Just a heads up, as we get closer to the season, there's starting to get a lot more inquiries all at once and to keep my sanity I'll have to keep them shorter than what I was doing previously ha.

First impression; I like it, and would feel confident going into the season. You have a team that looks more like a 12 team league that I would be happy with and were able to get it in a 14 man league. Two young big men with upside right around pick 30 paired with two rock-solid veteran pg's right after make for a really strong top five picks.

I like your next four pairings as well. I am a fan of Favors who should certainly see more than 23 mpg this year, with more space in the post without Gobert and leaving one of the slowest paces in the league to one of the fastest. 13/8 plus a block and a steal with the chance for a little more seems easily attainable. Miles is going to get a ton of run and it looks like mainly at the 4 spots. With an expected minutes increase and some improvement a block, steal and three per game is doable, if not more likely than not. Huerter gives you another shooting that you needed at that point and White is a player. Looney is another big that has a lot of upside and a favorite of Kerr's.

You have a strong starting lineup for a slightly deeper league and a quality bench. You're solid in every category (sans turnovers) and will be competitive througohut, and a tough team to beat. Very good draft. Playoffs are in sight, don't mess it up haha!

Yes, please! This team is deep! Is this in the correct order? Ideally, I'd take Tobias later but Conley in the 6th is fantastic value and basically swaps them out. You don't have many big men so blocks will be hard to win, but you have rebounders in different areas to help out.

Russ and Klaw (assuming he doesn't get too many rest days) are great athletes. Russ' %'s are bad, and last year were historically bad, but they can't get worse right? It's hard to see him shoot that bad from the line again. If you can stomach that fg% you're getting a 20 point near triple-double with two steals and a triple a game. Solid compromise. His value gets a boost with no turnovers.

Horford in the 7th is great value. SGA in the 8th and Isaac in the 9th is also great value as they have been steadily climbing up boards the more teams I get in here. I've been seeing them in the 6th/7th respectively lately. Your last four guard picks were all quality value as well and pair nicely with your team. Wright as the last pick in the draft is a steal. That's free value for a top 100 guy.

You got a lot of value with your picks and underrated players. Blocks, fg% and rebounds are your weakest areas. You can definitely use another big guy and should be able to trade for one with the surplus of guards you have. You'll be strong in assists, steals and ft%. The other two you'll be good in. The no turnovers is a big one and gives you a bigger boost. Should be one of the better teams in the league.

Thank you Santino! I appreciate your time and your analysis, it really helps!

Also, hats of to you and the work you are putting in. I read through most of your replies and you really know your stuff.

And yes, definitely will try and not mess this up.

I can get behind this team. I like the number of bigs and PG's, something I like to do if the opportunity presents itself.

Joker and Drummond make for a dominant frontcourt pairing. Together they cover every category with elite tools. While I never target Aldridge and always let someone else take him, he still produces and adds a third big to a formidable duo. McGee was a nice target late as well and should see his typical allotment of minutes providing stead value. Another big with blocking ability would be nice to have on the bench.

Fox, Rozier, Rubio and LaVine is a good group of guys. Fox has blowup potential as one of the most athletic (and fastest) players in the league. LaVine has been teasing us for years from blowup games to ridiculous dunks, including b2b Slam Dunk titles, to going to ChiTown and putting it all together. Unfortunately, he has not been able to stay healthy for an entire season the past three years and after a couple of times, it becomes a trend, but boy was he good last year before going down. Rubio is one of my 3 favorite players in the league, (he has been since before he arrived. I like pg's lol) so I'll never say anything bad about him. He has a high IQ, top-tier court vision, and a new team with a new coach that will hopefully let him play to his strengths this year. I'd be grabbing him in any draft where you got it (take that as you will). Then there's Dragic looking to bounceback. You got him at no risk essentially and if he can return to even 80% form you'll get a solid return there. I saved Rozier for last purely because he's the young guy getting his first chance at leading a team and the jury is still out on him as far as is he even a good basketball player or not. He's going to get a chance to show it this year on a team devoid of stars and committed to development. He could still provide value this year even if he winds up being Reggie Jackson (think of his first year in Detroit), so he's worth the shot.

Warren is a solid pick if he proves his health. he showed a nice all-around game before going down last year (albeit in a more fantasy-friendly tempo). Onunoby is another sleeper looking to take advantage of his opportunities. You took a few chances on guys, him being one, who haven't typically been being drafted in standard-sized leagues. It doesn't mean they have no upside or value, it just means you probably could have grabbed them off waivers later if needed.

No problem and thank you for the compliments!

Fantastic concept and am now thinking of incorporating it next season! I am a huge fan of salaries and the cap, so this has me very giddy right now just looking at the post. I’ve never done this before, so I’ll try my best. As you say below, yes a very deep team that would have tough choices to make right now. The year is long though so we’ll see by the end of it. Can you trade keepers? As in, do the keepers have to be drafted by you?

