Fantasy Basketball Draft: TORONTO, ON - JUNE 17: Kyle Lowry #7 of the Toronto Raptors holds the championship trophy during the Toronto Raptors Victory Parade on June 17, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. The Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors 4-2 to win the 2019 NBA Finals. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
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(Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images). Fantasy Basketball Draft: FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – OCTOBER 3: #22 of the Miami Heat looks on during Training Camp on October 3, 2019 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) The NBA season is around the corner and what better way to start preparing for our fantasy drafts than to actually analyze some fantasy basketball draft results from a real, competitive, H2H league.Fantasy basketball draft mocks are fantastic, but I always find that no matter how many you do, it just can’t replace learning from a real draft. Without further ado, let’s dive into the draft results of a 14 team Yahoo league, with other Diamond and Platinum owners. This is part 1 and will cover rounds 1 to 6 (84 picks).Fantasy Basketball Draft: Round 11.
Anthony Davis(LAL – PF,C) – Stone Cold2. Stephen Curry(GS – PG,SG) – MY TEAM3. James Harden(Hou – PG,SG) – Wrecking Crew4. Karl-Anthony Towns(Min – C) – General G5.
Giannis Antetokounmpo(Mil – SF,PF) – Breaking Bad6. LeBron James(LAL – SF,PF)- Jokes on U7.Nikola Jokic(Den – PF,C) – Don’t knock the knicks8.
Damian Lillard(Por – PG) – Apples to Pears9. Joel Embiid(Phi – PF,C) – Step 12310. Bradley Beal(Was – SG)- Team Aces11. Kyrie Irving(Bkn – PG,SG) -1 nighter12. Kawhi Leonard(LAC – SG,SF) – Big Boyz13. Kemba Walker(Bos – PG) -Play2Win14. Paul George (LAC – SF)- Drewit that wayValue Pick.
Buy Now!It’s the first round so nothing too deep to share. If anything (aka, KAT) has the potential to be the number 1 player in Fantasy this year, especially with reports coming out of Minnesota that and, when possible, lead the break in transition. This could boost up one of only two weaknesses in KATs stat line: assists.My PickI feel that Curry is going to FEAST this year.
KD has moved, and the Warriors are relatively thin on the bench. It all seems to be adding up to a monster year for Curry.In both the 2014-15 season, and the 2015-16 season, Curry was by far the number 1 player in Fantasy. These are of course the years before KD arrived, and now that he is gone, there aren’t many reasons to doubt Curry’s ability to repeat those performances. And no – I am not worried about D’Angelo Russell.“Meh” pickHard to choose between and Kemba here. I honestly feel Play2Win could have had Kemba come back to him in round 2 of this draft.
In the past three seasons Kemba has never returned higher value than the second round (unless punting FG). I’d rather have Butler here and hope Kemba comes back to me – even though Kemba is far more durable.Extra ThoughtsNot too much can go wrong in the first round of a draft. The initial 7 picks tend to be almost set in stone, with Davis, Curry, James, Giannis, KAT, Jokic and Lillard. Bit of a curveball here with James being selected at 6 but otherwise a pretty standard round 1 to me. Fantasy Basketball Draft: Round 21. Trae Young(Atl – PG) – Drewit that way2.
Rudy Gobert(Uta – C) – Play2Win3. Zion Williamson(NO – PF) – Big Boyz4. Andre Drummond(Det – PF,C) – 1 nighter5. Nikola Vucevic(Orl – PF,C) – Team Aces6.
Luka Doncic(Dal – PG) – Step 1237. Jimmy Butler(Mia – SG,SF) – Apples to Pears8. Jrue Holiday(NO – PG,SG) – Don’t knock the knicks9.
Draymond Green(GS – PF,C) – Jokes on U10. Deandre Ayton(Pho – C) – Breaking Bad11. De’Aaron Fox(Sac – PG) – General G12. Myles Turner(Ind – PF,C) – Wrecking Crew13. Donovan Mitchell(Uta – PG,SG)- MY TEAM14. Jaren Jackson Jr.(Mem – PF,C) – Stone ColdValue PickJimmy ‘Buckets’ Butler!
