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Over the previous month, I went in-depth with a lot of fantasy information Some of you may wonder, how did my real drafts turn out? I joined a total of four leagues this year, two of which I love, while the other two might need some waiver-wire tweaks and luck to be championship elite. I have highlighted many studs and breakouts, most of which I got in most of my teams, so I’m pretty happy about that.
Anyway, my favorite team out of all four actually doesn’t have my man D’Angelo Russell in it. I’m pretty bummed about that because my friend who I drafted with earlier in another league saw me get D Russ in 4th round, and he didn’t want me to get in this main draft. What a friend right? This is considered my “main league” that I really want to win because I’m playing with eleven of my friends in real life, so there’s a lot of bragging rights involved here. It doesn’t hurt that the money prize pool is $2,000.
Format:12 Teams 9 Category H2H standard snake
Drafted:
Point Guards – Kyle Lowry (15), Kyrie Irving (34), Jeff Teague (63), Marcus Smart (154)
Shooting Guards – Jordan Clarkson (82), Rodney Hood (87)
Small Forwards – Trevor Ariza (58)
Power Forwards – Robert Covington (106), JaMychal Green (135)
Centers – Hassan Whiteside (10), DeAndre Jordan (39), Andrew Bogut (111), Bismack Biyombo (130)
Currently: (As of 11/21/16)
Point Guards – Kyle Lowry, Kyrie Irving, Jeff Teague, Patrick Beverly
Shooting Guards – Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood
Small Forwards – Nikola Mirotic, Trevor Ariza
Power Forwards – Robert Covington
Centers – Hassan Whiteside, DeAndre Jordan, Alex Len, Clint Capella
Why do I love this team right now? I got Kyrie Irving with pick #34! He fell to me 3rd round because owners decided to sleep. I went Hassan Whiteside to pair up with Kyle Lowry, followed up with Kyrie Irving. To my surprise, DeAndre Jordan was there in the 4th so I took him with no hesitation knowing I have a strong frontline with Whiteside and Jordan. However, if another owner didn’t steal Myles Turner a pick before me, I would’ve went Turner over Jordan. I know I’m going to punt free-throws but that’s ok because there’s not that many high-volume free-throw shootings on my team. Trevor Ariza fell to me 5th round, which I was happy about because he can add to my steals and 3-point shooting without really hurting my turnovers. I was hesitant on taking Teague, but I wanted to be at least competitive with assists thinking I could’ve picked another guard later in the draft. Grabbing Jordan Clarkson and Rodney Hood in round 7 and 8 was really nice for me, as both have the ability for top 50 upside. I love Robert Covington at round 9 as well because if his shot ever starts falling he’s guaranteed to finish top 100. His ability to rack up defensive stats and bomb 3-pointers was intriguing to me.
My last four picks of Bogut, Biyombo, Green and Marcus Smart are no longer with me. And I’m not killing myself over it. Aside from me dropping Marcus Smart (I kind of regret it by the way), I upgraded virtually every pick with better replacements. Someone in my league foolishly dropped Capella a couple weeks ago so I used my waiver #3 pick to get him. The owner dropped him for Terrence Jones, so I can kind of understand it. However, Capella fits my team beautifully. And he’s KILLING right now. James Harden is spoon feeding him and it’s working. Nikola Mirotic isn’t exactly a must-own player, but he’s a player that I like because he can heat up any game. My league is quite competitive, so there’s not much waiver wire options out there. I’m going to be patient and hope Mirotic pans out. I picked up Alex Len before the Tyson Chandler news and he’s been steadily giving me double-doubles with a block or two. That’s value to me as it still fits my team nicely. I wouldn’t hesitate to drop him for a hot free agent with a brighter outlook though. Patrick Beverley was picked up early last week when Mike D’Antoni publicly said he’s going to get 30+ minutes. James Harden is the real point guard, but he draws so much attention that Beverly can find himself hitting 2+ 3-pointers a game. His steals upside with a trickle of assists was something I wanted to have on my team.
This is a punt free-throw team, and the biggest strengths of this team are: Rebounds, 3-Pointers, Steals, Blocks, and FG%. Average in Turnovers, Points. Weak in FT % and Assists. If you take FT% out of the equation, my team has six players inside top 50 with 4 players inside the top 20 discussion. I fully expect DeAndre Jordan to be better as the season goes on, and I can say the same for Kyle Lowry.
*Player rankings via Basketballmonster.com, punting FT%
*Projected standings via Basketballmonster.com
Projected standings points to me beating all my opponents, but we shall see? ☺
So how am I stacking up?
Currently 4th, still haven’t lost a matchup yet (knock on wood) I have said, this league is going to be really competitive all season, and it’s showing. Anything can change each week and while it’s important to be patient about a player’s progress, it’s also important to know when to cut bait (Andrew Bogut, Bismack Biyombo, JaMychal Green)
I will have another piece soon on one of my other teams, which is filled with basically all players with just upside. Stay tuned for that! Don’t forget to tweet me anything basketball or fantasy related @fungo24