Each year on the ESPN Fantasy Message Boards a group of veteran players (myself included) put together a mock draft in hopes of getting an idea of how things will shake out during the season. This year was no different.
2. Sillyball-
3. pmoney- Gilbert Arenas
4. duluoz- Shawn Marion
5. bunnies- Steve Nash
6. shutton2- LeBron James
7. MinJit- Dirk Nowitzki
8. nexxus2u- Amare Stoudamire
9. WOWB- Jason Kidd
10. unpossibl1- Dwyane Wade
11. unpossibl1-
12. WOWB- Tim Duncan
13. nexxus2u- Josh Smith
14. MinJIt- Chris Paul
15. shutton2-
16. bunnies- Andre Iguadala
17. duluoz- Chris Bosh
18. pmoney- Al Jefferson
19. sillyball- Allen Iverson
20. Xavi- Paul Pierce
21. Xavi-Ray Allen
22. sillyball- Marcus Camby
23. pmoney- Kevin Durant
24. duluoz- Vince Carter
25. bunnies- Rashard Lewis
26. shutton2- Caron Butler
27. MinJit- Michael Redd
28. nexxus2u- Deron Williams
29. WOWB- Tracy McGrady
30. unpossibl1- Joe Johnson
31. unpossibl1- Carlos Boozer
32. WOWB- Carmelo Anthony
33. nexxus2u- Chauncey Billups
34. MinJit-Gerald Wallace
35. shutton2- Dwight Howard
36. bunnies- Jermaine O’neal
37. duluoz-Baron
38. pmoney- Kevin Martin
39. sillyball-Lamar Odom
40. Xavi- Ron Artest
41. Xavi- Brandon Roy
42. sillyball- Kirk Hinrich
43. pmoney- L. Barbosa
44.duluoz- Emeka Okafor
45. bunnies- Greg Oden
46. shutton2-
47. MinJit- Josh Howard
48. nexxus- Raymond Felton
49. WOWB- Antawn Jamison
50. unpossibl1- Mike Miller
51. upossibl1- Andre Miller
52 WOWB- Corey Maggette
53. nexxus- Tyson Chandler
54. MinJit- Jason Terry
55. shutton- Manu Ginobili
56. bunnies- Tony Parker
57. duluoz- Ricky Davis
58. pmoney- Zach Randolph
59. sillyball- Jason Richardson
60. Xavi- Mike Bibby
61. Xavi- Samuel Dalembert
62. sillyball- LaMarcus Aldridge
63. pmoney- Luol Deng
64. duluoz- David West
65. bunnies- Rasheed Wallace
66. shutton- TJ Ford
67. MinJit-Andrei Kirilenko
68. nexxus- Monta Ellis
69. WOWB- Stephon Marbury
70. unpossibl1- Andris Biedrins
71. unpossibl1-Danny Granger
72. WOWB- Mehmet Okur
73.nexxus- Nene
74. MinJit- Ben Gordon
75. shutton- Rudy Gay
76. bunnies-Richard
77. duluoz- Rip
78. pmoney- Randy Foye
79. sillyball- Peja Stojakovic
80. Xavi- Ben Wallace
81. Xavi- Rajon Rondo
82. sillyball- Chris Kaman
83. pmoney- Darko Milicic
84. duluoz- Boris Diaw
85. bunnies- Luke Walton
86. shutton- Andrea Bargnani
87. MinJit-Zydrunas Ilgauskas
88. nexxus- Raja
89. WOWB- Stephen Jackson
90. unpossibl1- Jamal Crawford
91. unpossibl1- Andrew Bogut
92. WOWB- Ryan Gomes
93. nexxus- Shane Battier
94. MinJit- Eddy Curry
95. shutton- Jarret Jack
96. bunnies-Walter Hermann
97. duluoz- Al Harrington
98. pmoney- David Lee
99. sillyball- Mo Peterson
100. Xavi- Elton Brand
101. Xavi- Rafer Alston
102. sillyball- Jameer Nelson
103. pmoney- Mike Conley
104. duluoz- Mike James
105. bunnies-Jamaal Tinsely
106. shutton- Andres Nocioni
107. MinJit- Anthony Parker
108. nexxus- Chucky Atkins
109. WOWB- Tayshaun Prince
110. unpossibl1- Josh Childress
111. unpossibl1- Brevin Knight
112. WOWB- Nenad Krstic
113. nexxus- Luis Scola
114. MinJit- Brad Miller
115. shutton-Steve Francis
116. bunnies- Kendrick Perkins
117. duluoz- Delonte West
118. pmoney- Marco Bellinelli
119. sillyball-Grant Hill
120. XAvi- Ruben Patterson
After the draft each of the participants were asked to answer the following 5 questions:
1. Who was your best pick?
2. If you had a pick to do over again, which would it be and why?
3. Who got the steal of the draft?
4. Who made the biggest reach of the draft?
5. What was your overall strategy?
Bunnies
1) My best pick was probably Jamaal Tinsley. Getting a veteran point guard that late in the draft is definitely a positive.
