JB’s RCL League Draft Recap + A Huge Giveaway To The Readers, First-Come First-Serve!

I’m going to pull an Infinite Jest here…  Literary jokes!  2015-16 will now be known as “The Year of the Point Guard Hoarding”.

Man it was unreal finally drafting a real team, and not having an awful mock draft with uneducated click-happy idiots or autodrafting based off of Yahoo’s pre-ranks…  Shizz got intense!  The PG run got so hot-n-heavy that I had to go to my warm-and-fuzzy Rubio just to feel safe…

To feel the immense pressure of the PG run, or the frustration of sleepers two-to-three pages down from the top available slipping through your fingers right before your pick, start up a Razzball Commenter League today!  We need more commissioners, more leagues, we need more mmmmk!  Had a little Mr. Mackey happen right there…  If you’ve thought about starting a new league with good competition, or have a few friends trying to start a new league and need the best fantasy basketball community to fill it out, start an RCL league today and join the fun.  100% free, great competition, and solid prizes – mainly me making an ass of myself on Youtube…

Anyway, I feel pretty good about this first RCL team I drafted, mainly by scoring a randomized top-3 pick and netting an ideal PG/C combo to start my draft.  But that damn PG run got me caught up, and I don’t love my bigs…  Here’s how the draft went last night, and my pick-by-pick analysis below:

(draft results)

Round 1, Pick 3 – James Harden – SG, SF –  After some trade negotiations fell though to swap for the #1 pick and potentially secure – FINALLY – an Anthony Davis team, I still ended up very happy with James Harden at 3.  He’s #2 for me in the really close 1-3 studs, and to get a randomized top 3 pick was glorious enough in itself.

Round 2, Pick 22 – Serge Ibaka – PF, C – I was likely taking Ibaka over Blake Griffin, so I might have to flip-flop those two in my ranks (#17 Blake #18 Ibaka).  Fortunately Blake went the pick immediately prior, so I got my guy.  I come out of rounds 1-2 with an elite PG and an elite big.  Cha ching!

Round 3, Pick 27 – Andrew Wiggins – SG, SF – Getting the PC/C combo has me feeling great on the risk of Wiggins so high as I have him ranked.  Maybe it’s a little bit of a psychological response that this feels risky to me, just because Yahoo has him infamously ranked at 82.  I’m hoping for some superstardom breakout early in his career (got a pretty good glimpse in the 2nd half) and FT volume just to crush the cat to protect maybe a few bad FT guys in the late rounds.

Round 4, Pick 46 – Ricky Rubio – PG – As I wrote in the draft chat, “this is where I ruin my team”.  Really wanted Elfrid Payton, but settled for my ultimate “why can’t I quit you?!” player in Rubio.  Mentioned in the open, the run on PG was so unbelievably heavy that I felt I had to take a PG.  Well, I didn’t have to.  It sure feels dirty in the 40s this year off such a bad ankle injury and a lot of trade rumors through the offseason, but his contract will be tough to move if a team isn’t willing to make him a starter right away.  I have him ranked right at 46 as well, so I have to fall on my sword.

Round 5, Pick 51 – Chris Bosh – PF, C – Wow, Bosh fell harrrrrrd.  Through our draft convo, it seemed like there’s a little concern over his blood clot issue from last year.  I have to admit, I didn’t love the pick, and given I have him ranked 32, I may need to re-think that one.  But for the value, I can’t complain.  I add yet another scorer to pad the lows there from Ibaka and Rubio, and keep up the nice %s while fighting off the TO.  Very happy so far.

Round 6, Pick 70 – Tobias Harris – SF, PF – Curse you, team “Bloopers”!  Curse!  I really wanted to go ahead and get my reach on for Myles Turner, but he was snagged the pick before me.  Although I shouldn’t complain as I have Harris 54 and Turner 62.  Another high-upside blocker seemed to fit me better, but I had to settle on value and continue my onslaught of points and well-roundedness.

Round 7, Pick 75 – George Hill – PG, SG – With the run on PG still heavy, I went safe and boring grabbing Hill to keep the dimes up.  Who knows how he’ll look next to Monta Ellis, but his second half last year would’ve been a career season, so the talent is still there.  I won’t need him to do much, just be consistent with the dimes.

