What do you think anout Ayo this season [H2H points].  Ayo or LeVert?

Thanks

Hello,

I’m at the tail end of a slow draft and wanted to get your feedback on my team so far. 

It’s a 12 team, H2H, 9 cat league. 

Jokic 

Garland

Morant

Lavine

J. Brown

Wendell Carter

T. Maxey

A. Simons

D. Green

B. Portis

D. Melton

I’m punting blocks and FG% and probably TO. 

@blanco A very young team! You trust these rookies more than I do. 

Strengths: AST, REB, STL

Weaknesses: PTS

Mid: BLK, FG%. FT%, TO, 3PT

Players that are good at your strengths: Fox, Jokic, Jones, Middleton, Murray, Sabonis

Players that are bad at your strengths: Banchero, Eason, Lopez, Olynyk, Oubre and Smith x2

Players that are good at your weaknesses: Fox, Jokic, Middleton, Murray and Sabonis

I’m sorry to say, but you definitely didn’t punt BLK and you probably didn’t punt 3PT. That is, at least, if you don’t want to. However, it’s really hard to punt BLK and 3PT when you draft players like Lopez and Jabari Smith. Both athletes are specifically being targeted in drafts for their production in those categories. East, Jones and Sabonis will keep you lower there, but everyone else should be productive at levels somewhere near the average this season. It will be possible to recover in 3PT if you want to, while you’re close to being competitive in blocks. 

This team is difficult to read because I’m literally guessing stats for three players, while there are several others in new environments or roles that are also unpredictable. You’re focused on upside with this team, but that label doesn’t apply to Lopez or Olynyk. The two bigs have been in the league for 10 years or more and have surely peaked in value. While Lopez is still a solid BLK, FT%, TO and 3PT option, he isn’t going to help you anywhere else. Olynyk was below average in every category but TO last season and isn’t assured of a jump in any category this season, despite having a new opportunity with the Jazz. There’s some upside there, but I would let go pretty quickly if he starts slow. Neither player makes sense to retain if you’re sure you don’t want to go for 3PT.

Oubre makes me nervous. He has burned me in previous years, but there is top-100 upside with him and potential for an increased role with Bridges away from the Hornets. Since he’s still going to produce solid STL and 3PT, I’d keep him on a slightly longer leash than Olynyk, but not for long. He shoots from the field and the charity stripe fairly often and is really going to hurt you with his poor accuracy, so there’s no upside if he’s not specifically filling a 3-and-D role on your team. 

Since it’s hard to predict what your team is going to look like, I think efficiency is your surest path to success. Every one of the efficiency categories (FG%, FT%, TO, 3PT) are decent for this team, but I believe your reliance on youth will drag you down there. You’re definitely strongest in FG% and TO out of those four, so I’d recommend that you focus on those if push comes to shove. Moving Olynyk could help you address those categories if you are sure you want to roster three rookies through their ups and downs. Trading one of your rookies to someone who also values their upside could also help you improve your roster without necessarily “losing out” on a prospect. Eason’s value could be at its highest point now if he doesn’t pan out, while Banchero is an offensive-minded rookie on a defensive-minded team with a lot of mouths to feed. Could you make something work around any of those players? If yes, I’d be looking for a player that is around 47 FG%, 80 FT% and less than about 1.5 TO/G who can help you in one other category of your choice. Some of the most efficient players I like to go for are Bogdan Bogdanovic, Cam Johnson, Grant Williams, Grayson Allen, Monte Morris, Royce O’Neale and Seth Curry. Some of those guys are almost definitely going to be unavailable, so just try to remember that PTS probably won’t help this team and focus on players that are going to immediately improve your chances in the non-glamorous categories. Your top picks are going to carry your AST and REB to respectable levels and your young players could help push both categories over, so they’re not going to be as important to focus on with future moves either. 3-and-D all the way!

