The Phan Blog league held its draft this past weekend, as 20 teams convened to select 8 players each to compete in the Head to Head league this year.
With league settings only allowing for 8 players (PG, SG, SF, PF, C, U and 2 Bench), I had a strategy going in to target flexible players (e.g. multi position eligible) in order to maximize future flexibility in getting players into a daily lineup. Withonly 8 players, if no multi position eligible players were selected at all, at least two positions would be locked down with only 2 eligible players all year. That was the thought process going in.
The Draft order was set randomly 30 minutes before the draft and I was picking 10th in a league of 20. Below is my team’s draft results:
| LakersHype.com – DJ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Round | Pick Overall | Player |
| 1. | (10) | Danny Granger (Ind – SF,PF) |
| 2. | (31) | Andrea Bargnani (Tor – PF,C) |
| 3. | (50) | Raymond Felton (NY – PG,SG) |
| 4. | (71) | Carlos Boozer (Chi – PF,C) |
| 5. | (90) | Hedo Turkoglu (Pho – SG,SF) |
| 6. | (111) | Beno Udrih (Sac – PG) |
| 7. | (130) | Spencer Hawes (Phi – C) |
| 8. | (151) | DeMar DeRozan (Tor – SG,SF) |
This draft was one of the most, if not the most, competitive drafts I have ever taken part in. There were countless times I was targeting a player, only to see him snatched up just before my turn. Let’s get into each pick.
Round 1 Pick 10
Picking 10th, I knew I was going to get a quality player. Little did I know I was going to have a choice between two great ones. With a choice between Danny Granger and Pau Gasol, the player picked here was going to impact my strategy the rest of the way. In the Head to Head format, you want to pick players that can single handily win you categories by himself. Danny Granger fits the mold with his high volume 3s and steals from the PF position. Even though he is an injury risk and forces you to punt FG%, the quality little man stats from an unorthadox position was too good to pass up.
Round 2 Pick 31
Here is when players I was targeting started falling off the board. At 31, I was most assuredly going for a PG/SG type to augment the PF I had. Late in Round 1 I started thinking Tyreke Evans or maybe Monta Ellis if I get lucky. Both were taken by samiscooking. As my pick came closer, I started thinking Andre Iguodala or Chauncey Billups. Both got taken just before me and I was at a loss! I started considering my options and thought to maybe reach for Darren Collision or Derrick Rose or maybe even Danillo Gallinari. I then started considering Big Men. My first choice would have been Kevin Love, but he was taken several picks ahead of me (at 26!). I came down to two choices: Al Horford and Andrea Bargnani. After comparing, I noticed that most of Al Horford’s valuecomes from FG% and the pick became easy. With Granger and Bargnani I have a solid base in 3s, Steals and Blocks. Both are #1 options on their teams as well, so points should be solid as well. Next round definitely needs a PG/SG.
Round 3 Pick 50
With only 8 picks, I don’t think it would be very smart to ignore position requirements. You never want to leave value on the table, but don’t ignore team building principles. Plus I was pretty light on Assists. I was targeting a PG. I would have loved to have a Collision or Rose to fall to me, but with the quality commissioners around me, that was not going to happen. When my pick came up and Raymond Felton was on the board, it was a pretty easy decision to make. Although I considered Baron Davis, Felton is able to play SG as well. I knew I could always get another PG later and pair him with Felton for maximum assist production.
Round 4 Pick 71
This pick is where my Fantasy team is going to win or lose. I never want to leave value on the table and even though he did not fit my punt FG% strategy very well, Carlos Boozer is too talented to pass up. A lot of other commissioner left him on the board as he is currently injured and carrying an injured player in this format is asking for punishment. I ultimately decided that a top 30 player at pick 71 is worth carrying for the few weeks he is injured. Although I think Andrew Bogut (pick 56) can be a top 10 player when healthy, I believe he is a bigger injury risk than Boozer. Boozer was slated to be out 8 weeks when he injured his hand on October 5. Since then positive news has cut the timeline to about 6 weeks. Which means Boozer might start playing in week 3. If I can survive and stay in the top half of the league for the first few weeks while he is out, Boozer should allow me to take off like a rocket and really light up the rest of the season.
Round 5 Pick 90
With the 90th pick I wanted to target some more Assists and potentially pick up another Guard. I was hoping for someone like Jameer Nelson. Not happening. I briefly considered reaching for Mike Conley, but thought that maybe he might last until my next pick at 111 (he was going around there in many of my other drafts, but here, no chance, snapped up two picks later at 92). I decided on Hedo Turkoglu, who although he hasn’t looked great in preseason, has too much invested in him by the Suns. Plus he is starting at PF, so he should get triple position eligibility soon. If he bounces back, he should also have a positive influence on my Assists.
Round 6 Pick 111
As I talked about previously I wanted to target another PG to pair with Felton. A run on the PG spot left it thin and I was considering getting another big like Yao Ming instead. Ultimately I become concerned with carrying too many injured players and decided to take Beno Udrih. Benois the unquestioned starting PG in Sacramento withsolid Assists, 3s and Steals. With this pick, I have 6 players and I’m already 2 deep at every position. This flexibility will probably win me about 4-5 categories that I otherwise might have missed out on throughout the year.
Round 7 Pick 130
Two picks left and not too many choices. Picking late in this draft I wanted to avoid singles and doubles of known players and go for the home run. If I strike out, its easy to pick someone new from the waiver wire. I also wanted to get another big man since Boozer is out for the first couple of weeks. Channing Frye almost fell to me (he was picked at 128) and he would have been perfect, but Spencer Hawes was the pick. Although he was injured this preseason, he seems to have the starting spot in Philly locked down and he fits my strategy.
Round 8 Pick 151
Again, the strategy here is to go for the potential home run. Since I was already at least 2 deep at every position, I can afford to select any player at any position. Lots of good choices here, including Mike Dunleavy, who seems healthy, Greg Monroe, who has a lot of opportunities in Detriot, and Josh McRoberts, withthe same in Indy. Going with DeMar DeRozan gives me a solid player who is starting with ample opportunity in Toronto.
In the end I was very happy with my draft. Quality Flexible players at every position and a potential top 30 player at pick 71. If my last two picks pan out, or I can manage to get other quality players instead, I should have a team of 8 top 100 players, which should be solid compared to other teams. That should allow me to survive the first few weeks without Boozer and really make some noise after he comes back.
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