Round 8, Pick 94 – Jarrett Jack – PG, SG – Speaking of not needing much but the dimes, I was really surprised Jack fell into the 90s with the heavy PG drafting.  I have 3s and steals fairly well covered, so another dimer that doesn’t turn it over too much is a welcome addition.  Time to focus on only big men to round out the draft:

Round 9, Pick 99 – Aaron Gordon – PF, C – I was feeling good with my team, so decided to go a little reachy.  Blocks is a huge need, and I could use a few more steals –  Gordon’s defensive upside is orgasmic.  And I have a ridiculous amount of good, high-volume FT shooters, so I think I’m protected against Slim and I’s hotly debated 55-65% FT% he’ll bring.

Round 10, Pick 118 – Jusuf Nurkic – C – The Jamba Jus is now open for business!  I get the risk.  I get they’ll take him slow.  But I need bigs, and it seems like Nurk is either going to be ready for the opener or close to it.  And with Yahoo adding IL spots, I feel OK nabbing him this late, and stashing if need be the first few weeks.  His blocks are the main need, and he keeps up the nice %s.

Round 11, Pick 123 – John Henson – PF, C – I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a cut for me a couple months down the road, but out of the gate, he’s going to get a ton of run.  Other than a fluke 3 minutes from Sim Bhullar and a crazy run from Joel Anthony in 406 minutes (Remember that block streak he went on?!  From March 18 to April 1 – 8 games – he had multi blocks in 7 of 8, and 4 blocks in 5 of 8 games! Averaged 3.3 blocks in 16.8 MPG in that span!  WTF?!?!?!?), Henson led the NBA in blocks per-36.  And just out of necessity at PF as they ease Jabari Parker in, Henson is going to play way more than the 18:20 MPG we saw last year.  Nice source of late blocks – a little surprised he lasted this long.  I think I need to raise him from #124 in my ranks.

Round 12, Pick 142 – Timofey Mozgov – C – Meh.  Not a Healthcare.Mozgov fan, but this value is just fine.  At least he will hit his FT, so I don’t have two scrubby bigs just for boards and blocks late eating into my nice FT%.

Round 13, Pick 149 – Clint Capela – PF, C – Shot in the dark to wrap it up!  I needed one final big, and went for the lottery ticket.  I probably wouldn’t hold him through the pre-season with how leagues were last year, but this season with Yahoo adding two IL spots, I have 6 guys that can be slotted as “injured”, even though Nurk is the only one really in question for opening night.  So I’ll have two more adds by throwing two guys in my IL, and the wire is pretty ugly right now.  And who knows, maybe something happens to Dwight Howard by the season opener…

And there is team JB!  Ironically, my 2014-15 RCL league also had the 3rd pick, and I thought it would be interesting to link how I thought I did last year.  Whoa, look at that roster if I had it for 2015-16!  Damn, if only the league was a tad deeper, I woulda held Gobert…

I could’ve felt a lot better had I gotten Myles Turner’s upside for 2 blocks per game…  Like I expected, drafting with Razzball readers was really tough – no reliance on awful Yahoo pre-ranks from this crew! As it stands I think I’m light on big man stats and FG%.  Hopefully my onslaught on points, dimes and steals will flank a good FT% and turn this team into a winner.  I’ll definitely need a few big men pickups that become key contributors.

I know you’re wondering what the title is teasing, but yes, an REL spot is open to the first commenter who wants it!  Our coveted Razzball Elite League has one more spot to be filled for a replacement owner.  You’ll be taking over a dynasty team, but off-season trades are encouraged and the inherited roster is actually pretty solid.

To win the spot:

• Be the first commenter to mention you want the REL spot.
• Include either an e-mail I can reach you (or mention if I can reach you through your commenter e-mail you associate with your commenter name).
• Answer the trivia question “with which player does JB have an addiction?” (hint – key word “addiciton” – no not Rubio!)

Please only apply if you plan on playing for years to come!  We haven’t set the draft time yet, so you will be part of the democratic process to pick the draft time as well.  First-come, first-serve, but be sure to still answer if you’re second or third in the comments since I will reach out to the owner and be sure they’re responsive/like their roster before solidifying their invite.  I know it’s not the fairest way to give away the spot since many of you are around the world and on different schedules, but I wanted to give the early bird commenter the worm!

Thanks for stopping by Razzball Nation, and good luck in the 2015-16 RCLs!