Hi Derek,
I was just having a read through some of your breakdowns here and it feels rude to not ask for your opinion on my team given the level of detail you’re providing!
I’m in a 12 team, 9cat H2H league and have gone for a punt assist team while also a softer punt on steals.
Guards: J.Murray, Rozier, Huerter, Richardson
Forwards: LeBron, K.Murray, Collins, Markkanen, Huerter, Olynyk
Centers: Embiid, Zubac, IJax, Duren
Would love some thoughts on improvements or perhaps people who are losing too much value here. Couple of low performers to start the year but those I expect to improve. Thank you!
Format: 12 team 9cat H2H
1. Joel Embiid
2. Anthony Davis
3. Rudy Gobert
4. Desmond Bane
5. Tyrese Maxey
6. Klay Thompson
7. Tyler Herro
8. Jabari Smith Jr
9. Gordon Hayward
10. Ayo Dosunmu
11. Caleb Martin
12. Jaylen Nowell
Streamers: Larry Nance
IL: Robert Williams
I really appreciate your advice! This is the best forum for fantasy basketball.
I think you missed mine before </3
But the team has changed:
Joel Embiid
Damian Lillard
Chris Paul
Cade Cunningham
Desmond Bane
Khris Middleton
Devin Vassell
Jabari Smith Jr
Jakob Poeltl
Mitchell Robinson
PJ Washington
Jarred Vanderbilt
Bol Bol
Draymond, Marcus Smart, Tre Jones all on the wire. Who're the pickups, and for who?
14 team h2h 9cat
after 2 weeks my team became
steph curry
dame
b beal
garland
j murray
OG
Al horford
Cam johnson
i hartenstein
Melton
norman powell
please rate my team once again and any advice is welcome
@nassero99 I'm a big fan of Fultz and I'm already stashing him in one league, so you'll hear no argument from me if you do the same. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'd say the same of Isaac right now.
I don't think you're winning PTS regularly. Your team is much more rounded in AST and REB, with the latter being likelier to win most often. You're middling or better at BLK, while I think you can probably top up STL a bit more to be competitive there. FG% should be a reliable winner, but you're not likely to win FT% with this core. Based on these assessments, I'm going to default to a judgement that you should try to minimize TO and maximize 3PT in order to be most competitive with this team. I'd be prepared to sacrifice competitiveness in FT% and PTS to get there.
In a AST-BLK-FG%-REB-STL-TO-3PT build, you'll be wanting to target the stereotypical 3-and-D archetype. Without concern for FT% and PTS, you can really zone in on specialists if needed. Consider players like Bol Bol, Brandon Clarke, Bruce Brown, Derrick White, Grant Williams, Jalen McDaniels, Jalen Williams, Jeremy Sochan, Justise Winslow, Kevin Huerter, Mason Plumlee, Royce O'Neale, Steven Adams and Will Barton in free agency if they're available. If possible, I'd target Ivica Zubac, Jaden McDaniels, Jarred Vanderbilt, Josh Hart and Keldon Johnson in trades using some combination of Duren, Jackson, Monk and Smith (CHA).
Beware of a bad schedule week for the Pacers in Week 3. You're going to suffer in AST, STL and 3PT as a result.
Good luck this season!
@indo This is my kind of team. I agree - you probably are punting PTS and 3PT. Certainly not AST though! You might have too much, if that's possible.
REB should be strong, if not spectacular, depending on how much playing time Hartenstein and Jackson get. I like the back-end contributions from Beverley and Bol, but they're not exactly stars on the boards.
Both FG% and FT% should be strong. I see no reason that the lower accuracy from your bigs in FT% should outweigh the high-volume, high-accuracy contributions of your top picks. You have some of my favorite FG% options at the guard spots, so I'm happy to see Garland and Paul to counterbalance Beverley and Giddey. For the record, I don't think it's a terrible idea to explore replacement options for Beverley and to see what kind of efficiency upgrades a Giddey trade might yield. You should certainly be trying to keep both shooting percentages high this season. Your TO should naturally be low with such a low-scoring team, so you don't need to preserve that with future moves.
You should be competitive in BLK and STL. There's not much to say here. You have solid production in both categories and I can see depth in both areas.
In particular, I'm wondering if a player like Jalen Brunson could be available in exchange for Giddey. Outside of that one very specific trade idea, I'd also be trying to fit some of these players into my lineup: Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu, Brandon Clarke, Brook Lopez, Bruce Brown, De'Anthony Melton, Draymond Green, Jaden McDaniels, Jalen McDaniels, Jalen Williams, Josh Hart, Justise Winslow, Onyeka Okongwu, Tre Jones and Zach Collins.
I hope this helps!
@hamish-ward-4342 It would be rude not to give my opinion after you so graciously asked for it!
Mission accomplished on the STL punt. It's a shame to see that category wasted with Rozier, but it's no big deal overall. You're probably doing a soft punt of both AST and STL, which shouldn't be a big deal overall.
3PT production on this team is spread out really well, but it may be too dependent on the Markkanen-Murray-Rozier trio. Without their elite volume, I'm not so sure that getting around one per night from all the other players will be enough. Shedding Richardson for a better shooter could be worthwhile, while I think Huerter's 3PT makes will eventually be cut in half, which would be around his average result.