2) If I had to do a pick over it would probably be Iguodala because not taking Chris Bosh at that point in the draft forced me to pick Jermaine O'neal and Greg Oden a little earlier than I wanted to later because I needed to solidify my frontline. When I picked Iguodala I thought that I would be able to get Camby in the third round, but that didn't happen.
3) In a two center league, Okur would be the steal of the draft. However, we're only required to start 1 center, so while Okur is a pretty good pick at 72, I believe the steal of the draft is Mike Bibby at 60. Just last year, Bibby was an elite point guard taken as high as the twenties. It's true that he had a poor year, but he's shown that he's able to consistently perform at a high level and I wouldnt be surprised if he had a bounceback.
4) Al Jefferson is a reach at the point he was taken. I feel that his draft value peaks in the twenties and if Pmoney had picked someone else I believe
5) My overall strategy was to build a balanced team in terms of production and upside/consistency. I think I did a decent job.
Pmoney
1) Honestly I think Durant is going to be my best pick. I would also call him the biggest ROD (Reach of Draft) and I'm sure he will be unanimous as the worst pick by everyone else. I am pretty sure he wouldn't have fallen to my next pick (15 spots later) as I know a few owners were looking at him. Regardless, I am pretty confidant he will justify a pick before the likes of Carter,
1) Best pick was getting 'Melo in the 4th or Okur in the 8th
Either Maggette....I wanted him because I think with Brand out for a significant portion of the season, he'll be huge. But, I may have been able to pick him up later...not totally sure of that, but maybe. Probably should have gone with Ginobili, T Parker (which would probably have changed my next pick) or Randolph here.
Or Stephen Jackson....having taken Maggette and Marbury, I probably should have gone with Crawford (for more 3's and assists...although, both backcourt guys for the Knicks could have been ugly) or Jameer Nelson so shore up my assists.
Or Gomes....I should have taken Prince here and gone for a shot blocker on the next pick....probably would have taken Perkins at that point
3) Steals (who got more of a steal...don't really know)
D. Howard @ 35th, Kevin Martin @ 38th,
4) Probably A
5) Overall, I was going for balance. I wish I had gone a little more for the assists/steals, but I went for balance. I'm still lacking in blocks, so I really have to hope Prince and Krstic hit their numbers. I'm pretty happy with my team though and would address issues like blocks early in the season.
Duluoz
1) It could be Harrington if he gets C elig and 35 min a game in Nellie's offense, but I'm really happy with the value I got from my middle picks of Ricky Davis, David West, and Rip. I just wish one of them was pg elig since I'm loking thin there unless Baron plays 70+ games. I think
2) Not too happy with my last 4 picks except Harrington. Part of me really thought I should've taken Ellis instead of West, since a backcourt of Baron/Ellis would put up big numbers and Ellis will really benefit from Baron's inevitable games missed. But I took Rip later and his proven/consistent production and %'s (and 20/4/4). In the end Ellis will prob get the same numbers as Rip, with better steals and worse %'s, so I guess it works out except Rip doesn't get the pg elig I really needed.
I also would've taken Crawford or
Also, James was a bad pick, I should've taken Tinsley there.
3) tough to say, but I'll go with Bibby here. He could easily be a 3rd rounder again, so to get him in the 7th is nice. I was hoping he'd fall to 64. Rip also fell farther than expected imo.
4) It's been beaten to death, but AlJeff, Durant, and Josh Smith (little offense, poor %'s, his defensive prod could be made up for later with players like Chandler/Dalembert/Ellis later) were all huge reaches for me. Maybe Oden as well, since you could've gotten the same or better in
5) My strategy was to get the best value at each pick and to make sure I had solid if not great %'s/ steals/blocks/points, all of which I achieved on top of a team that should be 1st or 2nd in rebounds. 3's are pretty easy to get off waivers or through trades, so my only concern with this team would be lack of pg depth and maybe assists, though I should get 8+ from Baron, 5 from Carter/Davis/Diaw, and 4 from Rip/Delonte, so it's not so bad. I've got 7 players who will score close to 20 ppg in addition to solid %'s and rebounds, so there is a lot of value to make trades with during the season.
Sillyball
1) I actually like my late picks where they offer a lot of upsides. For Kaman, Peterson, Nelson, all of them had a disappointing season last year. But their situations change this year. There's no Brand for Kaman, a starter role for Peterson, and a coach change for Nelson. If everything works out fine, they should have alot higher values than where they were picked. If things don't work out, well, there should still be some pretty good players on the wavier considering only 120 players are taken.
2) If I can do it again, I probably wouldn't have picked JRich. I think he will be great this year as the #1 option on his new team. But both his % hurt. I think a guys like Deng or West will help my team more.
3) I think probably Okur. I didn't pick up Okur because I don't really need the 3. I think he has some trade values to get a better player in return than an eighth round pick. (well maybe not in this league)
4) Durant. There's no reason to pick him at that spot given that he could have picked Carter or Lewis. Even in the best case scenario, Durant may not exceed what Carter or Lewis number this year.
