2022-2023 NBA Salary Cap Draft - First Annual Battle for the Wikkid Cup (1 Viewer)

[Yo Mama]

I’ve got 9 sets of rankings so far. Get yours in soon if you want your voices heard. Vote like our democracy depends on it!

 

[Instinctive]

I’ve got 9 sets of rankings so far. Get yours in soon if you want your voices heard. Vote like our democracy depends on it!

And hurry because I want to see writeups!!!!!! Best part of these things.

 

[Yo Mama]

Last chance to get your rankings in. I’m hoping to roll out the consolidated results tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Last chance to get your rankings in. I’m hoping to roll out the consolidated results tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry but work is slamming me this week and to be honest I’m not sure I’m capable of being fair in the judging anyway - I really only know about 70% of the players drafted.

 

[Desert_Power]

Last chance to get your rankings in. I’m hoping to roll out the consolidated results tomorrow afternoon.

Will send you one in a couple of hours. Was out of town this weekend.

 

[Yo Mama]

Quick question for the field - do I count all voting or rank things Olympics style where I remove the top and bottom scores from everyone (to remove the outliers)?

 

[Jayrod]

Quick question for the field - do I count all voting or rank things Olympics style where I remove the top and bottom scores from everyone (to remove the outliers)?

I think since we aren't judging ourselves, you can keep them all. Also don't know that you'll have that many judges.

I'm slogging through them, but I'm having to look up a ton of guys as I look at the teams...only about halfway through.

 

[Desert_Power]

Quick question for the field - do I count all voting or rank things Olympics style where I remove the top and bottom scores from everyone (to remove the outliers)?

I think since we aren't judging ourselves, you can keep them all. Also don't know that you'll have that many judges.

I'm slogging through them, but I'm having to look up a ton of guys as I look at the teams...only about halfway through.

This whole thing is a bit arbitrary anyways it feels like. I had a really tough time separating a lot of folks. I think it will be more interesting after the season when we know who was hurt or developed during the year (like AJ Griffin going off for 24 last night).

 

[Yo Mama]

Quick question for the field - do I count all voting or rank things Olympics style where I remove the top and bottom scores from everyone (to remove the outliers)?

I think since we aren't judging ourselves, you can keep them all. Also don't know that you'll have that many judges.

I'm slogging through them, but I'm having to look up a ton of guys as I look at the teams...only about halfway through.

Sounds good. I have my rankings/writeups ready whenever you have your rankings done.

 

[Desert_Power]

I guess it was just hard for me to dislike teams in this. Part of that is the 15 teams in a league with 2x that teams. Nobody did any massive overpays (IMO) so these teams all have stegnths.

 

[Jayrod]

Finally finished my rankings.

Should have just thrown darts and saved myself a few hours.

The only benefit is I learned a lot more about the non-stars in the league.

 

[Yo Mama]

Preseason rankings coming soon!

I grouped them into tiers, listed out the individual votes, called out the top 8 players on each team, and listed the current FanTrax rankings for each team.

 

[Eephus]

Sorry, I got caught up in ranking my 31 songs. I think it should be more clearcut to rank the teams after the season.

 

[Yo Mama]

BATTLE FOR THE WIKKID CUP

NBA Salary Cap League Pre-Season Rankings





TIER 6 – Shoo-In for Webmanyama



Consistently at the bottom of all rankings. Strong guards can’t offset lack of bigs/defense. Depth helping in FanTrax results.



15th place - Chemical X - 1.82 average rank
@Chemical X

Voting: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4

Top players: LaMelo Ball, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Bojan Bogdanovic, Kyle Kuzma, Nikola Vucevic, Tyler Herro, Ivica Zubac, Keegan Murray

Current FanTrax Ranking - 5th place, 85.5 points

 

[trader jake]

TIER 6 – Shoo-In for Webmanyama

Great start with the category names.

 

[Yo Mama]

BATTLE FOR THE WIKKID CUP

NBA Salary Cap League Pre-Season Rankings





TIER 5 – Outside Looking In



Missing some combination of star-power, team balance, and/or depth to move them higher in the rankings.



