Fantasy basketball draft: 14 team results and analysis

Fantasy Basketball Draft: Round 5

1. Ja Morant(Mem – PG) – Stone Cold
2. Malcolm Brogdon(Ind – PG,SG) – MY TEAM
3. Jonathan Isaac(Orl – SF,PF) – Wrecking Crew
4.Terry Rozier(Cha – PG,SG) – General G
5. Jamal Murray(Den – PG,SG) – Breaking Bad
6. Steven Adams(OKC – C) – Jokes on U
7. Kyle Lowry(Tor – PG) – Don’t knock the knicks
8. Blake Griffin(Det – PF,C) – Apples to Pears
9. Tobias Harris(Phi – SF,PF) – Step 123
10. Julius Randle(NY – PF,C)- Team Aces
11. Aaron Gordon(Orl – SF,PF) -1 nighter
12. Marvin Bagley III(Sac – PF)- Big Boyz
13. Wendell Carter Jr.(Chi – C)- Play2Win

Value pick

Kyle Lowry and Tobias Harris are both good draft picks in round 6 of a 14 teamer. Both should see their usage increase considerably this year (with Kawhi leaving to LA and Butler no longer in Philly) and each of them finished with top 36 fantasy value last year.

My pick

As soon as I clicked “draft” I felt a twinge of regret.

I love Brogdon. I think he is going to have a great year as the primary ball handler, at least until Oladipo returns.

He works well in my punt blocks build by providing me with outstanding percentages (50% FG and 92% FT) and he rebounds more for a guard than average (4.5). However I am still not helping my steals situation! Brogdon averaged just 0.7 steals which is not ideal for my guard spot.

There is a chance he can improve on that with more minutes this year. He is going to play more this year and was was the 44th ranked player in a punt blocks build last year. Yet, I still I feel like I should have picked Lowry here instead.

The point guard does more for my 3s (2.4), assists (8.7), and steals (1.4) than Brogdon and even rebounds very well for a guard (4.8). Lowry was the 28th ranked player in the punt blocks build last year so I’m having a bit of buyers remorse. In a vacuum I like Brogdon more. With my current team construction, I probably should have selected Lowry.

“Meh” pick

In a round where Stone Cold could have gone with Brogdon, Murray, or Lowry for his PG position, he opted to select Morant. I feel that is too risky. Morant didn’t shoot the ball too well from deep in college and the pros 3pt line is further back. I except his TOs and his FG% to kill owners that aren’t punting them this year.

Fantasy Basketball Draft: Round 6

1. Al Horford(Phi – PF,C) – Drewit that way
2. Hassan Whiteside(Por – C) – Play2Win
3. Derrick Favors(NO – PF,C) – Big Boyz
4. Domantas Sabonis(Ind – PF,C) -1 nighter
5. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander(OKC – PG,SG) – Team Aces
6. Montrezl Harrell(LAC – PF,C) – Step 123
7. Josh Richardson(Phi – SG,SF) – Apples to Pears
8. Lonzo Ball(NO – PG) – Don’t knock the knicks
9. Jarrett Allen(Bkn – PF,C) – Jokes on U
10. Miles Bridges(Cha – SF) – Breaking Bad
11. Kelly Oubre Jr.(Pho – SF) – General G
12. Ricky Rubio(Pho – PG) – Wrecking Crew
13. Jeff Teague(Min – PG) – MY TEAM
14. Larry Nance Jr.(Cle – PF,C) – Stone Cold

Value pick

SHAI!!! Has there been a player more hyped up about this year?

I’m jumping on the bandwagon and agreeing with many of the talking heads in Fantasy. Shai is going to have a big year on a team that may contend for the 8th spot in the wild West, but more likely will go into full rebuild mode.

He is going to get the green light to do absolutely anything he wants. In the final month of last year’s season, Shai put up fourth round value in 31 minutes per game, averaging a tantalizing 14.8PPG, 0.83PG, 3.6RPG, 5.1APG, 1.6SPG, 0.5BPG, 1.2TOPG on 76% FT shooting and 51% FG shooting. OKC will likely run him out there for the same amount of time, if not more. The sky is the limit.

My pick

Finally some steals! Teague has averaged 1.2 steals for his career. With what hopefully will be a healthy season this year, I expect Teague to average closer to the 1.5 steals he had in prior seasons.

I believe he is in for a bounce back season after a poor showing last year where he finished with 10th round value. Teague no longer has Derrick Rose, or Tyus Jones behind him, leaving the PG position quite thin for the Wolves.

The Timberwolf battled a lot of injuries last year and never seemed to find his rhythm, playing in just 41 games. Look for him to produce numbers more similar to his 2017-2018 Minnesota campaign where he finished with 5th round value. In a punt blocks build that year, he finished with fourth round value.

“Meh” pick

Sabonis at 71 seems like a high price to pay for a player that ranked 108 least year – that’s 9th round value. Even then, his ranking is largely inflated thanks to his phenomenal start to last season.

With the Pacers adding Brogdon, Lamb, and Warren, Sabonis will likely see a dip in his usage and fewer shot attempts, which could drastically lower Sabonis’ greatest strength – his FG%.  Having said that, with more offensive weapons, we could see a spike in Sabonis’ assists.

Click here for part 2 where we wrap up the results of this fantasy basketball draft.