Hello all,

I know it's a bit early, but if you're like me, you're chomping at the bit for next season, patiently waiting for your league's draft to commence. Whether you're new to fantasy basketball, or a veteran who's been playing for a decade or more, it's always fun to get some feedback on your team via multiple sources. At HoopBall we put our subscribers' interests first and strive to give you the best fantasy bball advice around! Take advantage of all we have to offer and send in your teams whenever they are ready! Also as Dan said, you can message/DM me on twitter as well @Santinocaccone and I will get back to you in a timely manner! Let's get ready to ball out!

Hi Santino! So excited that you will be taking on this role! This is going to be awesome for our HoopBallers!!!

Here is my squad (The King and His Court) in the very competitive HoopBall Dynasty 3 League. It's a 20 team, 9 cat league.

Kyle Lowry
Goran Dragic
Bojan Bogdanovic
LeBron James
Kristaps Porzingis
Tobias Harris
Paul Millsap
Rui Hachimura
Bruce Brown Jr.
Justin Jackson
Kenrich Williams
Alfonzo McKinnie
Bobby Portis
Damyean Dotson
Brandon Ingram
Ignas Brazdeikis

Thanks!!
Coach

Hi Santino

Just picked up a second hand team in an existing league to compete in a 12 team roto 9 cat 7 player keeper league. Get 2nd round pick in the draft.

Players below with a K next to the keepers.

Was unsure whether to drop love for possible trade value if he gets back to his old self?

D Booker K
M Turner K
N Vucevic K
B Simmons K
K Love
T Harris K
Nance jr
J Randle K
SGA K
N Batum
N Noel
A Wiggins
J Hart
F nikilitina

Hey man glad to hear from you! Let's start out by saying that you're inheriting a pretty solid roster. A lot of times people take over teams from members who quit mid-season the year prior and are left with a reclamation project, but those top four are a great foundation. I do have to ask though, when you say 2nd round pick did you mean the 2nd pick in the draft or that you don't pick until the 2nd round of the draft? Did you trade away your first pick to acquire one of the above keepers?

Now about the keeper situation and the Love question, in particular, there are a few ways to look at it. You know your league-mates better than I do, so you'll have a better idea of who you can potentially get back in the draft. Keep an ear out for any information on who might be available and make a few mocks from there. For now, I would stay patient on the last keeper spots and keep gathering info until rosters need to be locked in. Maybe offer a 2 for 1 deal and fix the problem that way. If your draft is at the end of the preseason or in a month or so, you'll have more time to evaluate the current situations. The big four are no brainers, and SGA will keep your roster balanced and should be given the reigns in OKC sooner rather than later. When and if the time comes it'll be a decision to keep two of those three forwards (Harris, Love, Randle). You have Randle coming off a career year as a sixth man and now with the Knicks where he should be one of the offensive focal points. He started shooting threes more last year and an improvement in that department would go a long way, and at 24, it's certainly a possibility. Harris is on a stacked starting five where he's set to move back to the 3 (when the team plays at full strength) after the addition of Horford. Harris made a big jump in rebounds, but that looks like it should fall back down now. Then there's the man of the hour: Kevin Love. Love hasn't played more than 60 games in either of the past three seasons. He's the "elder" statesmen on a young team who isn't likely to contend for a playoff spot which means a midseason trade is highly possible, if not likely. A few things come up with that; Could the team decide to curb his minutes to keep him healthy for a trade? Will the team play him regularly to showcase him for a trade? We do know that if Love is healthy, he's the focal point of that offense and will be a usage hog. He also quietly averaged 17.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.4 threes in the 22 games he played last year. If Love goes to a contender his role would change and his value could conceivably drop, but he'll also be around more talented players, and he proved in the past that he is still valuable in that role.

All in all, while they're not far off, if Love looks healthy this preseason he'd be my first choice of the three. His injury history is real and he has the lowest floor because of it, but the potential for 2+ treys and double-digit rebounds as the go-to scorer on a bad team is too enticing. For what is essentially a 6th/7th round pick in a redraft league, the higher ceiling guy is where I'd tend to go.

