For most of the offseason, I’ve been drafting over at the NFBKC, which are 8-cat, roto format drafts. So, being at one with the universe and maintaining balance has been key. Punting is not a viable strategy. Yesterday, I participated in my first Yahoo draft, which was 16 teams deep, head-to-head format, and 9 categories. I ended up punting assists, which I didn’t plan to, but I was happy with how it turned out. Here’s the play by play:
I drew the 8th pick. The draft went Anthony Davis, James Harden, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Stephen Curry….oh, shit. Am I going to get Karl-Anthony Towns at pick 8? Me-f’ing-ow! But, it was not meant to be as Team 7 selected him. My two options were Trae Young and Jayson Tatum. While Trae was an intriguing option considering the fantasy-friendly environment, elite points, tres, dimes, and free throw percentage, he doesn’t provide blocks and the turnovers are high. Tatum is just so solid across the board and doesn’t hurt you in any cat. I love the foundation.
Yahoo has two starting center slots. In this format, I like to grab my bigs early. Nikola Vucevic was the perfect option for me because of his all-around production. Now, I’m looking nice in points, rebounds, and tres, but weak in field goal percentage. I’m good in steals, blocks, free throw percentage, and turnovers as well. As for assists, I’m in decent shape so there are still many paths I can pursue.
Watching the board and looking at the center options, I didn’t want to end up with a Steven Adams-type. Yahoo does have more centers in the pool due to their more lax roster designations, but I wanted to lock up my second center with someone who was well-rounded and wouldn’t hurt me anywhere. As a result, I selected Christian Wood, who could be a 1/1/1 player, will score, grab boards, and provide good free throw percentage and excellent field goal percentage. The only bugaboo is the lack of assists.
This is where I began to think about punting assists. It was my weakest cat by far and I know that the guard run happens in this area.
Fred VanVleet was selected right before my Wood pick, then Jrue Holiday and Jamal Murray went right after. In the fourth, Kyle Lowry, Dejounte Murray, and Lonzo Ball went ahead of me. If any of those guys were there, I would’ve considered them, but alas, the universe sang to me.
I selected Michael Porter Jr.. I love his upside this year, especially since there’s a good chance he soaks up most the minutes that Jerami Grant vacated. MPJ will provide points, tres, boards, could be a 1/1/1 player, and excellent percentages. The one thing he lacks? Yup, dimes.
So it’s officially on now. Punt assists is the path we are taking.
Looking over my squad, my strengths were in points and boards, while being decent in tres and blocks. I’m obviously weak in dimes, hence the punt strategy. My second weakest cat was steals, which I looked to address in round 5.
I had Mikal Bridges, Marcus Smart, and OG Anunoby all lined up, as they would’ve been perfect for what I was looking for. Hmmph. They all went right before me. Did I get hacked? Because it sure felt like it considering the way I got played. The universe giveth, the universe taketh. Anyways, overall I’m feeling nice because I don’t have to worry about searching for dimes.
In round 5, I pivoted to Eric Bledsoe. Yes, he does provide dimes, but I didn’t care about those. I wanted the steals, and it didn’t hurt that he’s fairly balanced across the board as well. Just a little light in boards and blocks. No worries. I’m crushing boards at this point and doing decent in blocks.
After six rounds, I’m weak in free throw percentage and turnovers. The hunt was on.
After searching the landscape, nothing really stood out to me except Brandon Clarke. He was actually the opposite of what I was looking for, but the boards, blocks, and field goal percentage were too much to ignore.
Now I’m feeling really good in the points, boards, blocks, and the field goal categories. Still need to address the free throw percentage and turnovers if I could, but I’m now weaker in tres and steals.
If Davis Bertans fell to me, I would’ve selected him to address the tres, but he didn’t. I was also thinking about Duncan Robinson, but I was happy to land Donte DiVincenzo in round 7. I think he gets a ton of run this season and provides the tres I was looking for while not hurting in any cat. He’s light in blocks, but most guards are, so no biggie.
I really need tres here, and if I can get help in free throw percentage, then great. I had Seth Curry, Josh Richardson, and Dennis Schroder queued up here. Dennis the Menace it is. Sure, he provides dimes but that’s not why I selected him. Schroder provides the threes I needed and helped out in free throw percentage. Woo hoo! Mission accomplished.
In round 9, I selected Miles Bridges. He was the only one I had lined up because, while he doesn’t excel in anything, he contributes a little something something in everything. The minutes could be a concern, but I think he gets decent run regardless.
I only had two centers, so I had to start addressing the position after neglecting it for so long. Dwight Powell was my choice. The free throw hit hurt, but the field goal boost mitigated the impact somewhat.
I needed tres, and bad. So Dillon Brooks fit the build perfectly. He also gave me a boost in free throw percentage after Powell rudely tanked it a bit. Once again, though. The universe giveth, the universe taketh, as the field goal dump from Brooks evened everything out.
Round 12, I selected Juancho Hernangomez. He’s center eligible on Yahoo. Yaaaahoooooooo!!! Lol. Plus, he’s likely starting for the Timberwolves. I’ll take that in the 12th round.
I filled out my bench with Dorian Finney-Smith, JaMychal Green, and Frank Ntilikina. Don’t laugh. DFS should get some run and provide defensive stats. Green could start in Denver, while Ntilikina has an outside shot of being the starting point guard. You take shots with your bench guys. If they don’t pan out, you cut them and scoop up someone off the wire.
The final tally of my squad. My strongest cat looks to be boards. I should be fine in points, tres, and field goal percentage. Average in steals and blocks. The free throw percentage and turnovers could be a problem though. I’m losing in dimes. So three in the loss column. There’s the potential for 6-3, but more than likely 5-4 or 4-5. That’s something I can try and swing via the waiver wire.
During the draft, it felt nice not having to chase dimes and put such an emphasis on them. I’m happy with how the squad turned out and am looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
