I like a Giannis-Draymond 1-2. It already strengthens what Giannis is good at. I can see how Lowry is good based on your reasons and complements him as well.

For your third pick. I'd go Marc Gasol. He's a well-rounded, multi-cat CENTER, who is good value at that spot and addresses said position.

I am willing to "gamble" on Embiid but at much later rounds, where his accompanying risk is much lower.

My 2 cents,
E

I'll work through the contingencies.

I'm sure Kemba, Gasol, Love and Embiid are gonna filling up 27 and 28.

I think all 4 are arguable BPAs, more or less. So you'll have a choice of 2 out of those 4, depending on how your fellow managers pick for 27, 28.

I personally wouldn't go with Embiid, as I don't like major injury risks, no matter the upside. Unless he fell to your 44th pick, which is highly unlikely, I wouldn't consider him.

Kemba would be a good argument for BPA at 29 and if you wanna finish your PG slots early. Then on your next pick (44), you can maybe grab Bro-Lo for C. He'll give you good BLKs and FT%, but you'll need to look for rebs later, as Bro-Lo isn't too shiny there.

Love could help you quite a bit in FTs and 3s where Giannis suffers in. Especially with IT likely missing a good portion of the season, I think Love should be able to increase his volume in those departments as well. Love's also gonna help you tremendously in rebs. You'll suffer in FG and defense with Love, so on your next pick, I'd be eyeing Big Al to cover your C position as well. He'll give you a nice 1.0 STLs and 1.5ish BLKs, along with a 50%-ish FG there to cover Love's deficiencies.

Gasol seems like a good all-around safe pick at 29. I don't think you can go wrong with Gasol here and gives you a bit more flexibility for your next pick.

I like to think I'm more of a safe drafter, so I personally would choose Gasol if available. If not, Love seems like a good 2nd choice, but I'd have to be banking on Horford for the next pick.

With Giannis and Lowry already on your team, the obvious answer to me is Klay Thompson. Snagging him at 29 would be an amazing value pick, especially since Giannis' biggest weaknesses are his three-pointers and free throws. Klay is a perfect compliment, giving you a flurry of three's with great free throws (similar to Kyle, but still very valuable). He also chips in at a decent rate in both defensive stats, and his high fg% offsets Kyles shaky shooting, keeping your overall fg very competitive. I think you'd be in a good position after that to target a big later on with pick 44/53. Think Horford, Dieng, Ibaka, Vucevic or even Valanciunas

So an update! Embiid and Gasol went the next two picks, now its up to me...

Options are (in the 20-40) range:
- Bledsoe, Rubio, Beal, Kemba, Griffin, Love, Hayward, Millsap, Klay, Oladipo

I like the idea of Kemba here, I just worry that at 44/53, my bigs or Millsap/Horford will be gone. Klay is an interesting one, I wasnt sure if 29 is too much of a reach for Klay, but...

tbh I think its out of Klay Thompson, Kevin Love and Kemba Walker.

Maybe Horford, Nurk, Lopez might be there at 44 (prob not)

Thoughts? You are all guru's btw. Keep the ideas flowing!

5 hours on the clock, so I will heed your advice and select accordingly 🙂

I like the Klay proposition. However, if your league is a 2-center league, then Kevin Love is a fair choice. That said, thanks to Kyrie's departure, K-Love is a fair choice even in a 1-center league.

So I would narrow it down to Klay or Love.

Good call on Klay, Kemba, and Kevin. I think the assists you've already got from Lowry and Giannis can make you look away from Kemba, though he is good value here. But I agree with Erik, make a call between Love and Klay. Both would be valuable additions. Personally, I love Thompson but I don't thompson Love.

First off, I'm thrilled that this post got such a strong response so fast. The forums truly work!

I'd lean Kemba or Klay. With Giannis and Lowry your team doesn't have any glaring weaknesses right now other than maybe Lowry's health. But both Kemba and Klay have been durable lately, and both will end up as top-35 picks even in a worst case scenario.

I wouldn't worry much about stats at this pick since your team is fairly well-rounded as it stands. Just go with BPA, and for me, that's actually Kemba by about 3-4 slots. But it might just come out in the wash, anyway.

Haha, Tama; love the word play.

Update: Welcome to the line up - Klay Thompson... I am now in the positive in all cats bar Reb (and only marginally in FT%) - so pick 44 & maybe 53 will need a focus on Blocks & Boards.

I will update the potential candidates when they make themselves known!

Stay tuned.

JM

Update! That took forever!

Some interesting selections I thought I'd share though...
After I selected Klay, Kemba went straight after, Kevin went at 34.

Schroder went 36 and Lonzo at 37 to the same guy on the turn who wanted to make sure it was an 8 cat league...I laughed and assured him it was...then he picked Dennis the German.
Bro-lo and dipo are off the board and I'm thinking my next move...4 picks til my time...here's where you might come in handy.
Available at present is Bledsoe, Millsap, Vucevic, Horford, Nurk alert, Bob cov, otto and Rubio. They are the headliners, but I clearly need a big and am hoping something grand might fall my way.
What ya think? I need to introduce one of these guys to my 3 friend Klay, Kyle & Giannis.

As always, please and thanks.

JM

Gimme gimme gimme one of them usetabe Atlanta Hawks.

I vote Millsap or Horford.

I agree with Dan. Big Al and Millsap seems like the clear choices. I'd lean towards Big Al more, as his numbers are more balanced.

If you're a fan of Nurk's sensational finish from last season and you're feeling frisky, you could go for him.. but on your 53rd pick if he's still there. Then you'd have your C's locked.

Hope your draft's going well!

Great work Jay, the stars seem to be aligning quite nicely for you. The best player available could in fact be Bledsoe, but you already have some level of injury risk with Lowry, so probably a good idea to steer clear. If Millsap is still there at 44, it would be a crime not to take him. He should give you more boards than Horford while keeping your %s in good order, but both would be fantastic fits in your team. Also, I don't hate Otto around here either.

Unbelievable, I wake this morning to see not only Horford, but Millsap, Porter and Bledsoe still there!

I HAVE TO GO MILLSAP @ 44

... And boom goes the dynamite.