MoveThoseChains

Forsett, Lamar Miller, or Marvin Jones in my flex? Leaning Marvin Jones since I have AJ and KC has been bleeding points to opposing WR's. While Forsett and Miller have been busts thus far and have two tough match ups.

Current starters: Rivers, Julio, AJ Green, Karlos Williams, Melvin Gordon, Martellus B, Marvin Jones, Ari K, Denver D

TJ Yeldon or Melvin Gordon. Eddie Lacy and Mark Ingram are my other RB's. 

That's tough. My personal thoughts: McCoy has been hampered by his hamstring since before the regular season began. Williams has scored in every game, and that's with little-to-decent volume. McCoy is most likely out this week, meaning Williams will get a full workload. Bills love to the run the ball. If McCoy continues to be hampered throughout the rest of the year, Williams will be a viable starting option in fantasy. You gotta hold onto Lacy, Ingram, and Gordon. I would potentially cut Yeldon or Coleman, or try to open up a roster space via trade, to get Williams. If anything happens to McCoy long term you have a rb1 in Williams. 

On a standard team is it wise to have 5 RB's and 5 WR's? I'm wondering whether it'd better to drop one in place of a back up DEF or TE. My DEF at the moment is the Colts and they've not looked great apart from in week 3. The top defenses on FA are the Panthers, Rams, Vikings and the Bills.

 

One last thing, would it be a good move to drop Tevin Coleman for Karlos Williams? 

I would pick up Williams immediately, but maybe not drop Coleman. Who else could you drop? 

What do you fellas think is the future value of Dion Lewis? Is he somebody who could sustain being a viable Flex option for the rest of the season, or do you trade him while he's hot?

Lewis could sustain value for the rest of the season. Pats running backs are historically somewhat of a headache to rely on week to week, but you most likely didn't draft Lewis and picked him up on the waivers. I don't believe he will continue to be a top 10 back throughout the remainder of the season, as the Pats will eventually go into ground-and-pound mode when it gets colder/closer to playoffs to save Brady's arm. In the meantime, however, I think it's fairly safe to keep riding a role player in such a potent offense. The Pats are airing it out right now, so Lewis should get 12-15 touches per week (8-10 carries, 4-6 catches). Once they get up in the second half, however, Blount will be on the field more than him. It's a time to sell high, or to hold onto a nice flex option for the upcoming weeks. 

I'm here to stay. Like Smith Sr said, "if we would've won, it would've been a quick turn around, let's go down there (to Pittsburgh)." Cause for concern? Sure. But we might as well ride it out. Let's win our first of the year vs the Steelers.

Thank you Translation and BaltimoreFlacco, I appreciate it. When I was on the clock at various points, I realized I had the option to take a player who could play multiple positions. I think I can mix and match. I wouldn't mind having DeMar come off the bench to be honest, he doesn't necessarily need to start. I agree with your "potential" grade Flacco. Outside of Oubre, Davis (to an extent), and I'll throw Draymond in there because he's young, I didn't draft many "young" guys. More guys in their primes and veterans.

I'm happy you guys think my players will fit well together and play well together, because I envision the same.

I agree that I don't have much of a post game. Gortat is still pretty solid offensively, and I like Davis and Wright in pick and roll situations. I can throw lobs to them. Outside of that, not too much.

I like my bench as well, as I feel like I have pretty good depth. I'm happy that my team is pretty lengthy for the most part. You look at the Warriors and their length disrupted teams. Even though it's a minor detail in their recent success, I've heard analysts talk about if.

Anyways, I appreciate the grading. I like both of your guys' team, and I'm glad you liked mine.

I know someone graded your team BaltimoreFlacco, and I would give yours an A as well.

Anyone mind doing a breakdown of my team? Would be appreciated.. I know I promised some other people an analysis that I haven't gotten to

I like that starting 5 except for Noah. He was pretty awful last season, maybe last year was just a fluke, but he has never been a great player offensively. 

 

I also don't subscribe to the notion of it's okay to have 2 players playing together that both have severe detriments because they compliment each other. That's not how it works. It's not like one is so good they can make up for the other deficiencies, on the basketball court it actually works the other way. A bad defensive player gets abused, and a bad offensive player gets ignored.