Your FG% should be very competitive, while I expect you to be more of a middle-of-the-pack performer in FT%. James will drag you down too much to reliably beat the best teams in FT%, to say nothing of what could happen with bad nights from Duren or Jackson. Your forward-heavy and AST-averse squad should compete in TO by default, so this should definitely be an efficiency-focused team.
A punt AST team with strong FG% and middling FT% should probably try to be competitive in REB. Leaning into the categorical strengths of players like Duren and Jackson makes sense, even though I'm not in love with their limited-category contributions. You have a strong base with Collins, Embiid, James, Markkanen and Zubac, so you should definitely stay competitive in REB. This core should keep your BLK afloat as well, although I'm less convinced that you will reliably win that category. It could be a good idea to supplement BLK by trade or free agency.
You may also need to supplement PTS with streamers this season. You lose ground at the end of your bench with players like Duren and Jackson while carrying both injury and inconsistency risks like James and both Murrays. In general, I do think you can classify this as a strength at full health and productivity.
Three underrated guards for your team: Derrick White, Gary Payton II and Patrick Beverley. There are some other players that would be well within standard league range for your team build, including names like Aaron Gordon, Brandon Clarke, Bruce Brown, Bojan Bogdanovic, Bol Bol, Chris Boucher, Grant Williams, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jeff Green, Josh Hart, Kevin Love, Marcus Morris, Monte Morris, Santi Aldama and Trey Murphy.
To sum it up, I think you're probably safe to continue sacrificing AST and STL to build in BLK, FG%, REB, 3PT and TO. When and where possible, you can also try to continue building in PTS, but this is less important, given your overall strength here already. Richardson is likely the first to go if I'm managing your team. Failing that, you could try to convert one of your forward-centers into another guard to give yourself some more flexibility there. By my count, you have six centers, and the Collins-Embiid-Zubac trio is all that's truly worth protecting. The others are valuable but they can help you to fill some gaps. Playing time and top-100 production isn't assured for any of the Duren-Jackson-Olynyk group, so they can be used to upgrade your roster if needed.
Good luck!
@dballbball update on this 14t 9cat h2h
cody martin, bruce brown, and chris boucher are gone, vassal into the IL
kleber and patty (yuck) on the stream and patbev and bamba added in
thank you
@tcsw Thanks for your support! I feel great about this squad.
PTS doesn't matter to me here. You might do well and you might not. What really stands out is the early lead you built in FG% with your first five picks. Smith and Thompson should soften that lead a bit, but you went right back to building that strength after those respective picks.
Davis and Gobert aren't great at the charity stripe, so there's definitely some ways that FT% can turn on your this season. However, Embiid is an above-average FT% producer who more-or-less equaled their combined volume last season. Once you factor in other high-volume positive contributors like Bane, Hayward and Maxey, it seems like you're going to be able to win this category against most teams so long as you don't have a bad week. You definitely can't take your foot off the pedal in this category, just to be sure.
There isn't enough 3PT volume to be competitive here. You can probably sneak by a few teams when Bane, Herro and Thompson get hot, but I'm not counting on enough support from Embiid, Hayward and Smith to put you over the edge. Half your team didn't even merit consideration, so that's a bad sign.
Believe it or not, you'll probably be pretty freaking good in BLK. That's what happens when you draft most of the All-NBA centers, to say nothing of what Smith and Williams can do for you in this area. What more is there to say? You've got this one on lock.
Nance is probably a bit unnecessary on this squad. You're not likely to be much of a threat in STL, and it's not like you need him for BLK. If you can only pick one defensive stat to build, it's clear what that should be. You didn't get a strong enough base in the early rounds to build out from, so STL could be a mid-level strength at best.
AST is 100% a punt. You probably knew that. Again, that reduces the value of a passing center like Nance. You can probably knock Hayward down a peg or two as well.
Since your centers and Smith will carry your BLK, you should really just be focusing on FG%, FT%, REB, 3PT and TO. Categories like PTS and STL would be luxuries that you should only pursue in matchup-dependent situations, while there is absolutely no value in AST on this squad. I'd be looking at the following players, whether by trade or free agency: Bojan Bogdanovic, Derrick White, Jalen Williams, Jeff Green, John Konchar, Josh Hart, Kelly Olynyk, Kevin Huerter, Kevin Love, Marcus Morris, Monte Morris, Obi Toppin, Patrick Beverley, Seth Curry, Tari Eason, Tre Jones and Trey Murphy. Some intriguing stash candidates you could consider include Markelle Fultz and TJ Warren.
I hope this helps you! Your team looks like it's set up well to compete this year.
@miles-linde I was about to take a break from rating teams until I saw who was on your wire. Drop everything now and pick up all three players. You should have some combination of Lillard, Middleton and Vassell on your IL, if that's available. Use whatever roster space is left over from stashing them to add Green, Smart and then Jones, in that order. If you have to sacrifice players, I'd rather them in this order, from most expendable to least expendable: Robinson, Bol, Vanderbilt and Washington. Normally I wouldn't recommend dropping any of those players, but I believe the upgrades are worth it with every available player. I have some serious anxiety about including both Vanderbilt and Washington on this list, so I hope you don't have to go that way. If you're really nervous, then you can at least scratch Jones off your list if it allows you to protect one of them.