Hey Coach! Let me start by saying if you’re not familiar with him yet, you will be soon! Coach is the host, along with Mike Apotria, of our new DFS podcast! These two masters of their craft will be offering unrivaled advice every day throughout the season! Check out their first two shows in the link here:
HoopBall DFS

Hitting me with a tough one right off the bat, I like it. 20 team dynasty league is intense, and I'm sure on-paper none look like rockstars. I'd like to see how this team stacks up to some others.

The guards are not the greatest with Dragic and Lowry leading the way. Lowry is in line to get more usage this season with Leanord and Green departing. With a better supporting cast and better luck in the health department, Dragic should return to his previous levels. Whether he starts or comes off the bench has yet to be determined, but his numbers were fairly consistent with his career norms, when he was in the lineup, outside of his second-worst year shooting (the rookie year was the worst). I expect that to revert to the norm with health. Out of them, Dotson is talented, but his role is uncertain right now with Barret there. Brown is a sleeper and one that I am notably higher on than most. He had a fantastic Summer League running PG, and even if he doesn't handle the ball in the regular season, it would be a huge bonus if he does, I am still intrigued by his skillset. In under 20 minutes as a raw rookie, he averaged .5 steals and .5 blocks. If he gets 30 or so minutes this year, I wouldn't be shocked if he hovered around one each. Throw in a more consistent shot, and he could push for close to a three a game. It's rare to find players that can provide that kind of statistical diversity and he is a name to keep an eye on.

The forwards and big men are where this team makes its money. LeBron is a fantasy anchor regardless of the format. Bojan and Ingram will play their part on playoff-contending teams while Harris will play his on a championship hopeful. JJax is starting and so will McKinnie until Klay is back, and Ignas has a lot of potential. The Unicorn coming back off injury and playing with Doncic will be so much fun to watch for years to come. The Wizards are going to let Hachimura (side note, I know I'm going to get his name wrong many times this year) play through the ups and downs all year. Millsap is the epitome of underrated, consistent fantasy/real-life asset. And then there's Portis who's role is up in the air, but should see 20+ backup big man minutes a night.

Blocks and field goal percentage are going to be tough for this team to win on, but the rest are pretty solid with multiple well-rounded players on the roster. Down the road maybe it'll be different, but when you put it into perspective that there are 320 owned players in this league and only 360 active players on a full-slate game-day roster, it's hard to fathom how this team came into play. But then again Coach is an expert at his craft and knows the game like few others do.

Thanks Santino!! That is a tremendous and very helpful breakdown of my team! Great insight! I will be recommending you to the listeners on the HoopBall DFS & Box Score Breakdown podcasts! What a big plus for all the HoopBallers out there to utilize! Keep up the great work brother!

Hey Santino,

Amazing feedback so far on the above teams.

This is my 20 team 9 category h2h dynasty league team. All the win now guys were gone by the time i got my first pick so i had to go with the youth movement.

Trae Young
Delon Wright
Ja Morant
Will Barton
Al Horford
Robert Williams
Deandre Ayton
Thomas Bryant
Bruno Fernando
Tomas Satoransky
Aaron Holiday
Shabazz Napier
Bruce Brown Jr.
Troy Brown
Damyean Dotson
Darius Garland

Thanks Santino, awesome detailed breakdown. Yeah sorry its 1st round 2nd pick.

Hi Santino

Awesome thread! 10 team 9Cat h2h with extra bench spot & 2IR
I feel like I had a great draft after listening to a few podcasts. Larry Nance on waivers should I drop Rui and get him?

Irving
Harden
Butler
Rui Hachi
Bam Adebayo
Trae Young
Kelly Oubre
Mike Conley
Al Horford
Brook Lopez
JV
Miles Bridges
Delon Wright
IR Covington
IR M.Fultz

Looking forward to the feedback. Thanks

Hi Santino,
Great feature in here. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on my 12 team 9-Cat H2H squad. I had the 6th pick overall.

