On Sunday night, I participated in two live snake drafts for keeper leagues, both of which are Head to Head scoring. The Hurricane was pretty devastating to a lot of people in the eastern Atlantic states, so obviously fantasy sports takes a back seat to that. However, it’s almost Halloween and real basketball begins tonight, so let us discuss these trivial things. Besides, it might be fun to look upon what I did and weep see how I used my own rankings. Both are 10 team leagues, by the way.
LEAGUE ONE
ROUND/PICK/PLAYER/POSITION(S)
1. (1) LeBron James SF,PF
2. (20) Carmelo Anthony SF,PF
3. (21) Al Horford PF,C
4. (40) Monta Ellis PG,SG
5. (41) Eric Gordon SG
6. (60) Zach Randolph PF,C
7. (61) Roy Hibbert C
8. (80) Damian Lillard PG
9. (81) Antawn Jamison PF
10. (100) Shawn Marion SF,PF
11. (101) Bradley Beal SG
12. (120) Harrison Barnes SF
13. (121) Jordan Crawford PG,SG
14. (140) Jeremy Lamb SG,SF
Commentary: I had the first pick due to winning the consolation playoffs last year, so I think it’s pretty obvious the first pick is James (no offense to Durant). Most of my top guys disappeared so I went with the 3rd best Small Forward and a top five Center to round out the first three rounds. I didn’t want to leave the first three rounds without a top Center. I really wanted Cousins, but what are you going to do? I’m just glad I got 3 top 20 players (per my rankings) with my top 3 picks. I reached for Lillard because I had already seen him go quickly in prior drafts, and I obviously needed to shore up PG. Plus, I like the dude. We should hang out. Now, I should not have taken Shawn Marion that early, but I was a little desperate for a Power Forward. Desperation can lead to silly moves. Don’t take it personally, Shawn. We can hang, too, if you want. Pillow fight at my house? No?
This league is a light keeper, meaning we can keep one player from the last 3 rounds. I was too anxious to wait on Beal, because I didn’t think he would make it to my 12th pick, but Barnes could be a guy worth carrying over to next year, so I’ll live. We also just began doing keepers this season, so no carryover from last year. I’m lucky that Yahoo gives so much dual position eligibility, because otherwise I’d be too light at Power Forward.
LEAGUE TWO
ROUND/PICK/PLAYER/POSITION(S)
1. (3) Chris Paul PG
2. (18) Pau Gasol PF,C
3. (23) Blake Griffin PF,C
4. (38) David Lee PF,C
5. (43) Joe Johnson SG,SF
6. (58) Eric Gordon SG
7. (63) Luol Deng SF
8. (78) Tim Duncan PF,C
9. (83) Kevin Martin SG
10. (98) Gordon Hayward SG,SF
11. (103) Bradley Beal SG
12. (118) Chris Kaman PF,C
13. (123) Harrison Barnes SF
14. (138) Meyers Leonard C
15. (143) Brandon Bass PF,C
16. (158) Antawn Jamison PF
17. (163) Austin Rivers PG,SG
18. (178) Ramon Sessions PG,SG
19. (183) Beno Udrih PG
20. (198) Devin Harris PG
Commentary: This is a new league posted in the Razzball forums that I decided to join, although I never bothered to figure out how the keeper system works. Win this year! I’ll worry about next year after my season is over, which hopefully is after the playoffs. With this league I went in the opposite direction and went heavy with Power Forward. There were many tantalizing options on the board, so I just couldn’t say no, much like an American at an all you can eat buffet. I was happy to take Griffin at the third round, eat it, lick it, digest it. Obviously, I needed to start filling other positions, and was fortunate to be able to grab Gordon and Johnson one after the other. Deng was a nice grab in the 7th round, or so I will believe until performance tells me otherwise. Anyway, he was basically the last option for a good Small Forward. I don’t have any faith in Rivers or Udrih, but you never know. I mean, obviously I had some faith because I took them. I was trying to grab some Point Guards before the draft concluded.
When I do a draft in a league this deep, what I don’t want is to have a bunch of no-names and third stringers on my bench. I think I avoided that, so I can rest easy. In fact, I am not dabbling with my team until at least two weeks into the season. Draft day is always fun because most people leave their draft feeling like they just compiled a championship team. Most of us don’t, clearly, but I feel okay about both teams and only time will tell me otherwise. Lots of folks ask me if they should drop players and pick up Mr. So-and-so. If you drafted early and had Channing Frye and you noticed Jae Crowder is still on waivers, sure, have at it, but for the most part, we should all wait and see how our team actually works before we start tinkering with it.
I have one auction draft for a roto league under my belt with one more to go (both for the RCLs), so I’ll have a recap up for that later this week. Remember, the season starts tonight, so buckle your seat belts and get ready to roll.
