@andreasantoniostsatsos1988 That is a well-rounded squad!
Strengths: Blocks, field goal percentage (*), turnovers
Weaknesses: Points (*)
Mid: Assists, free throw percentage, rebounds, steals, treys
Players that are good at your strengths: Capela, Claxton, Hartenstein, Maxey, McDaniels and Smith
Players that are bad at your strengths: Edwards, Harden and Suggs
Players that are good at your weaknesses: Bane, Brunson, Edwards, Harden, Irving and Maxey
You could take this team in a lot of directions. First and foremost, you should consider which player you're most prepared to move on from once the season kicks off. Use that roster spot to take a flier on one of the early season breakout players, if you can. There's no harm in streaming that spot if it doesn't work out. In fact, I would recommend it.
It was really hard for me to say that your team is bad at scoring. Ditto for adding all your best players to the "good at your weaknesses" section. You've got as many good scorers as you do bad ones, but the bad ones are really dragging your average down. You've got several young players and guys on new teams that could change your potential in points, but I can't predict how that will turn out.
Field goal percentage is your best category, but it would be better if it weren't for Edwards, Harden and Suggs. The same is true for turnovers. Suggs is as likely to experience the sophomore slump as he is to take the next step, and he might be too harmful for to your team to keep if he struggles out of the gate. Keep him on a short leash and don't hesitate to turn over that roster spot if Suggs underwhelms. You don't need his assist-to-turnover ratio and bad shooting dragging down some of your best categories.
You've got two great rebounders in Capela and Carter, but they're doing all the heavy lifting in that category. The only others who will help you there are likely to be Harden and Smith. Claxton and Hartenstein will probably be average at best, and it goes down from there. Since you're already strong in "big man stats" like blocks and field goal percentage, I suggest you invest in this category. These stats go hand-in-hand, and there are some wing players that can still help you there.
It's hard to know who's available, but players like Brandon Clarke, Bruce Brown, Gary Payton, Isaiah Stewart, Josh Hart, Mason Plumlee, Matisse Thybulle, Mo Bamba, Patrick Beverley and Patrick Williams could help your team.
@dballbball Okay, so a little update on my roster, and then I can see how we can discuss further (if that's okay)
I made a bit of a splash in my league today to strengthen some categories. I sent Edwards, Sexton, and Okongwu for Butler and Poetl. What do you think of this trade for my team?
I was thinking of moving off Murray as well, but am trying to gauge how I move with my team at this point.I took all your advice and sat on it, and identified my strengths and weaknesses. After the trade, I am fairly strong in FG%, REBS, STLS, and BLKS. I would like to improve one or two more categories to try to hold 5-6 categories possibly in each matchup. My dilemma now is my weaknesses: FT%, 3PM, PTS, ASTS. Streamers may help support those weaknesses on a nightly basis, but I'm looking for how I should move now? Should I make a smaller trade that packages guys like Murray and Barrett, to get my points or assists up or something? What do you think?
Thank you again!
@nick-soetiono Only listing 11 players when you have space for 12? I’ll assume you have roster space for an immediate addition.
Strengths: Blocks, steals (*), turnovers
Weaknesses: Assists, points
Mid: Field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, treys
Players that are good at your strengths: Ayton, Claxton, Covington, Gafford, James and Vassell
Players that are bad at your strengths: Ball, Barton, Dosunmu and George
Players that are good at your weaknesses: Ball, George, James
Want a great recipe for contending in steals? A top five of Ayton, Ball, George, James and Vassell is a good way to start. You were fairly successful at building a blocks team without any real heavyweight in that category as well, so you should be comfortable in most matchups that don’t feature multiple premier rim protectors.
