I know, I know. “Expert.” Then why am I in it? Had to get the dig in before you did. It’s called self-deprecation.
Tuesday night, 10 of the best fantasy basketball minds got together and did a roto draft, nine categories. Okay fine. Nine of the best basketball minds and then me. Keep in mind, this is an actual league that will be played out. For some reason, my Twitter feed is full of Josh Lloyd mock drafts, other people talking about mock drafts, extolling the virtue of mock drafts, invitations to join mock drafts, etc. Why don’t we hear about actual leagues? Play them out; don’t be soft!
I’m sick of mock drafts. Here’s a real one, pick by pick, and I’ll explain my reasoning. I had the turn, pick 10. This came in handy when a frog got into our house and was happily hopping around. I had to chase him around the house for a good chunk of round 2 and 3, but he was safely relocated outside where he was probably eaten by a snake or bird.
Pick 1-2: Tyrese Maxey/Jalen Johnson stack.
It’s a roto, and my weakness is always points and threes in this format. Maxey might not score 28 per game again, but if we can get 25 with 2-3 treys per game I have a good scoring base. I really wanted a Cooper Flagg/Jalen Johnson duo, but was sniped so no Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, but really it was nice to get the guard first. Jalen Johnson, we don’t need to talk about too much. I’m not worried about the turnovers; they can be addressed later, but to start it off, I think I got two safe, elite talents to build around.
Strengths: scoring, assists, steals
Weaknesses: Blocks, TO
Pick 3-4: Chet Holmgren and Jalen Duren.
Our projections have Duren as the 11th-rated player, and I concur. There aren’t many 20-10 guys out there with a good FG% so I was pleased to get him at the turn. Chet is another Swiss Army knife guy who chips in a ton of categories. In hindsight, with the way my team played out from this point, I really shoulda taken Paolo Banchero or Devin Booker at this spot for the scoring (Matty G and Ray Kuhn got them). In a roto league there are just not many 20 point per game scorers available. But I can’t complain about Chet or Duren either. Hard choices, these are.
New weaknesses: Points. It’s always my weakness. Oops, I did it again. And threes. I am behind
Strengths: percentages, blocks, steals, I also like the turnover situation to this point. Maxey gets some of them not as many as higher usage scorers.
I needed at this point to find a high volume scorer with good FT who gets steals. Easier said than done.
Picks 5-6: Desmond Bane, Stephon Castle
I did not find a high volume scorer with good FT who gets steals.
Well, Bane does a good bit of this, like a discount Devin Booker with less turnovers and less threes. He does stabilize my roster at this point, addresses weaknesses (90% FT rate, for example). I then messed up a lot of the good by taking Castle. My issue is that I love watching Castle and can be blinded to his flaws, like turnovers, shooting, and lack of threes. Not a bad pick though at this range and he does have a chance to get up to 20 PPG.
Honestly, the ten-team league threw me off. My other industry league had 14, and I found myself a bit overwhelmed by the quality of players. I didn’t need to take Castle (Deni Advija, Pascal Siakam could have fit) but it’s not the worst pick either. On to the next two, where I truly sabotage my points category:
Picks 7-8: Naz Reid, Mikal Bridges.
I think I’ve got Naz Reid in every league so far. I love his new team, their offense, and his multi-cat goodness. Bridges in the modern NBA is an outlier; he plays 82 games per year. But man, only 14 points per game hurts that category, even as he solidifies steals, threes, and TO. I overvalued them and left Michael Porter, Julius Randle (run on Nets!), and Dylan Harper. Passing on Harper hurts the most in that group. Regret is a strong word, this isn’t a killer mistake, but I do wish I had gone for more upside instead of safety. I’m going to need to add scoring at some point in the rest of the draft or in-season.
Picks 9-10: Josh Hart, Collin Murray-Boyles.
Sometimes, I forget that I’m building a roto team and I make an entire team of glue guys. This happened here. Everyone and their grandmothers loves CMB this year, and I’m no different. Josh Hart is one of my favorite no-flash good stats guys.
Altogether, though, these are the ten starters, and I like what I’ve done. I should be quite good in the big man stats, and have work to do in threes and points.
My last four picks are reserves: Moussa Diabate, Tre Jones, Grayson Allen, and Yves Missi. Allen could slide in for three help if he fits the build better. I would feel comfortable playing any of these four, but hopeful that the top ten guys drafted will be good enough to be in the mix.
Looking at the Rotowire projections, I feel comfortable. But of course, you shouldn’t use these as gospel either! In a competitive league like this it’s incredibly hard to get a completely balanced team. Even Jay, ranked 1, has lower categories projected. Every team has a weak spot.
That’s the fun of an actual league that’s going to be played out. We’ll all find out soon enough if we are good at this league or if we should just go back to our day jobs. Except for Behrens, this is his day job! It’s a ton of fun, and frankly insane to me how good these players are, and I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going.
