Dan Titus and I put together this league. Titus gave me a legitimate name to float, and we got a lot of sharp analysts (and then myself) into the annual Y! Friends and Family League. (I am old and am currently trying to figure out how to make it viewable. It should be at https://basketball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/League/friendsandfamily2025) If you want a video recap, Josh Lloyd at Locked On recorded the whole thing. And he wasn’t even that mean to me!
First thing, the projected standings. The method was to take the Razzball Trade Review tool, input the entire roster in, then look at the points. Rudy has a great projection system and you should subscribe. So, every player was input in and the trade comparison spat out a team total value projection. This is a head-to-head roto 9-category league, so the points don’t perfectly reflect what is projected. But hey, it’s more than you did here so just deal with it.
Projected Standings:
- Fantasy Gee Wizz: 521 Razzpoints: I’m shocked he was highest as he started with Trae Young and Austin Reeves in the 1-2, then went Kahwi Leonard and Ja Morant, also drafted Zach Edey. Gee also had the most unintentionally hilarious moment as he tried to draft Devin Vassel, but ended up with the esteemed Charles Bassey. That got worked out though. I’m guessing the Trade Review only does per game projections; there’s a lot of games missed due to injury on this roster.
- Kostas: 520: That guy was one pick before me and kept taking my guys. Took Bam Adebayo, Kevin Durant, Zion Williamson in rounds 2-4, all were my targets. Sonofasnipe. At least I know if the guys I didn’t take were available I’d have had a good team.
- Dan Titus: 504: Titus went elderly early grabbing James Harden and Steph Curry, then Zubac. I wouldn’t build it like that, but he’s better at this than me so good job Dan! The guy then went and got value at every single pick. He’s my personal favorite to win it.
- Josh Lloyd: 501: Was interesting to watch his above linked video and he is a great listen on Locked On Fantasy Basketball. He knows his stuff and made me mad taking Paolo Banchero in the third.
- Rory: 500: The algorithm likes his per game averages, but didn’t take into account that he owns Jaylen Brown, Domantis Sabonis, and Tyler Herro as three of his first four picks. All of them could miss weeks in the beginning, and nobody wants to start out 0-3 in a head to head. Then add Draymond Green, Michael and Kevin Porter Jr. (unsure roles or games played), and my guess is this isn’t a top half team to start.
- Steve St. P: 489: Derrick White in the second? De’Aaron Fox in the third? Reed Sheppard in the seventh? I wouldn’t. But he’s here, 8 ahead of me!
- Fantasy Bible: 486: They relived my Bulls fandom by taking Coby White and two former Bulls forwards, Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan. As a Bulls fan, I don’t really like any of them! He’s also the Lamelo Ball guy; his season may hinge on the mercurial guard. Projected in the middle, but won’t be in the middle. He’ll either be up high or down low depending on his old ex-Bulls and LaMelo.
- Kelder!!!!!!: 481
- Zac Henshew: 472.5: He’s solid, but Jo’el Embiid and Brandon Ingram in the 4-5 will define his season.
- Son: 472: Shocked the room with Tyrese Maxey in the first, then went and had a great solid draft.
- Alex Burns: 461
- Noah Rubin: 443
- Rotomancer: 396
- Kingy: 350 (Rotomancer probably lower, but Jayson Tatum was picked by him and isn’t going to play and get 50 points per game if he does): What in the world? They did not like Dyson Daniels in the second, and Ausar Thompson (4), Walker Kessler (5), Tari Eason (6), Dereck Lively (7), Cason Wallace (8), Mitchell Robinson (9), well the Razzball metrics don’t like any of those picks. I can see the upside, but all will have to hit their ceiling to even live up to their costs. Probably won’t exceed the cost though.
Then, my team:
| Round | Pick | Summary |
| 1 | Anthony Edwards | Pick 8, was him or Devin Booker. Basically went with the guy I’ll watch more games of |
| 2 | Donovan Mitchell | Lock down the backcourt, need assists but can address later |
| 3 | Cooper Flagg | I always want a SF that can get steals, blocks, threes, and Flagg should do that as a rookie. Will get better as the season goes on. A bit of a reach, but with so many points from my first two guys, I went with the multi category potential of Flagg to help shore up stocks, some boards, and threes. I do think Flagg is a generational talent and will live up to this spot. |
| 4 | Jalen Duren | Well, I needed big man stats. The big men are all boring and underwhelming. I took the guy with the all-star upside. |
| 5 | Jarrett Allen | Double down on percentages and blocks. Short on rebounds, might be a bad pick here. Centers around him were Walker Kessler, Donovan Clingan, Deandre Ayton. I like Allen best of that group. |
| 6 | Mikal Bridges | Solid across the board guy who doesn’t miss games. |
| 7 | Naz Reid | Not my favorite pick, but we’re in the 90s guys! Threes and blocks, and I should be solid in those categories. Didn’t address my rebounding much and I’m in trouble there. Will have to address in season. |
| 8 | Ayo Dosunmu | Looks really good and love the pace Chicago will play with for Ayo. Another solid across the board guy. Seems high, but I think he gets 28-30 minutes here. Also a PG/SG/SF guy. |
| 9 | Jabari Smith, Jr. | I missed the runup to this pick. I was trying to figure out what to do when a guy accidentally drafted Charles Bassey when he was trying to draft Devin Vassel. It was a bit of a cluster, and maybe Smith will pull this off and get some boards that I sorely need. |
| 10 | Davion Mitchell | I like Off Night. Hopefully doesn’t mean I was having one on my draft |
| 11 | Jaylen Wells | Grizzlies have a ton of opportunity on the wings here. |
| 12 | Chris Paul | Low impact, but the guy’s going to get the assists I need |
| Late | Tre Jones, Kyle Filipowski, Alex Caruso | Guys that can fill in if needed or stream |
All in all, I’m okay being projected in the middle of the pack. The best thing is, and what puts this over mock draft analysis, is that this one is gonna be actually played out. So in season management is 80% of this game, or some number like that. It was a lot of fun to be in a room this sharp and feel kinda honored to be able to have been part of the crew putting this together. Now I need to spend some time on the teams and rounds, and I’ll get back to you on that.