The category that I’m really concerned with is assists, since you have Ball and James. Even Barton and George are decent for assists, but the rest of your team drops the ball there. Consider how your utility spots will likely be used: Claxton, Covington, Dosunmu, Duarte and Gafford. Those are the spots that you’d need extra sources of assists in to be more competitive, but half of those guys are too valuable to your main categories. Regardless, one of those guys will probably be your best options to release if you’re looking to make a move on a hot free agent. It’s a tough choice, but I think you’re farther away in assists than you are in other areas, so I’d recommend leaving that category alone and remaining more competitive in turnovers.
Points will be an interesting category for you. On one hand, you’ve got some pretty electric scorers in Ball, George and James (Group A). On another, you’ve got some up-and-comers that could become plus-contributors in points like Duarte and Vassell, along with mainstays like Ayton and Barton (Group B). Until Group B actually turns the corner and can push up from around 15 points a night, they’re technically just “meh” scorers in the fantasy world. Everyone who wasn’t listed above is going to hurt you in points, leaving as many as two-thirds of your team that can’t help you in the most exciting category.
Of your four "mid" categories, I think you should focus on converting rebounds and treys to strengths. Both of these categories are easily available on the waiver wire and aren't as fickle as shooting percentages. Where possible, you're still going to want to aim for players that either make around half or more of their shots, or that generally have single digit shot totals on most nights.
Your final roster spot could go to players like Cam Johnson, Chuma Okeke, De’Anthony Melton, Derrick White, Matisse Thybulle, Nassir Little and Onyeka Okongwu, if any are available. Just keep in mind that there are always some breakout players at the start of every season that you should be ready to pounce on if the opportunity presents itself.
@dballbball Thanks for the wonderful rating of my team! I actually left out Grant williams as my $1 pick at the end of the draft.
Since im in a 9-cat roto format with 82 games cap per position (but running all the way until the end of season) I was looking to a more balanced approach. So as long as im not too low in a certain category (and has a maximum score in others, which i hope to be my strength cats)
you reckon i should find more points/assist off the wire? between g.williams/duarte/dosunmu who would i drop first?
Again thank you for hosting this awesome thread! looking forward to a glorious season ahead.
14 team H2H 9 Cat (draft order)
Haliburton - PG/SG
Booker - PG/SG
Myles Turner - C/PF
CP3 - PG
Vassell - SG/SF
Wagner - SF/PF
Brandon Clarke -PF/C
Herb Jones - PF/SF
Jalen Smith - PF
Zubac - C
DFS - PF/SF
Olynyk - C
I am leaning into a punt points. Also weak in 3's and rebounds. So-so in assists. Any ideas? Thanks
@brandonbourassa Wow. You move quickly!
Does that trade help your team build on its strengths? Absolutely. It makes me nervous to see three up-and-coming players going out in exchange for two guys that I think have plateaued, but there's nothing strictly wrong with the deal. You sacrificed PTS at the altar of BLK, FG%, REB and STL with that trade, so to answer your question about trades featuring Barrett or Murray: no, you shouldn't trade them and hope to improve PTS. They are scorers, so it wouldn't make sense to swap like-for-like and somehow expect an upgrade.
PTS and AST are very volatile categories, so it may be difficult to cement those as strengths after moving Edwards and Sexton, and with you considering future moves of Barrett and Murray. None are AST All-Stars, but they were still some of your best, and it's going to be hard to find assists in free agency. There would be a similar impact on your 3PT category, since you've already moved a couple of snipers for two guys that make less than one per night. I wouldn't expect to be competitive in treys at this point, but Butler's higher APG could still allow you to compete in that area.
By process of elimination, I should recommend that you pursue FT% as one of your extra categories. Poeltl doesn't help you there, but Butler is a major bonus for your chances. Beyond that, I think you'll have to look at ways to maintain your PTS without bringing down your efficiency (FG%, FT%, TO). Barrett is a bigger negative on efficiency than he is a positive in PTS, so you could certainly consider making a move centered around him in particular. I am much less concerned with Murray on this front.
Keep grinding! Let me know if anything develops.
@vcube111 You're welcome!
