a bummer of a pick, but that bad ankle injury early on derailed his whole season. And to my credit, before opening night I said “Lots of red flags popping up against my boy. Dealing with an ankle sprain, there’s also a chance Vaughn brings him off the bench based on reports. I love the guy, but feeling iffy on his rank right now.” Too bad that all came out last second! I rode Tobias to some titles in 12-13 then he flounders as an upside pick… Dunno what I’ll do next year, a lot will depend on what the Magic do.
Slim’s Grade – B – This was such a good gamble but the early season ankle injury lingered for far too long. I’d blame it on the injury but at the end of the year Tobias was ceding too many minutes to role players.
55. Chandler Parsons
FantasyPros Draft Rank #70
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #35
Man, Parsons was under-the-radar fan-friggin-tastic last year! I had him in 1 or 2 leagues, and enjoyed the steadiness. Looks like this was one of my more solid calls. I think seeing him ranked this high while he didn’t really “go off” will have him a great value next year.
Slim’s Grade – B – I’m Belieber when it comes to Parsons. A Parlieber, no, that’s not quite it. I promise I will put way too much time and effort into finding just the right way to express my love for Chandler.
56. Brandon Jennings
FantasyPros Draft Rank #42
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #91
Not gonna lie, the weird tooth injury thing scared me a bit coming into the year, and I was just passing everywhere. I also didn’t like the crowded backcourt, but it was just a horrific season for Jennings, whose total value at 91 is atrocious given his 80 games played and over 34 minutes per. I’m not touching Jennings next year.
Slim’s Grade – A – A round later than most and you kept us away. Shamefully I must confess, that I traded for him but I then immediately traded him away.
57. Paul Pierce
FantasyPros Draft Rank #61
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #63
I hated this rank for a bit, but it could’ve been a lot worse. Pierce wasn’t really too hot for any particular stretch, but gave you pretty good multi-cat. Slow and steady wins the race! Or at least, keeps you in the race…
Slim’s Grade – C – Yahoo ranked him too low but this is too high. In the 70s would have been about right, you know, the decade Pierce was a rookie. I’m pretty sure it’s been that long. I’ll look it up. Yep, 1978, Pierce has been playing in the NBA for 36 years.
58. George Hill
FantasyPros Draft Rank #67
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #77
Ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. This one sucked. But because he never turned the ball over and got through 76 games, he still got a decent total value rank. We all know he wasn’t worth a top-100 rank with the terrible season he had.
Slim’s Grade – B – Probably dropped in most 12ers. I don’t think anyone saw it coming though so you’re being graded on a curve here.
59. Eric Bledsoe
FantasyPros Draft Rank #57
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #164
Played in 43 games, but when he was playing, he was pretty awesome. Half the season you liked the ranking around here, the other half you didn’t… I think he’s too dynamic with too many fans to be ranked unfavorably next year, but I’ll like him about with the masses I’d assume.
Slim’s Grade – B – You kept us away and that’s worth an ‘A’ but that was due to an injury and you were far too low on him. For that you get a ‘C’.
60. Jose Calderon
FantasyPros Draft Rank #74
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #45
It’s weird what Calderon turned into, as the dimes disappeared for career high 3s. But the real value for 9-cat is he just plain never turned the ball over for a PG. I mentioned numerous times at face value he kinda looked like a bust, but underneath the numbers was a real quality season going on. I think he’s going to be a value next year in like the 90s ADP-wise.
Slim’s Grade – B – Where did the assists go? Does Calderon really pass the ball to Dirk that infrequently?
61. Ryan Anderson
FantasyPros Draft Rank #65
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #241
Obviously crushed by injuries, but Anderson was #18 in per-game output according to Basketball Monster. I’m rooting for the guy to get healthy ASAP.
Slim’s Grade – B – Anderson looked much better for the 22 games he played though.
62. Klay Thompson
FantasyPros Draft Rank #48
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #34
The total value rank is a little misleading as I doubt anyone who drafted KT at 48 was really that happy. His utter lack of any other stats I think has me right – you take out those threes and replace with daily streaming and my ThrAGNOF principles and you could’ve picked someone a lot better in the 5th round.
Slim’s Grade – A – The ThrAGNoF coverboy. JB kept us away and he was right.
63. Goran Dragic
FantasyPros Draft Rank #64
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #25
An incredible year for Dragic. I liked him a fair bit and ended up with him in a few leagues, but I can’t say I was particularly bold. Well, definitely not bold enough. I will say that I think a full season of Bledsoe might hurt the numbers, so could be overrated next year.
Slim’s Grade – B – This ranking looks to be around the industry standard. Will you be scared to draft Dragic in the 2nd round next year? I won’t be.
64. David West
FantasyPros Draft Rank #59
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #46
I thought he’d be fine, looks like the aggregate thought he’d be fine, and his numbers were fine. The 80 games played really did the damage – and one missed was when Vogel benched everyone – so I think you were fine. I will say his range of 32-82 was weird, who woulda ranked him 32?!
Slim’s Grade – A – It looks like you once again kept us away from a declining vet. Actually that reminds me… My dog doesn’t look well I think I should tweet David West and see what he thinks I should do.