I'll write a longer answer for you later, but you can definitely act now on these moves if you agree with me.
@dballbball thanks for the feedback!
Through the first two weeks it looks like my strongest categories are FG, reb, assists (when Garland and Giddey are back), steals and blocks. I would really like to upgrade my FT as that's my weakest category that I'm competing in. I'd be interested in trading Giddey, Cam Johnson, or Zubac to get a strong FT shooter in return. Maybe that Brunson for Giddey trade might work, but I'd like to see Brunson get to the line more consistently. Other than that do you have any ideas who I could target (high FT) with the players I named. I was thinking about going after Brogdon as I don't think he would cost that much.
Thanks.
Hi friend, what do you think about trade Ayo for Vanderbilt? Thanks
@dballbball (trying it again and thank you for all the work you put in!!!)
12 teams -9 CAT-H2H-10th Pick - Went for a punt FG%/Boards/Blocks
How can I improve this squad? Maybe take some 3's off and go for blocks?
*Currently sitting at 11-7 in second place*
Haliburton
Antman
Siakam
Bane
Vassell
Poole
Middleton
PJ Washington
Monte Morris
Conley
Mathurin
Olynk
Nick Richards- stream
Melton- stream
Landale-stream
Hey SportsEthos team!
Just got back to fantasy after a 2-year break, good to see that the team is still doing well, been a fan since it was HoopBall. But yeah, here's the team I have right now with a couple of my friends.
12-team, Standard 9-category league, H2H:
(1) Nikola Jokic
(24) Kyrie Irving - I know, people was scared and skeptical of him. They also reached for some of the young guns.
(25) Bam Adebayo - Was deciding whether Siakam or Adebayo but I guessed I leaned a little too much on Lowry taking a stepback on the playmaking but Bam's been solid so far, I guess?
(48) Jrue Holiday - Pumped he got back to me at 48
(49) Zach Lavine - Before his injury management news, but I think it should be manageable
(72) Jabari Smith Jr. - Was deciding whether him or Markkanen but I think I wanted more defensive stats.
(73) Kevin Porter Jr. - Thought my percentages was good so I could handle his FG/FT percentages
(96) Anfernee Simons
(97) JJJ - Maybe a little too early and I didn't need the blocks but I Keegan and Tre was sniped before my pick and I didn't like the alternatives so yeppp
(120) Isaiah Jackson - Just buying into the hype but I actually like his game when he has minutes
(121) Kelly Olynyk - Probably my favorite pick this year
(144) Chris Duarte - Already dropped and picked up Trey Murphy for a stream but probably a long term hold?
(145) Jaden McDaniels - People was not picking him up expecting that Gobert and Towns will get his rebounds and stocks which I think should normalize in a few weeks but hey he looks good in there.
(168) Jalen Williams - Really liked his SL and Preseason, expecting big things in the coming weeks
After putting JJJ in the IL, I picked up Caleb Martin and that's the roster so far. I'm thinking of maybe dropping Trigga or Caleb Martin in a few weeks for a streamer spot or maybe make a 2 for 1 trade but as it looks right now in Week 2, people are just calm and waiting for their players to get healthy and not really looking to trade when I offer some of my sell highs.
So, yeah, how does my team look? Currently 11-8 as I lost 3-6 the first week with Lavine not playing and some of my first 5 picks not really doing anything. But for the second week, I just won 8-1 with a pretty good margin but it's mostly due to a hot streak and injuries to some of my players' teammates.
Thank you for the feedback, that is without doubt the most helpful and detailed review I’ll get all season!
I’ve recently made some changes to the team with consideration to your advice. I’ve changed Richardson to Norm Powell as I know that’s someone you’re high on and since he has the history of being a good performer - especially with the Kawhi knee stuff going on right now. Hoping he’ll be able to supplement some additional 3’s.
Through 2 weeks I’ve had an unusual run. Even though I’m punting assists I’ve been dead last in TO’s this week but I’m thinking this will adjust itself over time as is the nature of the build. FT’s have also been bad, but guys like Jamal Murray and Embiid are down on their averages and Olynyk is shooting terribly there as is Zubac. Neither of those are great but I’m expecting some positive regression there. I’m also down Rozier who will help there so also hoping for a little better.
I’ve actually dropped Duren and IJax, Duren due to his injury and relatively underperformance overall, IJax to stress this week but looking to get him back. Overall I’m mid table but wanting to stay above average in the standings rather than stashing too many people just at the moment. But have one eye on Jackson coming back probably end of the week, unless Turner trade rumours get even more traction.
Rebounds and blocks have been great so far so I’m happy there. At the moment I’m trying to move Olynyk for either Portis or Tobias. Portis for the boards, Tobis for a bit more FT% help and what I think is just a bit more of a reliable role all year.
If there is anything you maybe disagree with there I’d love to know! Thanks again!
