Staff Fantasy Basketball Draft Recap: Analysis of Our 12-Team Head-to-Head League
Round 3
| Pick | Overall | Player | Position | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | Klay Thompson | SG/SF | Mike Hurley |
| 2 | 26 | Joakim Noah | PF/C | Shae Cronin |
| 3 | 27 | Brook Lopez | C | Brett Weisband |
| 4 | 28 | Paul Millsap | PF/C | Bryan Mears |
| 5 | 29 | Goran Dragic | PG/SG | Kyle Stanzel |
| 6 | 30 | Marc Gasol | C | Russell Peddle |
| 7 | 31 | Kobe Bryant | PG/SG | Mike Comerford |
| 8 | 32 | Ryan Anderson | PF/C | Daniel Lindsey |
| 9 | 33 | Ty Lawson | PG | Brett Oswalt |
| 10 | 34 | Dwight Howard | PF/C | Galin Dragiev |
| 11 | 35 | Victor Oladipo | PG/SG | Brandon Gdula |
| 12 | 36 | Trevor Ariza | SG/SF | Sam Hauss |
Mike Hurley shocked the whole draft room when he selected Klay Thompson 25th overall. While that might seem super aggressive for a guy known mostly for giving you points, threes, and not a whole lot else, our metrics actually have Klay projected as the 26th-most valuable fantasy asset for this upcoming season, right around where Mike grabbed him. Besides, with all the talk of him being the best two-way shooting guard in the league that came from the Kevin Love trade rumors, Klay will have a lot to prove this season.
This was the round when some of the bigger high-risk/reward selections were made. Brett Weisband picked up Brook Lopez at 27 before the news of his new foot injury surfaced. Brett will be hoping for a speedy recovery for BroLo and a return to the dominant form he was showing last season before going down with a different foot injury (12th-ranked in 17 games played).
Mike Comerford grabbing Kobe Bryant at pick 31 presents a similar level of risk, considering he's 36 and coming off two major leg injuries. He's shown flashes of his old self in the preseason, though, and put up a top-10 fantasy season just two short years ago. Cross your fingers, Mike (no one tell him we have Kobe projected at 126).
The last two picks of this round could both be considered reaches, considering Victor Oladipo and Trevor Ariza both have ADPs in the mid-50's on Yahoo. Our numbers have Sam Hauss' Ariza being the far better reach as our 28th-ranked player. Meanwhile, Brandon Gdula's Oladipo falls all the way to 97th in our projections, as we expect his struggles with shooting percentage and turnovers to continue in his sophomore campaign, even with the improved peripherals that should come with more minutes.
My Pick: Marc Gasol, C - Gasol had an injury-riddled season last year and finished as the 44th-ranked player in 9-category leagues. Just one year before that, he was the ninth-ranked player with practically the same stat line, save for better blocks, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage that were more in line with his career averages. If he regresses to the mean in this, his contract season, he could prove to be a value pick for people who take him in the third. At least that's what I'm hoping.