14th place - @Dr. Octopus - 4.09 average rank

Voting: 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, 8, 8

Top players: Cole Anthony, Devin Booker, Jimmy Butler, Paolo Banchero, Robert Williams, Goran Dragic, Bobby Portis, Kelly Oubre

Current FanTrax Ranking - 10th place, 55 points



13th place - @nysfl2 – 5.00 average rank

Voting: 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 10

Top players: Trae Young, Alec Burks, Bennedict Mathurin, Zion Williamson, Jarrett Allen, Mike Conley, Gary Payton II, Isaiah Hartenstein

Current FanTrax Ranking - 12th place, 44.5 points



12th place - @dawgtrails / Moops - 5.64 average rank

Voting: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10

Top players: Ja Morant, RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown, Christian Wood, Rudy Gobert, Terry Rozier, Brook Lopez, Caleb Martin

Current FanTrax Ranking - 11th place, 51 points



11th place - @Frostillicus - 5.40 average rank

Voting: 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 12

Top players: Dejounte Murray, Anfernee Simons, Paul George, Domantas Sabonis, Jonas Valanciunas, Reggie Bullock, Jarred Vanderbilt, Kevin Porter

Current FanTrax Ranking - 2nd place (tied), 87 points

 

[Frostillicus]

Are you guys kidding me here? Wow. I am stunned. I guess when I win Fantrax that will have to be good enough for me.

 

[Frostillicus]

and I quit

 

[Yo Mama]

Are you guys kidding me here? Wow. I am stunned. I guess when I win Fantrax that will have to be good enough for me.

Fantrax definitely rewards the deeper teams.

 

[Yo Mama]

BATTLE FOR THE WIKKID CUP

NBA Salary Cap League Pre-Season Rankings


TIER 4 – Bound for the Play-In



Better team construction than the bottom feeders, but still missing key pieces to join the top tier teams.



10th place - @Eephus – 6.00 average rank

Voting: 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, 11

Top players: Fred VanVleet, De'Andre Hunter, Gary Trent Jr, Karl-Anthony Towns, Evan Mobley, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Anderson, Shaedon Sharpe

Current FanTrax Ranking - 8th place, 62 points



9th place - @Jayrod - 6.30 average rank

Voting: 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 9, 13

Top players: James Harden, Jalen Green, Mikal Bridges, Lauri Markkanen, Bam Adebayo, Nicolas Claxton, Jalen Suggs, Chris Duarte

Current FanTrax Ranking - 6th place, 78 points



8th place - @Juxtatarot - 6.60 average rank

Voting: 1, 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10

Top players: Marcus Smart, Jordan Poole, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Andre Drummond, Max Strus, Kevon Looney, Rui Hachimura

Current FanTrax Ranking - 13th place, 39 points

 

[Yo Mama]

Top 7 to be revealed after I cook dinner

 

[Jayrod]

Are you guys kidding me here? Wow. I am stunned. I guess when I win Fantrax that will have to be good enough for me.

I gave you one of the 7s.

Starting 2 big slow Euros was the biggest hangup I had. I like Sabonis and Valanciunas, just not together.

But Murray has been awesome and Vanderbilt is a great player off the bench.

 

[Yo Mama]

BATTLE FOR THE WIKKID CUP

NBA Salary Cap League Pre-Season Rankings


TIER 3 – Playoff Hopefuls



Teams in this tier have solid starting 5s with decent depth but couldn’t compete with the top contenders.



7th place - Yo Mama - 8.20 average rank

Voting: 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Top players: Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Brown, Scottie Barnes, Anthony Davis, Franz Wagner, Royce O'Neale, Aleksej Pokusevski

Current FanTrax Ranking - 4th place, 86 points



6th place - @Kev4029 - 8.70 average rank

Voting: 1, 5, 7, 8, 8, 8, 12, 12, 12, 14

Top players: Cade Cunningham, Buddy Hield, Dorian Finney-Smith, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Pascal Siakam, Pat Connaughton, Precious Achiuwa, George Hill

Current FanTrax Ranking - 15th place, 32.5 points



5th place - @dunfee555 - 9.90 average rank

Voting: 4, 6, 6, 7, 11, 11, 12, 14, 14, 14

Top players: Darius Garland, Jayson Tatum, OG Anunoby, John Collins, Myles Turner, Isaiah Stewart, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Monte Morris

Current FanTrax Ranking - 2nd place (tied), 87 points

 

[Instinctive]

Going to share my ranks as we go here too then, hopefully spark some fun discussion.