Noah wasn't himself last year, pampered with injuries I believe. He's always been a great passing center, which I think counts for offense. Not many centers have been "great players offensively" in recent seasons.

I can see your reasoning on the offense/defense notion. But, I wouldn't say "on the basketball court it actually works the other way." I think it varies team to team. Their have been teams that have succeeded with offense/defense front court pairings, and teams that haven't succeeded with that strategy. As for Kanter/Bogut, I can see it working.

Lost_In_Translation's Team

Ron Artest: Chris Paul

Ron Artest: Bradley Beal
Ron Artest:Andrew "Ender" Wiggins
Ron Arrest: Paul Millsap
Ron Artest: Joakim Noah

Bench
Ron Artest: D'Angelo Russell 
Ron Artest: Kevin Martin
Ron Artest: Matt Barnes
Not Ron Artest: Enes Kanter
Ron Artest: Andrew Bogut

Ron Artest: Dante Exum
Not Ron Artest: Zach Lavine
Ron Artest: Luc Richard Mbah A Moute
Ron Artest: Nene
Greg Oden: Joel Embiid 

CP3, Beal, Wiggins, Millsap, and Noah is a very solid starting five. CP3 is a star, Millsap is a nice power forward, and Noah is a solid center. Those 3 are versatile in their own ways, as they each offer a few categories in which they are above-average to very good at. Add Beal and Wiggins to that, and you add two of the top young players in the NBA to a veteran starting lineup. Having vets in the starting five should help both Beal and Wiggins, as if their growth in their games these upcoming years won't help enough. Both Beal and Wiggins will continue to get better, as their primes are still a couple years away. The fact that they are already solid NBA players and their primes are ahead of them is a great thing for your team. CP3, Millsap, and Noah still have years of good ball in them. Your starting five is looking like a dangerous threat in this upcoming season, as well as in a few years. You set yourself up with a nice window for winning. 

Drafting both Kanter and Bogut was very smart. As you mentioned before in the discussion thread, Kanter is solid offensively but is a defensive liability. Bogut is a very solid defender, while his offensive game isn't something that scares defenses. Those two guys on the second team together should work nicely, due to the differences in their games. They complement each other. Barnes is a solid vet off the bench. Martin is a shooter off the bench who knows how to score. He played well once he came back from injury. Russell is a wildcard at this point, due to him being a rookie. I think it will take him some time to adjust to the NBA (which is perfectly ok), and CP3 will mentor him. Lavine may be a better backup than Russell for this upcoming season. Either way, Russell, Lavine, and Exum are all lottery picks within the past two drafts. All three are lengthy (which is a plus) and they all have nice maximum career potential. Nene is another vet off the bench. I wouldn't really like him as the #2 PF on a team (in this draft), but he's your #3, which I think is a nice fit for him at this point in his career. Mbah a Moute failed his physical, so his Kings contract has been voided. I hope he gets picked up by a team, but I couldn't tell you why he failed his physical/what is wrong with him. As of now, you could've drafted someone who's currently on a roster. I drafted two big men late (Ed Davis and Brandon Wright), but I honestly forgot about Embiid. I would've considered him, but I just hate the injury situation. He's a fine stash player on your team, due to your front court depth (Millsap, Noah, Kanter, Bogut, Nene). If he can get past the injuries, play at least half of the 82 games for at least a few seasons, then with his talent, he should put up some numbers. As long as Noah and Bogut stay healthy (they've had slight injury concerns in the past), you'll be good as Embiid has to sit out this upcoming year.

Grade: In between an A-Minus and an A  I really like your starting five. Like I stated, you can win-now, and in a few years, CP3, Beal, and Wiggins will be your big three, adding onto Millsap and Noah. Real solid starting five.