65. Zach Randolph
FantasyPros Draft Rank #60
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #84
Wow, a little surprised how low he fared on Basketball Monster. Played 79 games, gave you your dub-dubs, but 2.3 TO from your big man who does nothing else ain’t gonna cut it. He’s probably out of my top 80 next year.
Slim’s Grade – C – The points and boards aren’t worth it. I’ll learns ya. It may take some fuzzy math but that’s my favorite kind.
66. DeMar DeRozan
FantasyPros Draft Rank #84
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #42
Woop, there it is! A big sleeper call that worked out, and a guy I liked early last Summer. Paid great dividends if you grabbed him when available in the 7th or 8th round. One of my gold stars this past season.
Slim’s Grade – A – Good call! But a word of caution. I still don’t believe DeRozan is a top 50 player. In the 60s is perfect.
67. Gerald Henderson
FantasyPros Draft Rank #98
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #149
Well, I swung for the fences with DeRozan and hit it out of the park, then whiffed bad here. I’m like Pedro Alvarez! Hendo’s huge second half last year translated into a bottomless pit of nothingness this year. I’m going to send him an Elijah Dukes text – “you dead dawg!”
Slim’s Grade – F – Bad call! You had a good stretch. Did Henderson go to UNC? Nope, JB gets burned by a dookie! JB takes a big ‘ol bite of the 5 star General Hendu’s and 2 hours later… I’m sorry, the rest is between JB and his witch doctor, me. You didn’t know I was a witch doctor? It’s true, I’m licensed in 2 states and specialize in proctology.
68. Thaddeus Young
FantasyPros Draft Rank #55
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #26
I didn’t like Young coming into the year, but he had some absolutely phenomenal stretches for the tanking 76ers. The trade possibility was a big part of my hate, and if he indeed got shipped off, his fantasy value would’ve disintegrated. I don’t feel too bad I was well below the average on this one.
Slim’s Grade – B – Thaddeus played much better than this ranking but JB gets the ‘B’ due to the constant trade uncertainty that could have destroyed his value.
69. Rajon Rondo
FantasyPros Draft Rank #77
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #272
Hmmmm, interesting. I thought I was a little lower on Rondo than most, but memory fades eight months later. He was solid for ya when he got back, but sat on back-to-backs and was out longer than most expected. Not too happy with this one. I will say his range on FantasyPros was 32-133, so there were some crazy opinions out there. At least I wasn’t too high like the top range!
Slim’s Grade – C – Too much time missed and we knew it was going to happen. Rondo wasn’t worth drafting in the 6th round in a 12er.
70. O.J. Mayo
FantasyPros Draft Rank #73
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #246
And then O.J. Mayo happened. Obviously no one saw this coming, and while I was right with the consensus, I thought Mayo was going to flourish offensively for a terrible team with no scorers. Instead, he flourished on the DNP-Coach’s Decision leaderboard. Hopefully you didn’t reach.
Slim’s Grade – D – At his ADP fine, but a round or 2 earlier hurts.
71. Bradley Beal
FantasyPros Draft Rank #54
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #87
Well, I was way right! But I can’t lie, injury concern was the name of the game for me, and he was able to get through 73 games despite a scary leg injury early on. Beal’s a good player, don’t get me wrong, but I think too many rankers got the upside fever. Which isn’t quite as bad as hay fever, but close.
Slim’s Grade – B
72. Luol Deng
FantasyPros Draft Rank #66
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #138
Well I was right on this one! I wasn’t really high or low on him, but I’ve never been a fan and would’nt have drafted him. The trade to the Cavs sunk his value – a concern I had going into the ranks.
Slim’s Grade – B – Is it just me or did Deng age 5 years in about 2 months?
73. Greivis Vasquez
FantasyPros Draft Rank #85
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #170
Hmmm weird. Definitely don’t remember being high on Vasquez, but he was brought to SAC to start then they quickly shipped him off. Obviously was droppable right then and there, and while he had a few nice streamer stretches, tough to know the Kings were going to get rid of him so fast.
Slim’s Grade – B – Another guy that was probably dropped in most leagues. It’s not JB’s fault. Toronto should have played him more when they got him.
74. Andre Iguodala
FantasyPros Draft Rank #58
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #110
Some people lovvvvvvvvvvved Iggy. Wasn’t me! Cough, Pete Nice, Cough. I just didn’t think he had any upside and indeed thought he had a pretty deep floor, hence me sinking him. Rough season fantasy-wise for the vet.
Slim’s Grade – C – It’s late enough in the draft at this point but I’m done with Iguodala, his best days are long past.
75. Jimmy Butler
FantasyPros Draft Rank #81
Basketball Monster Total Value Rank #74
Not going to lie, I waffled a little bit with Butler throughout the year, as I thought his foot injury early in the season was going to linger. Turns out he was great in the second half, owning the Stls. Almost got his value dead on.
Slim’s Grade – A – The gamble payed off pretty well here. I’m such a sucker for high end steals, but Butler gave much more and I know I’ll be all in again next year.