@bufanda If it's Dosunmu or LeVert, I'm inclined to go for LeVert. He's only one season removed from top-75 value. Dosunmu has the better opportunity this year, but I don't know what he'll do with it. Dosunmu is better for AST and FG%. LeVert is better for PTS, STL and 3PT.

@dballbball Thank you!!!!

@yeeya Chances are good! Initial reaction: this team is very balanced. 

Strengths: FT%

Weaknesses: FG%

Mid: AST, BLK, PTS, REB, STL, TO

Players that are good at your strengths: Brogdon, Brooks, Gilgeous-Alexander Haliburton, Harris and Lillard

Players that are bad at your strengths: Ivey, Jackson, Mobley, Olynyk, Williams and Wood

Players that are good at your weaknesses: Haliburton, Harris, Jackson, Mobley, Williams and Wood

There’s equal parts good and bad here. You’re so flexible with your categories that you could win any number of categories from week-to-week, but I also can’t really tell you what your speciality is. Are you going to be playing the waiver wire regularly and maximizing your weekly games played totals? If so, I think this team can work as-is. Failing that, you could consider making some moves to convert one or more categories to strengths.

How confident are you in Williams? I am also planning to take a flier on him in one or more leagues, but only if I can get him in the last round. That’s also where I would take Ivey, who I am also a fan of. The risk of having two young, unproven players with questionable fantasy value on a team with no specialties is more than I could handle. I’m nervous to say you should move on from either one, but it’s not the worst idea.

Brogdon and Harris aren’t as popular this season as in previous years, but both could provide extra value if they play to their potential for extended periods of time. In that case, you’ve got a couple of steals. However, there are some well-advertised risks with both players and I’d never advise against kicking the tires on a trade for either one.

There’s some serious synchronicity between several of your early picks in Gilgeous-Alexander, Haliburton, Lillard, Mobley and Wood. They’re all solid playmakers at their positions. Factor in Brogdon and you could really create an edge in AST. You’ll notice that I didn’t include Ivey in this category, even though point guards are assumed to be good at assists. The player that averaged 2.59 APG in college isn’t likely to do better than that with Cade Cunningham running the show, but I’d be willing to bet that Ivey could still come near that average in TO/G as a rookie starter. Everyone else is below average there as well.

Jackson, Mobley and Wood give you a solid base in BLK. Since BLK is a heavily-contested category this season, they may be enough to carry you against several teams. However, the real heavyweights in that category can still outpace you there. This is one of those categories that makes me wish you didn’t commit to Ivey and Williams at the same time. You may think that the defensive stud (Williams) would be helpful there, but he hasn’t been that impressive thus far in his career. Williams could double his BPG average from last season and still be nearly half as valuable as Mobley.

As a base for future decisions, prioritize FT% over FG%. You don’t have any true punt categories, but you’re probably going to lose FG% more often than you win it. I believe this is the sort of team that can, should, and likely will need to be active on the waiver wire throughout the season. You’re going to have to play your opponent every week and know the schedule. Where can you force an advantage, and how can you maximize your games played? Without any true specialty, you could say that your team’s best ability is availability. I’ll list some players I like that could help you convert one or more categories, but I think you should be planning to rotate the end of your roster regularly if there is no penalty for doing so. At various points, consider rostering players like: Alex Caruso, Chuma Okeke, Darius Bazley, Devonte Graham, Immanuel Quickley, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Jose Alvarado, Kevin Love, Malik Beasley, Marcus Morris, Patrick Beverley, Reggie Jackson, Richaun Holmes, Ricky Rubio, Robert Covington and Thomas Byant.

That Gilgeous-Alexander and Mobley for Durant trade is really intriguing. You get the best player in exchange for potentially the same injury/shutdown risk in Gilgeous-Alexander. You'll be more suited to streaming from week-to-week. The direct categorical tradeoff is BLK for PTS, but I also believe you could become more competitive in FG% and TO as a result of this. Durant takes more shots and makes more of them than Gilgeous-Alexander, which raises your overall competitiveness in that category. You can improve your competitiveness in both areas with future moves by switching to a BLK punt instead. Follow your heart with this one. It's risky to make major moves like this and your tolerance for risk may be different than mine.

