@muwu I love all the picks until Simmons, and I think you're right to be down on Caruso. As a Raptors fan and Lowry stan, I'm obligated to remind you that he has solid potential in AST, FT%, STL and 3PT. You will have to weather the storm with his injuries, but I think he's safe to roster all season. Certainly moreso than Caruso.

If Hartenstein or Vanderbilt are still available in your league, you had better go out and grab them right away. Drop any of Caruso, Martin or Melton, if needed, to acquire them. Consider Jalen Duren, Jalen Smith, Onyeka Okongwu or Walker Kessler if available too. 

Simmons is the player I'd consider most tradeable. He has obvious value to any team that can stomach his negative impact in FT%, PTS, TO and 3PT. While I maintain that you need his positive contributions in AST, BLK, REB and STL, I can't help but feel that his negatives outweigh his positives. You lucked out to get Towns and Young together, which should give you a solid base in FT%, PTS and 3PT from the start of the draft. Mobley was a suitable pick as a multi-tool big, but Simmons may be too decidedly negative in areas you need to not at least consider floating in trades. What teams drafted Alperen Sengun, Christian Wood, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jakob Poeltl, Luka Doncic, Rudy Gobert and Pascal Siakam? They might be prepared to absorb his risk based on their preference for similar players in the draft, so you could start by seeing if they can give you someone with strong AST, STL and 3PT in exchange. I think Desmond Bane is an ideal target, along with others like CJ McCollum, Jrue Holiday and maybe even Jordan Poole. 

The only player I'm really down on is Caruso. Everyone else should be serviceable and I expect they will have put up sustained standard league value by year-end. PTS fell a bit too far off with later picks, which is why I find Martin and Melton to be potentially expendable as well. Unless you are able to boost PTS with another impact player or two, I think that will be an average category for your team. Given your preference for players like Rozier, Towns and Young, I think you'd probably prefer to convert it to a strength. That will be more difficult to do with a heavy center rotation, so I'd only roster a fourth center if you have two starting spots for them. Your best categories will be found in high-usage perimeter players. I'd jump on Ayo Dosunmu, Jaden Ivey or Mike Conley if they're on the waiver wire. Players like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Bojan Bogdanovic, Cole Anthony, Derrick White, John Konchar, John Wall, Josh Hart, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kevin Huerter, Malcolm Brogdon, Malik Beasley, Royce O'Neale, Trey Murphy and Will Barton also come to mind as potential options for this squad. You will live and die by your competitiveness in AST, FT%, PTS, REB, STL and 3PT, so try to keep those categories front and center in your decision-making process. You may be too volatile in FG% or TO to rely on victories there, while I think you're basically right in the middle for BLK. I wouldn't advise punting anything in this build, which is why I'm lukewarm on the Simmons pick. 

Best of luck with your season!

Hi Derek,

I made some trades during the 1st week (mainly one was trading Tatum and Randle for Jokic and Mcdaniels) and I am stuck with the following team and I would like you to rate it for me: 12T H2H 9 cat

Jokic

Kyrie

Garland

Russell

Bane

Hield

Mcdaniels (timbs)

Stewart

Monte morris

Derrick White

Jamal Murray

Cam Johnson

 

Posted by: @tybraun

Ok here's my squad. Weekly league, h2h. 12 teams, 9-cat.

PG D. Lillard
SG D. Booker
G B. Beal
SF H. Jones
PF J. Collins
F P. Washington
C M. Turner
Util K. Leonard
Util J Brunson

BN O. Okongwu
BN B. Clarke
BN B Bogdanovic (ATL)
BN I. Jackson

 

@dballbball would still love your analysis on this!

@dballball

@tybraun You got it pal! Sorry I missed you.

Looks like you're off to a strong start. I'm a big believer in Collins, so I'm prepared to argue that he belongs in a fairly large group of "early round" guys on this team: Beal, Booker, Collins, Leonard, Lillard and Turner. I tend to define the first three rounds as the early ones, so it looks like you doubled up on picks that can/should finish in that range, in my opinion. That level of elite production will be key for your squad.

Almost half of your team are above-average scorers, so I hope you will continue to strengthen that category with future moves. I think Clarke needs to go in order to stream someone into that spot. You could also move on from Jackson but I think there's a strong argument for stashing him, given his potential. The ship seems to have sailed on a top-100 season from Clarke, unless Aldama suddenly falls off or Jaren Jackson Jr. is delayed. Jackson, Jones, Okongwu, Turner and Washington should be sufficient to compete in BLK, and your team doesn't seem very competitive in FG% or REB. Those three categories are basically the Clarke package, and only one of them will probably help you. This argument can technically be applied to Jackson and Okongwu as well, but they have a broader appeal that makes them better as trade bait than potential drops.