5) Try to draft the best player available and at the same time, try to get a PG and center early. It's a long season and there's always trades to address needs later on.
Shutton
1) I liked my Mo Williams pick in the 5th rd. He has great production (a bit of everything). I thought I may have been reaching for Gasol that early in the 2nd but I think that ended up being a good pick to.
2) As much as I think getting James at 6 was a good get... he set the tone for the rest of my draft in that I was always conscious of FT%... Added with Gasol and Dwight my FT% was poor after 4 rds but the next 8 picks all turned out to be good to great FT%.
3) unpossible with JJ at 30... I had him pegged in the 2nd rd but after I drafted James and Gasol I went for butler due to his superior FT%.
4) Durant was a reach - only because he would have been there 1 round later. Not many others though. S.Jackson at 89 by WOWB was a reach.. I thought he could have got him in the 11th or 12th rd... but after re-evaluating his stats it wasn't too far off I guess.
5) Pick the best possible in the first 4 then draft for needs in the remaining rds and look some potential late in the draft.
Nexxus
1) Deron Williams in the 3rd; Raymond Felton in the 4th. Two very good points guards (imo) that should put up good numbers this year. And I really like Amare at the eight spot. I also like Luis Scola and battier, should do very well under Adelman, and I think Atkins, at that spot, can be a good source of 3's along with his 81% ft and 5-6 asst which isn't bad for a 4th point guard.
2) Nene, great upside but health issues that seem to plague him every year. I thought they were behind him until their was a report of his injuries during the Olympic trials. He should be fine by the start of the season...but? Perhaps Bargnani wouldv'e been good at that spot.
3) Hard to say, Okur was a surprise. Bibby...well, his numbers weren't very good last year. He's never really been a big assist guy but he also had something like 40% field goal. I figured he would drop but not as low as he did in this particular draft. Jameer Nelson could be a steal. Last season was not very good but with Lewis on board and howard in the middle he can put up some real good numbers. Thought Caron butler was a good pickup he has worked himself into a top 20 player. He's passed up T-mac, boozer, Anthony and D.Howard among others, not bad, although, I was surprised to see him go before Joe Johnson & Michael Redd.
4) Durant and Maggette. I figured durant would go in the later rounds, but you know, when Lebron was picked by some in the early rounds people who passed on him had regrets. Not saying Durant is going to put up Lebron like numbers but you never know with some of these rookies their not your typical 1st year players and thrown into the right situation...well? Maggette was a surprise considering his injury history, doesn't shoot 3's, not a big board guy and no steals BUT with brand out I'm sure they’re looking for big numbers from him.
5) Nothing too exotic in this mock draft, I will save that for later ;-) but a general strategy to cover the category's that’s it, which I believe I did.
MinJit
1) I think my best pick was Ben Gordon. I think he's going to have a great year and even if he has the same year he did last year, he's a steal that late.
2) If I had to do a pick over, I would probably pick Deron Williams over Michael Redd. A lot of Michael Redd's value comes from his low TOs and in a league without TOs his value goes down. Plus, I love Deron Williams and think that he will easily be a top 5 pg again this year. That pick was probably the hardest pick of the draft for me.
3) In a league with 2 Cs, Okur would definitely be the steal of the draft. However, he went that late because we only have 2 Cs. Williams could be the steal of the draft. So could Ben Gordon; I mean, he's not that much worse than Michael Redd and look how much later he went. Guys like Bibby and AK who are calculated risks could also be major steals.
4) The biggest reach of the draft was definitely Kevin Durant. Even if the guy puts up his ceiling numbers for his rookie year, there are comparable players around there.
5) The biggest part of my strategy was to not reach for a C. Since we only needed one C, I knew I could grab one later. I saw tons of reaches for Cs and each of them was not worth it because we only need to start 1.
Unpossibl1
1) Probably the Joe Johnson pick. I was sorely tempted to take Melo, but JJ’s threes and assists make him a better fantasy option. A close second would be Brevin Knight, who can provide plenty of assists and steals even while splitting time. If and when Sam Cassell goes down Knight will be a big asset, making him a low risk-high reward pick. Granger could also turn out to be a fantastic pick.
2) If I had a pick to do over it would be the Andre Miller pick. I like Andre, but having 3 pgs (Wade, Miller, Knight) who don’t hit threes hurts. JJ, Granger, and Mike Miller will help make up for that, but it’s still not a situation I like being in. A better pick would have been Jason Terry or Mike Bibby.
3) I think Okur could be the steal of the draft, especially if he can get his boards back up to the 9 he grabbed a two seasons ago. If I didn’t need a center who could block shots I would have taken him myself over Biedrins.
4) The biggest reach of the draft has to be either Al Jefferson or Kevin Durant. Both were taken at spots where they have to play up to their highest potential in order to justify their draft positions.
5) My strategy was to try to create a well rounded team and if the pieces I needed weren’t there to take guys who would have solid trade value. I have probably one more center than I should be carrying (
-unpossibl1
