Fantasy basketball draft: 14 team results and analysis part 2
By Alex Kouki
Picking up where we left off in our 14 team, H2H Fantasy Basketball draft, here are the rest of the results. You can check out part 1 of the article by clicking here.
Fantasy Basketball Draft: Round 7
1. Caris LeVert (Bkn, SG, SF) – Stone Cold
2. Gary Harris(Den – SG,SF) – MY TEAM
3. Derrick White(SA – PG,SG)- Wrecking Crew
4. Fred VanVleet(Tor – PG) – General G
5. Delon Wright(Dal – PG,SG) – Breaking Bad
6. Dejounte Murray(SA – PG) – Jokes on U
7. Joe Ingles(Uta – SG,SF) – Don’t knock the knicks
8. Enes Kanter(Bos – C)- Apples to Pears
9. Victor Oladipo(Ind – PG,SG) – Step 123
10. T.J. Warren(Ind – SF,PF)- Team Aces
11. Marc Gasol(Tor – C) – 1 nighter
12. Mikal Bridges(Pho – SG,SF) – Big Boyz
13. Jeremy Lamb(Ind – SG,SF) – Play2Win
14. Lou Williams(LAC – PG,SG) – Drewit that way
Value pick
I’ll go on a limb and say I think Marc Gasol here is pretty strong value. The Spaniard was a fourth round value player last year – granted his numbers dipped since being traded to Toronto. However Kawhi Leonard has left and Gasol will be asked to contribute more on the offensive end.
As a Raptor, Gasol averaged 9.1PPG, 6.6RPG, 3.9APG, 0.9SPG, 0.9BPG, on 46.5% shooting from the field, and 77% shooting from the line.
He will likely be asked to score more this season, and without the “Board Man” himself around, look for his numbers to go up across the board, especially in the points and rebounds category. We may see a small dip in his FG% though as a result of more shots.
My pick
I was debating between Gary Harris, Delon Wright, and Dejounte Murray here.
All three would significantly help my poor steals situation.
I ended up rolling with Harris, who had arguably one of his worst seasons as a professional last year. I expect this year to be a bit of a bounce back year for the Nugget. He is a career 46% FG shooter compared to last years 42.4%.
Let me say that again- career 46% FG shooter. That is insane for a guard! Last year he only played in 24 games, and averaged 12.9PPG, 1.4 3PG, 2.8RPG, 2.2APG, 1.0 SPG, and 1.2 TPG and ended up returning round 14 value.
Prior to this, Harris ranked #34 in per game value, having played in 67 games in 2017 – 18 and was #56 in 2016-17 having played in 57 games. Injury concerns and a deep Denver squad are two reasons to be concerned here, but at pick #86 I felt it was worth it.
“Meh” pick
Lou Williams to me is a questionable pick in this round. With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joining the Clippers, Lou’s extremely high usage rate of 32.4% (a career high) is likely to see a significant drop.
He won’t be asked to handle the ball as much and will see fewer shots. A drop in scoring numbers could see a mild uptick in FG% for Lou, but overall I can see Lou being closer to a top 150 player than a top 100 player this year.
Fantasy Basketball Draft: Round 8
1. Nicolas Batum(Cha – SG,SF) – Drewit that way
2. JJ Redick(NO – SG) – Play2Win
3. Marcus Smart(Bos – PG,SG) – Big Boyz
4. RJ Barrett(NY – SF) – 1 nighter
5. Brandon Ingram(NO – SG,SF) – Team Aces
6. Kevin Huerter(Atl – SG) – Step 123
7. Dewayne Dedmon(Sac – C) – Apples to Pears
8. Zach Collins(Por – PF,C) – Don’t knock the knicks
9. Andrew Wiggins(Min – SG,SF) – Jokes on U
10. Davis Bertans(Was – PF,C) – Breaking Bad
11. Dwight Powell(Dal – PF,C) – General G
12. JaVale McGee(LAL – C) – Wrecking Crew
13. Dario Saric(Pho – PF,C) – MY TEAM
14. Rui Hachimura(Was – PF) – Stone Cold
Value pick
It’s very challenging finding a quality source of assists this late in the draft. For this reason I quite like Marcus Smart at #101. Last year, the Celtic averaged 1.6 3PG, 4.0 APG, and 1.8 SPG. His FG% was still poor at 42%, but has been trending up from the mid 30s for the past 4 years. He is also coming off arguably some very valuable experience on the United States FIBA squad
The other pick who I love here is Dwight Powell. In the last 3 months of the of 2018-19 season, Powell was the 67th ranked player and in the last 2 months, ranked 44th. Carlisle has apparently gone as far to say that Powell is one of his all-time favourite players, and plans to start Powell next to Porzingis.
The Unicorn himself can be labelled as injury prone, with the Mavericks brass talking about resting him during the season. This could amount to even more run time for Powell who I feel could return top 75 (maybe even 50 if I am getting crazy ambitious) value.
Update: The hamstring injury is a bit of a concern.
My pick
Saric was plan C for me in this round. I was really hoping for Powell but he got sniped just 2 picks before me. Dedmon was also picked before me so… Dario it was!
He is in a new city, with a new coach (again). At just 25, Saric still has a lot of potential. As recently as 2017-18, Dario returned 5th round value in a punt blocks build. In what was arguably a career year for him in Philadelphia, the Croation had a usage rate of 20.9%.
Following that his usage rate dropped to the mid-high teens. The PF spot is wide open for the Suns and Saric should be able to take advantage of that opportunity to post similar numbers to his career year.
“Meh” pick
I had several in this round. Batum at #99 seems odd to me but I understand the gamble given his past performances.
Charlotte doesn’t look like it is going to be competing for a playoff spot in a weak conference based on their offseason moves and their Coach has already talked about going young this year.
Monk, Bacon, Bridges and even Washington are all likely to get more run than the veterans on this squad, especially as the season goes on, making Batum, MKG, and Cody Zeller less desirable draft picks.