You have passable AST but I don't think that will be a strength for this team, and I'm not sure it will be unless there's a major producer available. You could stream guards in weekly for a AST and PTS boost. I think you can still be competitive in TO even if you add a high-usage playmaker. It would be best if whatever player you add could boost you in STL, since I'd hate to see some of the primary values of players like Jones and Leonard wasted. I'd rank AST, PTS and STL as mid-level categories on this team. The Bogdanovic stash will be helpful, for sure.

You'll probably be a consistent contender in FT% and 3PT. Also, your competitiveness in BLK may hinge a bit too much on Turner, but I think you're in good shape whenever he is. That could be as many as four strong categories, depending on how much damage your high-usage players do to your TO. At worst, I'd say you're average there. 

Can you try to package the Jackson-Okongwu pairing for a higher-level center? I don't hate the idea of another point guard on this roster either, for what it's worth. You probably don't need five pivots if there's only one starting spot for them, so I like the idea of consolidating talent at center or adding a point guard while using the extra roster spot to stream. We're still early enough in the season that you can hit gold on the waiver wire. 

I hope this helps!

@dballbbal  

@johnny22 Wow! That's a big move.

You're very competitive in AST. After adding Jokic to the mix, it suffices to say that this is your best category. 

Hield and Russell concern me from a FG% standpoint, but your team should otherwise be strong there. They are definitely expendable in trades, with Hield being the better option due to lesser value in AST. You can survive the hit to your 3PT if needed, since you have stacked your team with shooters at all positions.

Defense is not your thing. The values of players that are known for collecting BLK and STL are reduced on this team, so I'm less enthusiastic about McDaniels than I typically would be. You're much closer to being competitive in STL than BLK, but I don't think either is going to be reliable for you without another move. 

Your competitiveness in PTS will be up to your opponent. There are regularly teams in standard-sized leagues that stack the deck with scorers, and you've traded your strength there for AST. This isn't a weakness of your team, so continue trying to address this category if you can.

Can you compete in REB with only two players that can reliably put you over the edge there? I have my doubts that Jokic and Stewart will be enough for you to reliably win REB. 

I'm focusing on McDaniels and Stewart as positions that could be improved on this squad. They're both roster-worthy players and you're clearly the wheeling-and-dealing type after that blockbuster, so I say you should try to flip them. Individually or together, I think these players should return no less than one, but preferably two centers for your squad. I prefer to consolidate top-level talent, so I think it's best to go for one really good big and then try to scoop another off the wire. On this squad, you should be looking at the stretchy bigs that can help maintain the strength of your FT%. In no particular order or availability, I think the following players can be in the standard league conversation and help your squad: Al Horford, Bobby Portis, Bol Bol, Brook Lopez, Chris Boucher, Draymond Green, Jeff Green, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Kelly Olynyk, Kevin Love, Marcus Morris, PJ Tucker and Zach Collins.

It seems like you'll be fairly strong in three categories: AST, FT% and 3PT. You could consider FG%, PTS and TO as your mid-level categories, while I'm not very confident in your ability to win in BLK, REB or STL with this team as currently constructed. You should absolutely be streaming to win multiple categories every week, depending on where your opponent is vulnerable. Try to keep your efficiency up. The shooting percentages and TO are often overlooked. You should be able to maintain your competitiveness there all year.

Good luck!

Hi Derek, nice to meet you,

This is my roster [H2H points, 12 teams]

PG= D. Murray / Anfernee Simons.

SG= Rozier / Bane.

SF= Ant. Edwards / Markkanen

PF= Tatum / Vanderbilt / Jabari Smith

C= Vucevic / Poeltl / Sengun / Richards

RWIII [IR]

How about?  What do you see weak?  What could improve?  Thank you!

Posted by: @bmdum

Hi!

I’d appreciate if you can give feedback. Actually I’d love to hear which player I should try to trade for synergy purposes. My main concern with the team is that I’ve couple of older fellas thay may cause missed matches.

16 team 9-cat H2H (No Inj spot) 4th pick

Durant (4)

FVV (29)

Rozier (36)

Mikal Bridges (61)

Wendell Carter Jr. (68)

Al Horford (93)

Kyle Lowry (100)

Robert Covington (125)

Dorian Finney Smith (132)

Bruce Brown (157)

Kevin Love (164)

Walker Kessler (189)

Pat Connaughton (196)

Nassir Little (221)

 

 

Hi Derek, thanks for doing this.

What do you think of my draft? I went for a punt FG%, rebounds and turnover build.

Where do you think I drafted wrong and how can I improve my team going forward. I dropped my last two picks and picked up Conley and Olynyk. I also have PatBev and DSJ for now since I have two guys in the IL.
Sengun and Time Lord are trade assets.