I like your bench. Martin, Barnes, Kanter, Bogut, and Nene are all viable options that bring different aspects to your team. Martin - shooter, Barnes - pesky, Kanter - offense, Bogut - defense/anchor, Nene - toughness (purposely made it brief - that's not all that they bring). Russell, Lavine, and Exum can really elevate your team if they develop into what their current teams hope they can be. I can't predict the future, and don't really want to assume they will be All-Star's or that they will not live up to their potential. I'm grading your franchise though, so I'll say that having those young talents is great from a potential stand point. A veteran guard instead of one of the three young guys would help your team win now. However, those three younger guards give you great potential for the future. If they all develop nicely, your looking at Russell, Lavine, Exum, Beal, and Wiggins as a young nucleus of talent. I'll throw Embiid in there, too. If the 4 guys outside of Beal and Wiggins (I know their futures are going to be good to great) even have decent careers, that will definitely help your team in a few years. You give yourself a chance of having 4 guys who can develop into their potential. If I throw in Kanter (23 years old), that's 7 young guys who's primes are ahead of them. If everything goes to what your plan is, all that young talent on top of CP3, Millsap, Noah, Bogut, Martin, Barnes, and Nene would be very dangerous.

Your team is close to being an A. Drafting Mbah A Moute makes me have to bring it down slightly (at this point) just because he is currently not on a team and I don't know why he failed a physical. If everything is ok, and he gets signed, then that dismisses my knock. Also, I don't know how Russell, Exum, Lavine, and Embiid careers will play out. I like Lavine, I'm not a big Exum fan due to his shooting, Russell should be good, and Embiid I have no idea if he will end up having a nice career or being Greg Oden. I respect that you drafted these young talents because their careers could certainly pan out the way you envision them to. If that happens, I would have to bump up your grade. At this point though, I would've bumped up your current grade if you took one or two more proven NBA players over a younger guy. Like I mentioned, having 7 guys under the age of 23 is a great look for the future. I know what Beal, Wiggins, and Kanter will do. Lavine is on the right path towards having a good career. The other three have the potential. I think with all you could've substituted Exum with a proven player, but that's just my personal preference. 

In a few years, I could see this team being an A to A-Plus team. At this moment, I'll give it between an A-Minus to A. Either way, nicely operated draft. 

pick me pick me

Doing Lost_in_Translation, BaltimoreFlacco, then I got you. I'll do them today.

Anyone else? I may just keep going and do all the teams

Inqui's Team

Depth Chart

PG: Lillard - Mills - Williams
SG: Afflalo - Fournier - McLemore
SF: Parker - Ariza - Hezonja
PF: Favors - Anderson - Stoudemire
C: Horford - Jones - Adams

Another team that lacks a superstar, but still a solid starting five. Lillard is a tier or two down from being a so-called superstar, as he's clearly one of the best young point guards in the NBA. With Portland "rebuilding," I believe his usage rate will be very high this upcoming year and will post career best numbers in a few categories. Jabari is a year removed from being the #2 pick and coming off an injury. Before being hurt, you could tell he was going to make the Rookie of the Year race between him and Wiggins close. He should bounce back nicely this year and continue his development towards his high potential. Favors and Horford is a solid front court. Favors is still young, and these upcoming years should be his prime. Horford is back to being an All Star. Like the Monroe/DeAndre front court, this one is solid as well. I'm not a big Afflalo fan, but he looks like the fifth option in your starting lineup, which is fine. He's a veteran and could post sneaky numbers this year depending on how the Knicks utilize him/play as a team. I envision your starting five playing well together. 

Your bench is pretty solid. Ariza is a great veteran off the bench, Lou Williams just won Sixth Man of the Year. Mclemore still has potential as I believe his game will continue to grow, and Adams is a solid backup center. Opposing players hate playing against him because he gets in their head and plays hard. Anderson is a nice shooting stretch 4, which are always tough to play against. Mills is a firecracker off the bench, as he can heat up quickly and score in bunches, even in a limited role on the Spurs. I believe Terrence Jones will bounce back nicely from injury, and with Smoove gone, he should see more minutes like in the '13-'14 season. He's a solid young player. Fournier is a good shooter off the bench. To be honest, I haven't seen Fournier play much, so I can't give much insight on him. He's only 22 though so he will still develop his game. Stoudemire as one of your last players isn't bad at all. Henjoza has potential, it'll be interesting to see how his game translates in the NBA. I haven't seen him play much, but he was drafted top 5 for a reason. As I mentioned in AllBlackRaven's team review, I'm not a huge fan of international players, but it would be unfair to use that reason to knock a guy who hasn't played an NBA game yet. I'm sure you know his game better than I do. 