Jokic
Jrue Holiday
Zion
Buddy Hield
Valanciunas
Bledsoe
Isaac
Oubre
Teague
Dwight Powell
Zach Collins
Joe Harris
Hachimura

I'm adapting to categories league from my home league (ESPN points), so I tried to focus less on points and rebounds, which are heavily favored in that format, and looked more for percentages and defensive stats instead. Maybe too much in that direction? Looking forward to your feedback.

Hi Santino,

This is my current squad for a 12 team 9 cat H2H league which i had pick 6 in.

Jrue Holiday
Malcolm Brogdon
Lebron James
Draymond Green
Deandre Ayton
Kyle Lowry
Otto Porter Jr
Robert Covington
Gordon Hayward
Thomas Bryant
Bam Adebayo
Marcus Smart
Larry Nance Jr

Looking forward to your reply! Thanks

Hey man, this is sure to be one of the more relaxed team analysis' I get this year. Ten team leagues are more productive and have a talented starting lineup with a good bench since ya know, fewer people are being drafted. With that said, this roster is stuffed throughout with people who were great value picks. I'm assuming the draft went something like Harden, Irving, Butler, Trae, Conley, Bam, Horford, JV, Lopez, Covington? If we're to go by ADP alone, the first ten rounds are littered with value picks and players going past rounds past their expected ADP. Not everyone will be at their preseason ADP, but to be able to get guys later than they should be going continuously is a tremendous start and one that is needed to be a championship competitor.

The team is construction started extremely guard-heavy, and not having a stud big guy could come back to bite you. Though, you did a great job in getting ample value in rounds 6-10 on big men. Breaking down the team off of the nine categories, you can see this team being at or near the top in points, steals, threes, assists, and ft% each week. Or in shorter words 5/9 categories (a win) this team can dominate. Winning rebounding and blocks will be harder to come by, but there will be weeks in which you win, and others where you can win depending on how you play your roster and the waiver wire game. This team wasn't built to win them every week, so being able to compete in some is a win in itself. With so many high usage guards, the team is sure to not be useful in turnover and fg% will be hard to win by as well. I wouldn't take that as a bad thing. If there is one category I would want to be bad in its turnovers. 90% of the time it means you have a lot of high usage guys who have the ball in their hands. Which players are the best on their teams and in fantasy? High usage guys.

All in all, this is a top-tier team. I'd see if you can try to facilitate a trade for a big man anchor, but if not, then play to your strengths. Never get complacent and continue to scour the wire and the trade market. Also in regards to the Rui or Nance question, you can use another big rebounder, so I wouldn't be opposed, though I do like Rui's talent. As of right now, I don't think it would matter who you picked up as Covington is set to come off that IR before the season, so if it's between Nance and Rui for your last spot, then Covington trumps both anyway. Maybe for now keep who has the better trade value in the league and try to facilitate something that wat. I mean you somehow have Delon Wright as the last player on your team, a guy who can be a top 50 fantasy player this year, so it is extremely hard for a team like this to drop players. You should be able to make a few 2 for 1s with the amount of depth you have and continue to find value on the wire. Kudos to you for this draft!

Thanks for submitting your team!

I'll start off by saying that I am sorry to hear that, but in a 20 man league, it gets rough. I am personally not a fan of playing for the future in dynasty or keeper leagues. Going into a season not thinking or giving yourself the mindset of not winning a championship, is never my forte.I'm not a brave soul like yourself to take a season or two to rebuild. Now, if this was an NBA franchise and my favorite ex-GM Sam Hinkie was running the show, I'd be all for it. But I love winning fantasy too much to wait for something that could be.