You don’t have a first-round pick which is clear, were it a regular draft. But you have multiple 2s/3s/4s. Getting Jrue late because you saved your money is a really savvy move. he costs a ton, but you took cheap young talent to afford him then. In a few years when your guys sign extensions you’ll have to worry, but until then fire this team up! I love it. You have a defensive big in Turner paired with 2 young bigs oozing upside in JJJ and Carter. Great trio. Ideally another big would solidfy this group, but for now it’s up-and-coming with the emphasis on coming. Isaac being sneaky at the bottom of the list pairs great with these guys for defense.

Jrue, Mitchell, Butler, Trae, Morant, Murray, OH MY! I don’t think I have to elaborate much on how fantastic of a group this is and will leave it at this: watch out.

You worked the salary cap tremendously and built yourself a championship contender on day 1 for at least the next couple of years (barring injuries). I do like how you included the picks, it gives a glimpse into where your mind went and what you did to get everyone, and yes I am fully behind you on them. I also don’t know who was left and all that, but whatever lol, you did great. You’ll obviously have trouble in fg% and turnovers because you have so many ball-dominant guards, but that’s okay. Rebounds will be an issue against teams with big man depth. But everything else will be winnable. Points, ft% and threes will be elite if not tops in the league. Steals should be among the top quarter. Assists should be in the top half and you have the potential to have multiple guys over 2 blocks per game. Your team is loaded.

Thanks heaps!
Yeah we like the concept, there may be tweaks with how many roster spots etc. we can keep players if they are traded . So essentially any player drafted can be kept by the person who drafted them or by someone who trades for them (which could get interesting at the end of the year with some of the low salary high upside players).
I think with this type of draft you can’t go in with any plan, and really need to pay attention to the other teams and their remaining cap. I was able to wait a while until I grabbed jimmy butler, and then jrue last because other teams had grabbed two big contracts out of the gate. The first 6 picks were the standard first 6 you see in any draft.
I’m aiming to be very competitive in ft, 3s, points, assists, steals, blocks. So that’s great.
Because we only have 8 players (was a preference because you need 8 committed players rather than 2 extra so are semi into it) there are players on the wire at all contracts that are solid (other than sub 5 mil)
We’ve decided that if you use your IR spot, it doesn’t count towards your salary cap, this way if Butler gets injured, my season isn’t over, thoughts?
Top players left include: Booker, Gobert Drummond!
Which is good because there is scope for another 1-2 teams to join the competition in future years!

I thought it was a 12 man league, that's what it looked like you wrote. 8 man makes a huge difference with 1/3 of the teams disappearing. Your team is still plenty good, but with only instead of the presumed 12 it makes more sense how you were able to get so many good guys. Other teams must be strong as well. In any case, you still worked the wire great and were able to get value at each dollar price. That's tough seeing players like that on the wire but very understandable given the construction of the league. It'd be hard to make a move for on one of those three at the time as there's no clear money space. The IR thing is cool, but not easy to do since they'll jump right back to your salary once cleared. I'm sure Klay, Durant, and Dipo got taken earlier with that in mind.

Hi Santino (again),

First time Auction Draft (Yahoo Pro League), 9cat H2H and here is my team:

1. (35) Andre Drummond (Det - PF,C) $42
2. (37) Clint Capela (Hou - PF,C) $26
3. (48) Robert Covington (Min - SF,PF) $18
4. (52) Derrick Favors (NO - PF,C) $18
5. (59) Lonzo Ball (NO - PG) $10
6. (61) Larry Nance Jr. (Cle - PF,C) $7
7. (68) Bam Adebayo (Mia - PF,C) $20
8. (69) Ricky Rubio (Pho - PG) $7
9. (74) Eric Bledsoe (Mil - PG,SG) $19
10. (99) JaVale McGee (LAL - C) $8
11. (104) Miles Bridges (Cha - SF) $5
12. (106) Jeff Teague (Min - PG) $17
13. (109) Patrick Beverley (LAC - PG,SG) $2

Took me two damn hours but it was so worth it! Much more strategic and rewarding than snake!

Since auction draft allows for more control as to what players you want, I had a triple punt strategy (pts,3pt,ft%) in place... and I think it turned out pretty well, at least I hope it did lol

Spending $18 on Teague towards the end shows you my lack of budget management.I also spent extra on Drummond (hot commodity) and Capela but for the reason that they were the key pieces to my build. Bam & Favors also gain tremendous value from this build, really happy that no one fought hard to get them.

The only piece that I slipped out of my hand was Draymond and Adams, they would have been fantastic on my team, but then I would have had too many centers.

Ran some analysis on Hashtag and it appears that the team does in fact excel (top 1 or 2) in fg%, reb, ast, stl, blk with TO being above average (4).