Grade: Solid B  This team is a borderline B-Plus team, so I'll go in the middle and give it a grade in between a B and B-Plus. I like your young nucleus of Lillard, Parker, and Favors. Add a nice center in Al Horford to that, and that's a solid four (for lacking a superstar). 

Your bench complements your starters pretty nicely. Even though Ariza is a natural SF, I think it's possible he could play the two and even start depending on the matchup. I'm a fan of him, as well as Mills, Jones, and Adams. I like Lou Will, but he can be inconsistent at times and his defense isn't that good. He is on your team to score, though. Fournier and Mclemore isn't too great backup shooting guard situation, but still not bad. Add the fact that I could envision Ariza playing the two and it works out better. Both Fournier and Mclemore are young, so their games should grow. You have plenty of young guys with potential, including Fournier, Mclemore, Hezonja, Jones, and Adams. Add those names to Lillard, Parker, and Favors, and your future is looking bright if all goes as you plan. That's 8 guys under the age of 25. 

Ariza and Mills bring championship experience to your roster. Lillard, Horford, Williams, Jones, Adams, Anderson, Stoudemire, Afflalo have all played in the playoffs which is a plus. You combined young players with some veterans who have playoff experience, which is a pretty good recipe in my book. Your teams peak is most likely a few years down the road, when the 8 players I mentioned are entering their prime age (besides Lillard - he's the one 25 year old who is basically in his prime and will still be there in a couple of years). The veterans you have should still be able to play solid basketball at that point too, besides probably Amar'e.

Like AllBlackRaven's team, you may have trouble winning right now against the teams that have a superstar, but I could see a so-called "upset" against a team with a superstar. In a couple of years though, you should have one of the best point guards, a top ten SF who will keep climbing towards the top 5 SF category, and still a formidable front court. If your shooting guards develop, Afflalo will go the bench which I envision him being more a solid backup then decent starter. Given your current roster situation and the potential of your young players, I think it's fair to give a Solid B as a grade. Your team's prime may be a couple years down the road (which is fine), but you can also win now and give teams trouble. 

Thank you sir - that's pretty comprehensive assessment and I agree with it.

 

Re internationals - both Bjelica and Marjanovic are really homer picks as they come from my favorite club (Red Star Belgrade). Bjelica has 4-5 years extra experience playing in Spain and Turkey and top European comp. He was last season MVP of the European top16. Guy is very versatile, can play multiple positions and score from everywhere. Also good at running the ball and distributing. Little bit shaky defensively but compensates as a competent rebounder and blocker. Attacks the rim in a sneaky fashion. He got 3 year deal from Wolves - I'm hopeful he can play in the NBA.

 

Boban is tall - 7'4" and knows how to use his height and long arms to his advantage. I'm not too confident he can cut it (not too athletic/strong) but I couldn't pass on him with my last pick.

I don't follow the international game at all really, but it sounds like you know what your talking about. Nothing wrong with homer picks - that's why I took Oubre. I would ignore the guy who said it was a bad team. 

AllBlackRaven's Team:

Depth Chart:

PG: Jeff Teague, Tony Wroten, Trey Burke

SG: Monta Ellis, JR Smith, Bojan Bogdanovic

SF: Tobias Harris, Julius Randle, Nemanja Bjelica

PF: Greg Monroe, Jordan Hill, Marreese Speights

 C: DeAndre Jordan, Tyson Chandler, Boban Marjanovic

Your starting five is pretty solid. You have your three main scorers in Ellis, Harris, and Monroe. Each of those guys could drop 18+ on any given night. Teague is a nice point guard who could operate around those 3 players. With those guys getting shots, the defense could forget about Teague, and he could drop 20+. Or he could get 10+ assists. I think he's a nice fit on your squad. DeAndre is your anchor in the paint. DeAndre setting screens for Teague and Ellis would open up space for them to drive/shoot, or lob it up to him for a slam. Harris' game will continue to develop, as I believe he's pretty underrated. Monroe and Jordan is a nice front court pairing, as Monroe is gifted offensively and Jordan is a great defender. That front court would give problems to opposing teams. You have nice depth behind them, as well. 