@jb93 Honestly, I'm going to spare you the long writeup. This is a really good team and I see several steals: Middleton (69), Poole (93), Smith (117) and Cam Johnson (148). I don't disagree with a single pick you made and each one is appropriate for the round. It's hard for me to think of your team as anything other than a leading contender.

You're incredibly strong in PTS and 3PT. You've passed my benchmarks for "good" in AST, FG%, FT%, REB, STL and TO. The only thing I don't see you competing in is BLK, but I think you knew that. Okongwu is a solid pick but perhaps not the most valuable on this squad. After a draft like that, there's no way I could predict who's on your waiver wire, but I think you should consider shopping around. The rest of your team is so strong that you can afford to take chances on early breakout players and hope to get another steal. If it doesn't work out, then it's perfectly reasonable to stream that spot every week. Your best odds on the wire will be in categories like FT%, STL and 3PT. Each of those categories should exist in most of your targets.

I'm jealous of your draft! Good luck this season.

Here’s a summary of my team kind off not 100% sure of my last pickups but I think I got a decent set of players let me know any recommendations for players to target of the wire.

I tried to basically Punt Points, Blocks and FG all this considering I’m playing in a H2H 10Cat league with double doubles which I think I’m fairly strong with the current roster I have 

PG Harden

SG Haliburton 

G Chris Paul

SF Middleton 

PF Banchero

F Giddey

C Olynyk 

C Zubac

UTIL Cade Cunningham 

UTIL Marcus Smart

BN Jabari Smith

BN Cam Johnson 

BN Josh Hart

12T H2H 9CAT League

Went with the good ole FT% punt.

I've got one SF in this entire roster so wondering if it'll be ok...

But anyway, please tell me what you think. 9cat h2h 10th pick

1. Haliburton
2. Lamelo
3. Beal
4. Jarret Allen
5. John Collins
6. Jalen Green
7. Al Horford
8. Markkanen
9. Lowry
10. Jalen Smith
11. Claxton
12. Hartenstein
13. Patrick Williams

@dballbball Thanks a lot for the analysis, Derek! Yeah I definitely felt my weakness in points and assists which is why I picked up Cole Anthony. I might just wait for him to put up big numbers in the first-second week of the season then trade him for a struggling player strong with money stats. My current pipedream is Ben Simmons (straight up or a 2 for 1 for him) if he is struggling to start, but I'm worried about the impact on my FT%. 

Also part of me wants to test my current build as, upon surveying the other teams in this 14-team league, I have yet to find one that can beat me in 5 out of the 9 categories, as some teams are also weaker in points, and assists than me.

Hey, I love the responses! If I help I could get an understating my team more that would be great. What strengths and weakness do I have? 

9 cat H-2-H 12 Team League picking from the 11 slot. 

T. Young (pick 11) 

Haliburton (pick 14)

Vassell (62)

J. Collins (59)

M. Turner (35)

B. Beal (38)

H. Barnes (107)

Nurkic (83)

M. Smart (86)

JJJ (110)

Okongwu (131)

L. Dort (134)

J. McDaniels (155)

k. Olynyk (158)

thanks! First Category leauge! 

@dballbball Thanks for your analysis. There are some interesting names on the wire like Bones, Hartenstein, Olynyk etc.

I think I'll take your suggestion of using that last spot for a possible breakout contender/streaming.

Thanks again.

Would love to get some feedback on my team. I drafted from the #2 spot and while it wasnt my original plan, when AD dropped to the end of Round 2 I figured I needed to go for him. Would love to hear constructive feedback. See my team in the attached screenshot. Thanks.

@dballbball What do you think about Cam Johnson? Its better than Hyland in H2H points, 12 teams? Thanks