Bottom Tier has lowest talent level AND I question the fit

1. Chemical X: SGA is amazing, but this team as a whole is going to give up a ridiculous amount of points. Even if the offense could score 140/game, they'd still lose most nights. A lot of good players, but no fit, super one dimensional all out offense. A TON of minutes coming from guys who will routinely be absolutely roasted.

2. Moops: Ja and a bunch of pieces that don't really fit - Who else is creating or doing the scoring? How do Gobert and Wood fit together? With Bruce Brown too? Very little shooting, not much ball handling either. I like the pick of Barrett especially at his price, and I like Martin too as a glue guy who'd be great on all the teams. Overall though, i think this may turn out to be a good defense with Gobert that craters when he sits and doesn't score enough with or without him.

 

[Instinctive]

Next tier mostly has great talent, but I see clear flaws that don't seem super solvable, or the roster is well constructed but talent level is lower

3. nysfl2: Zion and Trae are total turnstyles. Makes sense to solve for defense, but Mathurin is athletic, not good yet (projects well, idk about this year) and Allen's fit with Zion is really tough. Two non-shooters on the floor is hard to overcome. I saw better picks for a couple rounds after still than Payton or Burks too, which hurt the talent level. I'm not even sure with the fit that the offensive ability of the stars can be unleashed fully.

4. Dunfee555: I want to like this team because Tatum is great and Garland is a player I really like, but how can I rate it super highly in a 15-team league when I think the real Celtics are better? If you go AD in the 4th, I think the team skyrockets into the top tier. But Turner, if he even plays most years, is overrated on shooting and defense, and KCP is losing a step. I think jabari blowing up to a ROY status would help immensely. Overall I just see trouble on the boards and protecting the paint.

5. Eephus: At least Towns and Mobley are proving the twin towers works for them. Unfortunately, it's not going well for Towns. I like VanVleet a lot, wings are pretty good and depth will be fine. This comes down to raw talent level. I actually do like this team a lot, just think it lacks the top end talent. That's what happens when you take Mobley 9th overall I guess. I think finding a way to get Middleton instead of Derozan would have made a big difference to me. Swap out Trent and Derozan for Middleton and a cheaper wing maybe.

6. Frosty: Sabonis second round, especially after Murray one, seemed psychotic to me. PG is not the defender he used to be, so you're left with basically just Murray. This team is going to be in some shootouts for sure, and will win its fair share, I just have a hard time going higher than this right now. Someone could convince me the team belongs a tier above but I think the rank is right.

 

[Instinctive]

Second tier has great teams, but I have some questions

7. Juxtatarot: KD fell waaayyyyyy too far which was a huge boon to this squad. I like the idea of Kawhi, but it's a big bet on health. Jaylen Brown or Jimmy Butler might have been safer (and much cheaper). Aside from Kawhi's health, the other question is the defense, and it's a big one. Marcus Smart and a bunch of traffic cones with Looney/Drummond/McGee as rim protectors does not inspire a ton of confidence. If you knew you liked JaVale (I do too) why waste a spot on Drummond? Better fits with similar value at wing and especially guard for this squad abounded at that point. A healthy and crushing KD and Kawhi and this team moves up for me at end of year probably, but definitely questions on defense.

8. Dr. Octopus: Like Booker Butler to start, building from the wing. But rim protection is a big question hinging on Timelord's health, and easily the worst starting PG in the league (and maybe backup too). Booker can probably help with much of that, and maybe Banchero and Butler initiating offense too, but in a condensed talent space, it's a challenge for sure. Early returns on Bol Bol looking solid too.

9. Jayrod: Similar PG challenge, but Harden is a much more obvious solution, and I like how you've leaned into it with a clear, fine Harden is my PG. Would be very interesting to see how the defense holds up, with a mix of traffic cone guys and DPOY contenders in Bam and Bridges. I think it probably lands around league average on D, and then it comes down to whether Green develops and Markkanen continues to stay hot. Overall like the team construction, but any team with a guard/wing combo is gonna annihilate the perimeter because Bridges can't guard em all. No exactly the greatest ball movement team either - with the talent in this league and premium many teams have on ability to switch, the iso-heavy Green/Harden/Markkanen styles will be tough sledding against the top few teams.