For the record, Draymond Green would not fit this build any better than Capela. It's hard to find bigs that are well-suited to these categories. They call Porzingis the Unicorn for a reason, and that's the sort of archetype you're looking for. Markkanen and Olynyk also suit your team well. If you only have one starting center spot, then I think you're fine to convert Capela's spot into another position. Players like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Bojan Bogdanovic, Brook Lopez, De'Anthony Melton, Keldon Johnson, Lu Dort, Mo Bamba, Norman Powell, PJ Washington, Robert Covington and Saddiq Bey are all worth considering, although only some might make sense in a Capela trade. You'll have to negotiate and be strategic. For example, you could find the teams that have players who have averaged 10-plus rebounds and try to sell him to them as a way to secure the category.
All aboard the Okeke train! The other name is harder to pick. I'm a proud stockholder in Roby's career, but I don't know if he'll help you. The safer options are Beasley and Williams, so I'm inclined to think that Williams is the best fit for your team based on positional need.
Thank you so much again for this! I'll try to offer Capela to the owner of Keldon Johnson. Do you think Jerami grant seems okay to trade for Capela? I dropped Patrick Beverley for Malik Beasley. I'll keep an eye on Okeke and Roby.
@nick-soetiono My pleasure!
To be frank, you have the lowest PTS average of any team I've evaluated so far. Keeping in mind that I make no effort to predict major scoring boosts, it's entirely possible that I misjudged you there for the reasons I previously explained. Assists were similarly low. However, if you're determined to boost up one or the other, I think it's best to go for PTS and take the optimistic approach with scoring boosts for several of your players. Despite having some top-tier assist players, I just don't see how you can bring your average up enough to consistently rely on that category. Scorers are a dime a dozen in basketball, but playmakers are much harder to come by.
If you're looking to convert other categories to strengths, I think it's best to focus on FG% and REB. By average, your team is already really strong at FG%. However, Ball, Barton, Duarte, George and Vassell take more shots than your high percentage guys, and their inaccuracy is the only reason I didn't call FG% a strength. There is a similar situation with your FT%, where your overall accuracy is low but you have high volume shooters with solid accuracy to balance the scales. However, I'm not convinced it can become a strength with James being a few points below average and still taking the most shots. Barton, Dosunmu, Duarte and Vassell are your only true negatives in REB, but you only have two guys (Ayton and James) that I would call true positives as well.
I say hold the line with Dosunmu and Williams. Neither are central to their team's success, but both are in a position where they can increase their perceived value early in the season. The Celtics are missing three bigs -Gallinari, Kornet and Williams- and the Bulls are missing their starting point guard. See which one of those two guys has the better start to the season. If you agree with what I said in the previous paragraph, then the answer will likely end up being Dosunmu.
@vcube111 I'm here to help! Looks like you've got it under control though.
I'd rather do Grant for Capela, but I could be talked into a swap for Johnson. Both are defensible, but you're definitely dropping out of contention for REB if you go through with that. You didn't have much farther to fall, so no worries there.
Let me just clarify something with my original answer: you're not great at assists, but you're pretty darn good. My apologies if I led you to believe otherwise. Just be sure that you don't push for assists in a week when you're across from Ball and Harden, for example.
Good luck! Reach out if you need more help.
I posted this earlier today, but I forgot to tag you. Thanks
14 team H2H 9 Cat (draft order)
Haliburton - PG/SG
Booker - PG/SG
Myles Turner - C/PF
CP3 - PG
Vassell - SG/SF
Wagner - SF/PF
Brandon Clarke -PF/C
Herb Jones - PF/SF
Jalen Smith - PF
Zubac - C
DFS - PF/SF
Olynyk - C
I am leaning into a punt points. Also weak in 3's and rebounds. So-so in assists. Any ideas? Thanks
@jay1337 Good news! You don't need my help if your roster has a similar season to last year.