The new addition to the Miami Heat will likely return first round value as the head honcho there. Granted, he has missed his fair share of games over the years but Jimmy has returned at least top 15 value in 9 cat leagues for 4 years in a row now. No other player in this round can say that.Butler will clearly be the go-to on offence this year resulting in a usage rate that we can safely assume will be higher than it was in Minnesota or Philadelphia.
Don’t be surprised if Butler cracks the top 10 this year. The last time he eclipsed a usage rate of 25% was in 2016-2017 with the Bulls. He was a top 8 player that year.
My PickTo be honest this was a bit of a panic pick for me. I like Mitchell but I probably would have preferred I guy like Siakam here, or dare I sayWestbrook?Mitchell is coming off a pretty strong showing with the USA team and we often see players following this kind of experience have fantastic years.LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and are some examples of this happening post Olympics. But this wasn’t the Olympics, and Mitchell is not quite LeBron, Wade, or Carmeloat least not yet. I am lukewarm to this pick but hopeful that the arrival of Conley will boost Mitchell’s percentages and lower his turnovers.“Meh” pickis just too early of a draft pick here. He has a ton of upside but his percentages will have to take a large leap this year and his turnovers will have to come down significantly for him to even sniff top 30 value.
Hopefully with Porzingis back on the court Luka will get easier looks but this is still too early for me.Extra ThoughtsOverall I thought this was a strong round. There were a lot of value draft picks here in Drummond, Jrue and Butler.
All three have a real chance of pulling round 1 value.Let’s not forget, Drummond finished last year within the top 20 and was a top 4 player over the last two months of the season in spite of his horrid free throw shooting! He is also extremely durable. Teams punting FT in head to head can go ahead and feel comfortable picking him in the first round.Holiday at pick 22 looks great here as well. I’ve seen some pro draft results where Jrue has gone as high as 9! While I don’t believe he will quite reach that, there are a lot of weapons on this Pelicans team. Their which would mean additional opportunities for Jrue to pass last years 22 rank finish.
You have reached a degraded version of ESPN.com because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.For a complete ESPN.com experience, please upgrade or use aJim McCormick, Special to ESPN.com1yFantasy NBA Daily Notes: Airplane Mode taking flight in Miami,Luka Doncic and Danilo Gallinari dueled with 32 points apiece in an exciting matchup of top European talents on Thursday, but it was Derrick Jones Jr. Of Miami who stole the slate by providing profitable fantasy production.The cool kids call him 'Airplane Mode' for his prolific aerial skills above the rim, while Miami coach Erik Spoelstra is starting to call Jones' name off the bench with more frequency.
The bouncy combo forward hadn't been a steady part of the Miami rotation for much of the season, but injuries and losses have mounted to the point of Jones getting extended exposure the past two weeks, typified by last night's season-high 15 points to go with eight rebounds and four combined steals and blocks.During his past six appearances, Jones has averaged 10.3 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.2 SPG, 1.5 BPG in 25.3 MPG. Those are undeniably roster-worthy numbers, particularly in the defensive department, where Miami needs his length and athleticism to guard rangy power forwards.When a player emerges from the shadows off the bench in the NBA, it's tough for fantasy managers to decipher how to trust in this production as either a blip or trend. There is indeed an opportunity cost to cutting a player from your roster and adding an unknown upstart like Jones. I look for statistical scarcity as one of the early differentiation elements when making such decisions. For instance, Jones is producing a unique blend of steals and blocks the past few weeks, which signals he can provide statistics than many of his peers in fantasy free agency simply cannot.Available in more than 99 percent of ESPN leagues, maybe you can treat acquiring Jones as a 10-day contract of sorts to see if this new role and production pattern is indeed enduring.With an eye on meaningful fantasy performances and relevant statistical trends, let's delve into the night that was in the NBA.