Sorry for all my babbling, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this!

Thanks,
Allen

Add to that a couple flyers in round 13 amd 14.

Josh Okogie + Ivica Zubac.

Hey Santino! Just wrapped up my 12 team 9 cat H2H draft in a Hoop-Ball league!

Here is The Fantasy Factory! roster by pick, thank you for all you are doing!

Karl Anthony-Towns 1/2
Devin Booker 2/23
Donovan Mitchell 3/26
Eric Bledsoe 4/47
Kris Middleton 5/50
Marvin Bagley 6/71
Ja Morant 7/74
T.J. Warren 8/95
JaVale McGee 9/98
Spencer Dinwiddie 10/119
RJ Barrett 11/122
DeAndre Jordan 12/143
Jarrett Culver 13/146
Robert Williams 14/167

Thanks for the compliment man!

Getting the last pick is a tough break as it's pretty much no man's land this year and puts you behind the eight ball to start. Yes Beal is awesome and they'll be without Wall, but on paper, it's not as aesthetically pleasing to the eye with Beal as your top guy compared to others if you catch my drift.

Anyway, I like what you were able to do. Your team can most certainly score points and hit treys. Three of those first 4 get buckets. Beal is coming off a career year and is in a position to do it again, especially with the team already banged up again. Irving is coming career-high per-game averages in rebounds, assists, and steals and went to BKN as the main man. Hield is also coming off a career year and looking to repeat in Walton's fast-paced system. You never want to pay up for so many career year types, but Irving and Beal are definitely safe. Another guy you have at guard is Brogdon who is another long-range sniper.
You were able to get value in your big man as well. Mitch put up insane numbers in limited minutes and his blocks output alone gives him value even if he took a step back. Horford is being overlooked because of his new team/role, age, and whatever else it is, but he's a rock-solid veteran who contributes in every category. Ditto for Gasol (except the new team) who also is being overlooked and also contributes to everything. Those two plus your other guys give you a fantastic assists floor. Powell makes for a quality big off the bench to compliment the first guys. Noel and Zubac are a bit of wildcard with minimal value in their current roles but the potential for more if circumstances change.

Both Sun's small forwards are an interesting wrinkle and with both being multi-cat players, they both carry value and if one happens to go down then the other is a must-start. Anderson is another potential steal/three/block guy he can stay healthy. Good value and shots were taken here.

I think that you are correct, it is a generally solid team that will compete in quite a bit. I don't think your assists are too low. You don't have anyone who will be among the leaders, but you have a few guys who will get 5+, in addition to two bigs that generally get 3.5 or more. You won't be the best, but you'll above water, middling. Rebounds are low, fg% will be too. ft%, trey, steals look to be among the leaders while points will be high. You should be able to take most cats though. Your draft went well.

It's always fun to try something new and play around with a few different strategies.

Your points, steals and ft% are sure to be fantastic. Assists (you have multiple sources) and treys (young and harden alone is lethal) should be among top quarters as well. Your fg% and turnovers are going to be towards the bottom. Blocks and rebounds are pretty weak as well. In all, the strategy gives you 5 categories where you should be among the top half of the league and four that you'll be among the bottom half of the league. It means you have the advantage of winning every week with being so good at the majority of cats, but there isn't much wiggle room or room for error on a given week. While I have seen this work, and know it can, that's a tough spot to put yourself in for the playoffs. Narrowing down your cats means that one down week from Harden or company could be the end of it all, or if another team is similarly as good in one or multiple they have the advantage. The firepower and strategy should get you to that point though.

Hey Santino,
Love the work you doing here!

I just finished up my draft a few days ago and after my initial assessment I'm not sure how I feel about the team.
I had the 12th pick in a 9-cat standard H2H league.

1. (12) Bradley Beal
2. (13) Jimmy Buttler
3. (36) Mike Conley
4. (37) LaMarcus Aldridge
5. (60) Josh Richardson
6. (61) Al Horford
7. (84) Marc Gasol
8. (85) Miles Bridges
9. (108) Delon Wright
10. (109) Davis Bertans
11. (132) P.J. Tucker
12. (133) Cedi Osman
13. (156) Zach Collins

I think I'll be solid in FT%, steals, and TOs. Middle of the pack in 3pm & assists. Towards the bottom in FG%, Reb, Block, and points.
What do you think? Should I try and target certain types of players to boost any of these categories?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Hey just did my first draft of the season yesterday, 12 team 9-cat standard h2h league. However the payout at the end does value the regular season winner more. Let me know how I did and if you think I can improve somewhere. Thanks.

Jrue Holiday
Kawhi Leonard
Mike Conley
LaMarcus Aldridge
Jonathan Isaac
Gordon Hayward
Mitchell Robinson
Ja Morant
Enes Kanter
Delon Wright
Dwight Powell
Brandon Clarke
Kelly Olynyk