Strengths: AST, BLK, FT%, PTS (*), REB, 3PT
Weaknesses: FG%, TO
Mid: STL
Players that are good at your strengths: Gilgeous-Alexander, Haliburton, Lavine, Mobley, Randle and Tatum
Players that are bad at your strengths: McConnell
Players that are good at your weaknesses: Hart and Mobley
Some concerns: Jackson is injured and Brogdon's availability has been inconsistent at best. You're definitely going to have to shop for an immediate Jackson replacement, and I suspect you'll get used to doing the same with Brogdon on an infrequent basis. As an advocate of streaming, I can hardly think of this as a major problem. The truth is that one injured player should always be palatable to a good team, and Brogdon should tie with McConnell for your most expendable player this year.
You should be pretty comfortable with PTS all season. You're well above what I would consider a standard, but I am going with averages and assumed availability here. At worst, I can imagine you having some rough weeks due to circumstances beyond your control (bad shooting streaks, multiple injuries, etc.). Half of your team are at or above average based on last year's production, and you've got four guys who can consistently put 20 or more on the board. I'm only truly concerned with Lopez and McConnell disappointing you in that category.
While not awful, your team will definitely have some rough shooting weeks. Half of your team takes an awful lot of shots, and almost all of those players are below average in FG%. LaVine only barely makes the cut, while Tatum leads a trio with Gilgeous-Alexander and Randle that could make or break some weeks for you. Moving down the list to players who don't shoot as much but still miss more than you'd like: Brogdon, Jackson and Markkanen. Injuries will save you from the first two early on, but there's not going to be much stopping Markkanen from putting up extra shots with the Jazz this year. While he may score more, it's also likely that he'll be taking harder shots under more pressure.
I don't think you should concern yourself with turnovers as a weakness. This may be a bit hyperbolic, but you are basically worse in that category because you have so many good players.
My advice? Don't fall in love with anyone on your roster if you sense there's a chance to upgrade. You have enough quality players that you can risk a trade or drop a frustrating athlete. Take chances with your early IR slot and go for the home run swings in free agency. Point guard is definitely your weakest position, but that's not the end of the world. You'll have a lot of freedom on the waiver wire, so your priority should be to pick the hottest player with the most games in the upcoming week.
Good luck this season!
@william-weyher No worries! I check this thread multiple times a day, but I don't always have time to respond. I've got your back! In fact, I'm here to mostly agree with your assessment so far.
Strengths: BLK, FG%, STL, TO
Weaknesses: PTS (*), REB
Mid: AST, FT%, 3PT
Players that are good at your strengths: Clarke, Finney-Smith, Jones, Smith, Turner and Zubac
Players that are bad at your strengths: Olynyk
Players that are good at your weaknesses: Booker and Olynyk
You should lean very hard into punting PTS, my friend. Booker is literally the only positive on the team, while Haliburton, Vassell and Wagner may barely pass average this year. I don't think this category is redeemable, unless, by some miracle, there are multiple above-average scorers just waiting to be discovered on your waiver wire.
While treys seem to be a weakness, I do think it's possible that you have as many as eight players that average more than ~1.7 3PT/G. I'm certain that Booker, Finney-Smith, Haliburton and Vassell will do it, and I'm confident that Wagner could get there. What I'm not sure about is whether some combination of Olynyk, Smith or Turner could get there. In the end, I'm fairly confident you'll end up seeing some natural progression from the younger players and registering a very average result in 3PT by the end.
AST and REB are going to be frustrating for you if nothing changes on your roster. While AST has two of the best possible anchors in Haliburton and Paul, you essentially ignored the category after that. They are the only two point guards on your roster, and I think you'll probably need to explore opportunities to add another guard in order to be more consistently competitive in AST. However, there will certainly be weeks where those two are enough for you. On the other hand, REB is a category that a tall team like yours might typically be better at, but there are easily 20 or more players that are better on the boards than your best (Zubac). The odds of them being paired up on other teams are fairly strong, so your odds aren't that great.