1. Durant 

2. Kyrie

3. Garland

4. Porzingis

5. De’Aaron Fox

6. Sengun

7. D’Angelo Russell

8. Gary Trent Jr.

9. Klay Thompson

10. Robert Williams

11. Gordon Hayward

12. Malik Beasley (Olynyk)

13. Hardaway Jr. (Conley)

Hello!

Was wondering if I could get some feedback on my team. I think I went Punt AST, but I'm trying to improve as I feel I'm weak in certain categories still? Maybe it's just me.

I'm also looking to move Zubac but not sure who I target or if I even should move him. I'm open to other suggestions also.

• [H2H standard 9-cat, 12 teams]
• Guard slots = Irving / D. Mitchell / Trent Jr (traded Tobias Harris for him)
• Forward slots = R. O'Neal / John Collins / OG Anunoby
• Center slots = Embiid / Nick Richards
• Util = Hartenstein / Smith Jr 
• Bench = Zubac / Nance / Mikal Bridges
• IL = Payton II

@bufanda It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. 

This is a really fun team. I had to double-check that you weren't in a 10-team league because you are stacked! It's not common to see so many of these names paired up. Richards is the only player that I don't expect to finish in the top-100, and he's actually doing pretty well right now. He's a fine placeholder for Williams.

If I had to pick one category that you might not be as competitive in, it would be FG%. My hope is that your bigs don't drag you down in FT% too much, because I think that's a fairly strong area for you. If Poeltl has more nights where he gets 21 FTA, then you're in for a bit of a rough ride there. Sengun and Vanderbilt will also pull you down. Thankfully, you should have enough high-percentage production from your perimeter players to at least make it a mid-level category. 

Those guys that drag you in FT% are going to make your FG% salvageable in some weeks, while they're your best bet in REB. In fact, I think you've got enough high-level producers in REB to consider it a strength. I love Murray for REB-focused builds, since he's likely to be nearly as productive as your double-double bigs. I'm convinced that at least half your team could realistically collect 10 boards. That's a recipe for success.

You're not bad in AST but I wouldn't expect it to be a strength without much high-level production there. This team can win the category by committee, but you're playing with a pretty thin margin for error with only Murray to reliably carry you there. I wouldn't put much effort into getting better, since you've already built such a strong team overall. 

PTS should be a strong category for you this year. Even your bigs are pretty good at scoring, which is usually where teams lose ground in this category. Exceptions like Poeltl and Vanderbilt are simply too valuable elsewhere for me to really mind that they're not so great at scoring. I'm fully out on Richards once the scoring drops off though.

It's a similar situation with your 3PT: this team has strong perimeter producers and keeps pace with it's post players. You should be good there as well. Again, you have a few bigs that won't do anything there, but they're worth it overall. This doesn't extend to Richards in perpetuity, but he's producing solid value right now.

You should be very competitive in TO, which is surprising to me, given your quality in PTS and mostly-competitiveness in AST. It's hard for me to imagine that any team that could beat you in AST or PTS would also beat you in TO. In the case that you are out-gunned on offense, I am confident that you can cover for it with better defensive production.

BLK may lag a bit early but there's a major boost once Williams is healthy. There will probably be a few teams that can beat you there, but that's assuming that at least one other manager thought to pair a couple of elite producers that can match or exceed your Poeltl-Smith-Williams trio. I don't think it would take us long to make a list of around 10 players that could individually keep pace with members of your group, so beware of teams that are stacked in the post.

I expect that you will be immediately and consistently competitive in STL right off the bat. You've got some great perimeter producers in this category to pair with some of the best center options for STL in Sengun and Vanderbilt. 

The injury bug is your worst enemy this year. I can't think of anything else that will hold this team back from competitiveness. There's no obvious streaming spot on this team, which is something I like to work into a weekly strategy wherever possible. With this in mind, you could consider exploring a two-for-one package deal to upgrade your top-level talent. It's not a pressing need, so I'd only pull the trigger on the deal if I knew it's an upgrade. There's no need to rush out and sell anyone on this roster. You've got good positional coverage and no concerning categorical weaknesses. It should be smooth sailing either way.

Good luck this year!

@bmdum Hey! That's what I'm here for. Several of your struggling players are also rostered on multiple teams that I manage, so I can sympathize with your plight. 

You clearly wanted to be competitive in 3PT with these draft picks, so I'm happy to confirm that it's probably one of your biggest strengths.