JR and Tyson are nice options off the bench. When Ellis is having an off game which he sometimes does, you can bring JR in who's one of the better 6th men in the league. He, like Ellis, can be hot or cold, which could hurt your team if both guys can't find their jumper. Randle has potential to be a solid power forward. I haven't seen his game all that much, so I don't know if he could be utilized as a small forward. You may know better than I on that. Hill and Speights provide veteran depth, as I like both those guys. Wroten put up solid stats before getting hurt last year, and I think he has nice potential. I'm not sure he's a natural point guard who can operate a team consistently however. His percentages were pretty bad (40% fg, 26% 3pfg, 67% free throw) with 3.8 turnovers per game. Burke is a decent 3rd point guard. He's undersized and doesn't have the real explosiveness to get by defenders consistently, which are knacks. Bojan is a fine shooter off the bench. I honestly don't know who Bjelica or Boban are. I'm not a big fan of international players, but that's my biased opinion, so you are better off judging those selections than I am. 

Overall Grade: B-Minus I personally think you missed a chance to grab a better player than DeAndre at your pick. I like him, but not in the top 7. Your depth at small forward is a little shaky, your guards can be inconsistent, and I'm not a big fan of the international players. 

I really like your front court depth though, as I count Randle as more of a power forward. Also, I can envision Teague, Ellis, and Harris jelling nicely, with Monroe and DeAndre having no problem using their strengths in their game to round out a nice starting five. You don't need to rely on one player to have to score 22+ points in order to win. Your starting five is balanced, which is a plus. Also, All of those guys are below the age of 30 (Ellis being 29), so theirs a nice future as well as a win-now opportunity.

I could see your team competing with the top teams, but falling short. Tyson has had plenty of playoff experience, as well as a championship. JR, Speights, Jordan, Ellis, and Teague all have recently made the playoffs and made runs, which are pluses (Speights contributing to a championship this past year). But I still think your missing a player or two who could take your team over the top. Without a true superstar, it will be hard for your team to beat teams with a superstar on it. 

I went up to NY for a couple of days and ended up staying here tonight - going to the O's game at Yankee stadium. Grades will start tomorrow

Cool, I'm out of town until this evening. For anyone who wants an analysis/grade, I can get them started tonight

If anyone wants me to state my analysis/grading on their team, let me know. I believe a member participating in the 2014 All Time NBA Draft did it for that draft and it was insightful to get others perspective. Feel free to grade my team, too

Sorry for the delay. Decided to round out my team with another big man in Brandon Wright. I wanted another athletic big man, and I think Wright will play a nice role behind ZBo/Gasol this year. I like my front court versatility with Draymond, Smoove, Ed Davis, Gortat, Asik, and Wright. Not the sexiest, but I'll take it.

I didn't take many real young players, only Draymond and Oubre, because a lot of my key players are "in their prime age." Conley, Tyreke, Harden, DeRozan, Gordon, and Ed Davis are all around the age of 25-27 (not 100% positive their exact ages). Livingston, Chandler, Smoove, Gortat, Asik, and Wright are all veterans around 29-31. Pierce is about 38, but that's ok due to his pedigree. I still have a fairly nice future, as well as a win-now mindset. I like the mixture.

The True Detectives Select:

Brandon Wright, PF/C

Beat me to it. I was hoping he'd be around for my second unit but he went a while ago.

I was going thru the draft and didn't see him, which surprised me because I thought he would've been gone by now. As it turns out, he's been off the board haha.

Now I get to go with my rookie project in Oubre. Doesn't offer a lot of short term upside, as he will go thru the learning curve the NBA offers to rookies playing in the league right after their freshman year of college. I do think he will be an impact/solid player a few years into the league.

The True Detectives Select:

Kelly Oubre Jr, SG/SF

Whoops, I drafted J.J. Redick here, but as I was going thru the rosters, it looks like he's already been selected by Gabe (a while ago - sorry I didnt see it). I'm going to delete the pick and choose someone else

The last two rounds are voluntary. Just wanted to clarify that.

I'm gonna participate til all 15 roster spots are filled

So... who hates Jimmy Smith the most?

Not I

Not much activity today

Nice pick in Henderson