Efficiency is going to be your bread and butter if your roster stays the same. You will be a competitive FG% team without many scorers, and the only major concern from that group is Vassell. Beware that nobody on your team will counterbalance Booker's shot volume, so you are extremely vulnerable to a bad shooting week. Thankfully, he was nearly average last year, which makes the fact that he'll probably take twice as many shots as any other individual on your team every week more palatable. To secure against Booker and Vassell, you may want to address this category with your first few roster moves. Turnovers shouldn't be a problem with your players' usage rates.
Booker, Haliburton, Jones, Paul and Wagner should carry your FT% to respectable levels, but half your team is slightly-to-considerably below average from the charity stripe. That could be an area you need to address in the future, but you may choose to focus on other categories instead. Fixing shooting percentages is often a case of subtraction instead of addition, so in that spirit, you may consider players like Clarke, Olynyk and Zubac.
There are others that may disagree, but I believe Olynyk is your most expendable player. In the interest of rounding out your roster, I'd recommend that you consider options for replacing him with a guard. Punting PTS seems like a given, so I'll double down and say that you can ignore that category when shopping. Which of the seven categories you're good-to-great at you choose to focus on with future moves should be determined by the player pool and not some pre-determined objective. Any of the seven would help your team become more competitive, and you're sure to find several categories in one player anyway. My short list would include names like Alex Caruso, Bruce Brown, De'Anthony Melton, Derrick White, Gary Payton II, Matisse Thybulle, Monte Morris, Patrick Beverley and Seth Curry. Go for it if there's another guard out there that you think you missed on.
Good luck!
@dballbball Thank you for the feedback! Any advice for how I should build my roster from this point to be competitive? I've been eyeing Simmons as he can further cement my categories all while bolstering my ASTS a bit more, but I wasn't sure since he is a risky play, and I got my fair share of risky players already.
Should I look to make some smaller trades at the end of my roster, with the likes of Finney-Smith, Murray, Barret, KCP? Or just hold tight let the beginning of the season play out and keep my eye on the waiver?
Speaking of the waiver, anyone I should be targeting? PTS guys? AST guys?
Thanks for the feedback again!
@dballbball Thank yo so much for the review! Good season ahead to you and your teams!
@brandonbourassa My pleasure!
You're absolutely right that Simmons would help your strengths if he returns to form. Where he won't help you is FT%, PTS and TO. Those are all swing categories for you, so acquiring him would be a huge risk. If you're prepared to become less competitive in those categories, then you could definitely entertain a Murray-Simmons swap. That boosts your AST, FG%, REB and STL in exchange for notable losses in PTS and 3PT.
3PT is out of the question for your team now, so the values of all four "end of roster" guys you named are decreased as a result. I am firm on keeping Finney-Smith, but the others would probably be more valuable to a different sort of team. Murray only hurts you in BLK and REB, so he's still quite valuable, but you seem to be trending away from his best categories. I remain convinced that Barrett and Caldwell-Pope are going to frustrate you this season. Barrett, in particular, is only truly helpful in PTS and 3PT and is atrocious at BLK, FG%, FT% and STL. Caldwell-Pope is only marginally above-average in 3PT, STL, FT% and TO, but is a negative in every other category. At ~2 FT/G, he's not going to majorly influence your competitiveness there anyway, and he has typically been slightly below average at STL in previous seasons. Caldwell-Pope's usage rate went up by nearly five points in his only season with the Wizards, and he is now joining a much more competitive Nuggets squad with several players that they would rather have handling the ball or finishing possessions (Brown, Hyland, Jokic, Murray, Porter and Smith). That's a really complicated way of saying that his TO should probably go down, but so should everything else.
If you're looking at the waiver wire and considering moving some of your perimeter players, then I'd consider players like Alex Caruso, Bruce Brown, Deni Avdija, Derrick White, Gary Payton II, Matisse Thybulle, Patrick Beverley and TJ McConnell. If Tre Jones is available in your league, then he is definitely worth taking a flier on as well. Steals should be pretty easy to find on the wire, so there's definitely an opportunity to grow there.
I hope this helps!