Did you know I'm a lifelong Raptors fan? I'm obligated to confirm that you got excellent value with the late-second round pick of VanVleet and for getting Lowry at 100. They should both beat that draft position if healthy. They're your top-two for AST, which should get some solid support from players like Brown, Horford, Love and Rozier. You're not going to beat the teams built around players like Ball, Haliburton or Harden, but there will surely be teams that can't keep up with you.

Despite having a top-tier producer like Carter, I don't think you'll do much in REB this year. Love isn't what he used to be and I can't guarantee that Kessler does much better. They're solid but not spectacular, and probably the best of the rest. It's not a category worth fighting to regain ground in, in my opinion. That makes Carter expendable in a trade.

PTS should be solid with Durant, Rozier and VanVleet at the top. My confidence in this team's scoring production decreases as I scroll down from there, so it's best to view this as a mid-level category. Can you address it? Sure, but not without getting worse in the efficiency categories. I think it's best to let it be.

FG% is immediately out the window with Rozier and VanVleet carrying so much of the scoring load. This is also true with players like Covington and Lowry on the roster, so I'm prepared to call that your first punt category. That reduces the value of Bridges enough for me to consider him potentially expendable. He doesn't get enough volume to be truly impactful in FT% and you don't need his marginally above-average production in STL or 3PT so badly that you couldn't spare him. In fact, those two categories are typically the most-replaceable on the waiver wire. He's typically a top-30 player on totals and top-75 by averages, so I say split the difference and try to trade him for someone with an ADP around 50 if possible. Hopefully this post will help you determine what categories to target.

BLK isn't going to work here. Kessler isn't a one-man show and I don't think you can count on much from the rest of your squad. You need stretchy bigs on this team. In particular, you need the sort that won't hurt you in FT%. Kessler's name value is trending up, so you can add him to the trade mix and probably expect a solid return. I think it's reasonable to try to swap him for his teammate, Kelly Olynyk.

Alright, I'm done telling you to trade your players. Even the ones I've recommended you move on from are otherwise totally justifiable picks in their range and worthwhile fantasy players. They should get you some good offers.

As with 3PT, I expect you'll be regularly competitive in FT%. Continue to try to address this category by pruning as many negative producers as reasonable from the team. 

It's clear that this is a guard stats team, so I don't think it should be a surprise that I expect you to be very competitive in STL as well. I see above-average producers at the top, middle and bottom of your roster, so it's an easy prediction.

As far as I can tell, you should be fairly competitive in TO. Any perimeter-oriented team is bound to struggle there at times, but Durant and Rozier are comparatively better than a lot of other high-scoring options in their draft range. For as long as you have players like Bridges and Carter, this will be true of them as well. 

Bigs that can get you extra value in STL should move up your list. Examples include Chris Boucher, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Larry Nance Jr., Marcus Morris and Thad Young. Note that I've included some of the other contenders due to their poorer FT% or 3PT potential. If you're swapping through perimeter players, I think you're on the right track with guys like Avdija and Connaughton. Consider others like De'Anthony Melton, Delon Wright, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Lu Dort, Patrick Beverley, Royce O'Neale, TJ McConnell and Will Barton as well.

The Richards pickup is solid for the depth of your league but I expect that you will need to move on from him before the season ends. He's basically a FT% and PTS option for you, so send him packing once that well runs dry. As noted above, his primary values in FG% and REB will probably be wasted on this squad. Stream that spot once you can, and see if you can work him into a bargain-bin trade deal while he's still ranked in the top-75 range.

Focus on building AST, FT%, PTS, STL, TO and 3PT at whatever expense to BLK and REB. If needed, you can continue to allow your FG% to lag behind, but I do believe every bit still counts in that category. That should keep you strong where you need to be. Being able to win as many as six categories reliably should allow you to find your way into the playoffs with a fighting chance. 

Good luck!

@dballbball Dear Derek, I would like to thank you very much for your valuable analysis of my roster. Unfortunately I was not clear enough to say that my league of 12 teams is not about categories, it is about points [H2H points, Espn, 12 teams]. It is so interesting what you tell me that next season I will happily play a category league. These days I made adjustments via trades in my roster, being as follows:

D. Murray / A. Simons
T. Rozier / D. Bane
A. Edwards / L. Markkanen
J. Tatum / S. Barnes / Vanderbilt / Jabari Smith
Vucevic / Sengun / Richards / RWIII [IR]

I would love to hear your analysis of my roster for a points league, Espn. What strategy should I follow? What are my weak points? Where should I improve? Thank you very much, a hug.

12 team- 9 CAT/H2H

How do I improve this roster?

Any 2/1 combos?

J. Poole

T. Haliburton

Vassell

Bane

Eason (streamer)

Mathurin

Olynyk

Siakam

Reddish (streamer)

Richards

Conley

Antman

Monte Morris

PJ Washington

Middleton