With that said, and taking into consideration that you yourself are trying to win now but have an eye on the future, this team isn't all that bad. While small point guards historically don't win NBA championships (a few exceptions), they are fun to watch! Traening day (Hopefully it catches on) is one of my favorite players to watch ball out. There's just something about him that makes me want to turn on a Hawks game. Since 2000 alone there has been more than a few top 3 picks that have busted, and it's the reality of sports. But Ja Morant does not look like one. I am excited to see Morant take the reigns in Memphis. He has the potential to fill up a stat sheet from day one. That's an exciting 1-2 punch in the backcourt, then you throw in Delon Wright, who has top-50 potential this year, and Darius Garland and this team has a bright future ahead at PG. I'm a big fan of Bruce Brown's fantasy potential as I mentioned in a previous post and Satoransky is in a good position on a young Bulls' squad.

The player pool dries up like the desert in a 20 man league, and I can see it got to the big men on this roster. There's really not much to choose from but the few that you have, do offer upside. I like Ayton more than others and I see him continuing to improve this year. It's not every day you get a rookie big man who averaged 16 and 10 with .9 blocks and .9 steals and gets looked over. Rubio will help get him easier looks this year and he'll approach 20 ppg. Bryant enjoyed a breakout last year and after getting paid this offseason he'll be returning as the unquestioned starter and ready to put up new career-high numbers. Fat Rob has the potential to go either way. He's a bit of a wildcard and on a team like this, he's perfect as you have to take these sorts of shots. Horford is Horford and is being undervalued moving back to his natural position and playing alongside Embiid and a stacked roster. Embiid is going to get his rest a lot, even when he's not injured. His numbers should take a hit, but I don't see the panic drop that others do. He'll be fine and a guy you should look to move when you get a chance if you are out of the running.

20 man leagues are tougher to judge without looking at the rest of the league. All in all, this team has potential in a few years if you can add another piece or two, specifically some big men. Right now it's not too bad but hard to see aking a playoff run. There are a few good building blocks and with some savvy moves, you'll add some more. I hope the plan works out going forward!

Hey man, thanks for submitting! My strategy has me putting the most focus on rebounds, assists, and defensive stats. Whether a guy can shoot threes also factors in, but I put my least stock in points and percentages and none in turnovers. That's just my preference. When I say that, I don't mean I'm punting the other stats, I emphasize the others. And when I say points, it refers to the people who don't contribute much outside of scoring and threes. Going with the defensive stats was a great move!

Your draft went well. This team should be remarkable in steals, and while you have no elite shot blockers, there are quite a few guys that will put up over 1 per game.

Holiday, Bledsoe, Teague, Harris, and Hield is a good set of guards. Holiday is a stud, and I've always been a fan of Bledsoe's well-rounded production. No more Brogdon behind him is a good thing. A healthy Teague is the X-Factor of this group, and a return to health will make this a very good crop of guys. He's a target I like in the later middle rounds for his assist/three/steal combination that comes with about 15+ points. I am not the biggest on Hield in fantasy, as I said earlier, I tend to avoid scorers for guys who can contribute the defensive and counting stats. That said, he fits well on this team. Ironically, Harris is a guy I would take later to help in threes while I pad my counting stats earlier.

Zion, Isaac, and Oubre is your money bracket as each of them can put up a steal, rebound and three per game with 5+ rebounds or so. Zion could push for a double-double in off the bat.

After the Joker, you held out on your next big guy, but JV is in position to finally fully break out this year. This makes for an excellent pairing in the frontcourt. Powell should benefit from playing next to the Unicorn. He'll get less defensive pressure and more of an opportunity to bang down low. If he can get to around 30 mpg, he'll be useful. Ideally, he'd be the fourth or fifth big on a team. I like both Collins and Rui this year. Both are in friendly positions with not much competition behind them and secure roles. They should both be given ample playing time, and in fantasy, that means everything, well except talent.

Overall, there are a few holes on the team. Blocks and significant man depth come to mind. While Joker makes a considerable difference, another pg would help as well. I can see you making the playoffs. The waiver and your involvement will be essential though, as drafting is step one. Good luck and let me know how everything goes. Don't forget to tune into all the podcasts and articles we have to continue helping you along the way as new information rolls in and values change regularly.