Fantasy Basketball: The numberFire Hoops Writers' Draft
Round 2
| Pick | Overall | Player | Team | Position | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Kyrie Irving | BOS | PG/SG | Brandon Gdula |
| 2 | 14 | DeMarcus Cousins | NO | PF/C | Brett Oswalt |
| 3 | 15 | Hassan Whiteside | MIA | C | Shae Cronin |
| 4 | 16 | LeBron James | CLE | SF/PF | Alex McDonald |
| 5 | 17 | Jimmy Butler | MIN | SG/SF | Jordan Sharp |
| 6 | 18 | Myles Turner | IND | PF/C | Sam Hauss |
| 7 | 19 | Rudy Gobert | UTA | C | Russell Peddle |
| 8 | 20 | C.J. McCollum | POR | PG/SG | Austan Kas |
| 9 | 21 | Paul George | OKC | SF/PF | Jay Kim |
| 10 | 22 | Draymond Green | GS | SF/PF/C | Abe Schwadron |
| 11 | 23 | Kristaps Porzingis | NY | PF/C | Alan Goldsher |
| 12 | 24 | Kyle Lowry | TOR | PG | Dale Redman |
LeBron James keeps slipping further and further in fantasy drafts each season, and Alex McDonald getting him with the 16th pick is borderline criminal. Dude averaged 26.4 points, 1.7 threes, 8.7 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 4.1 turnovers last year, while shooting 54.8% from the field and 67.4% from the line. The turnovers and free throw percentage are a bit of a drag, but give that line to a young guy and you'd be drafting him first or second every year. Don't get bored with LeBron's consistency -- it's one of the most reliable things in fantasy hoops.
Jimmy Butler ranked 10th in nine-category leagues last year and it'll be interesting to see how his production changes now that he's on a Minnesota Timberwolves team with a lot more firepower than the Chicago Bulls squad from which he was traded. If it's more of the same, Jordan scores again by grabbing him at 17 to go with his Nikola Jokic pick from the first round.
You might not be seeing Myles Turner go this high in most drafts, but Sam Hauss was smart to pounce at pick 18. We have him ranked 15th in our projections and he's the cover athlete of our breakout candidates for this season.
Alan Goldsher got Kristaps Porzingis at pick 23 and that might prove to be huge, now that the Zinger gets to finally exist on his own as the focal point of the New York Knicks with Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose, and Phil Jackson out of town. His upside is worth a shot early in the second round of standard drafts this year.
My pick: I already had a center with my Karl-Anthony Towns pick from Round 1, but I couldn't pass on Rudy Gobert at 19. He was second overall in our proprietary efficiency metric nERD last season, and he's in for a major bump in production now that Gordon Hayward is a Celtic. Even with Hayward still there, Gobert was the 13th-ranked player in nine-category leagues over the last two months of last season. His breakout potential is huge.