10. Yo Mama: Maybe I'm biased having watched Brunson a lot, but I think he holds you back a ton at the point by getting shredded against good teams on D. Edwards is not great there yet either, and also still like a baby deer on offense at times. Overall, I really like this team, but Edwards as your first pick, leaving only AD as a superstar level player, keeps it out of the top tier for me. Wagner or Barnes as sixth man is really nice, and there are plenty of guys to initiate without Brunson when he sits. Brown/Barnes is an awesome 3/4 with Davis too...maybe best frontcourt in our league. Giannis, Siakam, and me might still beat it though.

 

[Frostillicus]

ohh psychotic. nice.

 

[Instinctive]

Immediately questioning where I have Dunfee given the scores - maybe underrating Tatum-Garland-Anunoby? Or do others really like Collins/Turner? I have this as among the worst frontcourts in spite of an awesome wing tandem. Interested to hear some thoughts here, maybe learn something.

 

[Jayrod]

9th place - @Jayrod - 6.30 average rank

Voting: 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 9, 13

Top players: James Harden, Jalen Green, Mikal Bridges, Lauri Markkanen, Bam Adebayo, Nicolas Claxton, Jalen Suggs, Chris Duarte

Current FanTrax Ranking - 6th place, 78 points

May the Lord bless whoever gave me the 13. The Harden pick sunk me and I knew I was in trouble in this when he got hurt. He was already playing better than last year, but a wear & tear injury on his foot is ungood.

Had I gone Curry/Adebayo/Bridges, the rest of my team would have looked much different, but I think I could have had a shot at the top spot.

 

[trader jake]

14th place - @Dr. Octopus - 4.09 average rank

Voting: 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, 8, 8

Top players: Cole Anthony, Devin Booker, Jimmy Butler, Paolo Banchero, Robert Williams, Goran Dragic, Bobby Portis, Kelly Oubre

Current FanTrax Ranking - 10th place, 55 points

This was the single most fascinating team construction. Cole Anthony stands out like a sore thumb, and (I assume) sunk the overall team rankings quite a bit. That was my initial instinct, but I ended up as 1 of the 2 rankers giving this roster an 8.

My thought was the team would probably start Dragic at the 1, but move Booker to the playmaking/ball handler position whenever Dragic was out. It's also tough to ignore the defense that Timelord provides on the backside, the demands Jimmy G Buckets would place on his teammates, and the shot-making ability Booker has. Those are three players at the tops of their games right now.

It's also tough to ignore Paolo Banchero's incredible start. He's a bucket already and would allow Butler to play the 3 more. Ditto with Bobby Portis. Those two would be sieves on defense, but would add real punch to the offense. I also think Moses Moody would end up getting minutes for this team at the 2, when Booker is at the 1.

If rankers knocked this team because of Robert Williams health concerns (and the resulting defensive issues inside) I couldn't really argue with that assessment. Just something about Booker running the show with a lot of talent around him and Butler was appealing to me.

 

[Yo Mama]

Drumroll. . .

 

[Jayrod]

9. Jayrod: Similar PG challenge, but Harden is a much more obvious solution, and I like how you've leaned into it with a clear, fine Harden is my PG. Would be very interesting to see how the defense holds up, with a mix of traffic cone guys and DPOY contenders in Bam and Bridges. I think it probably lands around league average on D, and then it comes down to whether Green develops and Markkanen continues to stay hot. Overall like the team construction, but any team with a guard/wing combo is gonna annihilate the perimeter because Bridges can't guard em all. No exactly the greatest ball movement team either - with the talent in this league and premium many teams have on ability to switch, the iso-heavy Green/Harden/Markkanen styles will be tough sledding against the top few teams.

I get the offensive questions, but I take HUGE exception to questioning the defense like this.

Jevon Carter can step in for Green if his perimeter defense becomes a real problem. Markkennen isn't great, but he isn't bad and has spent a year trying to chase around wings and can just use his 7-ft frame on PFs here. Also have Claxton off the bench who is a plus rim protector.

I don't see how a team that even tries on defense at all with Adebayo/Bridges starting and Carter/Claxton off the bench finishes "league average" on D.

 

[Yo Mama]

BATTLE FOR THE WIKKID CUP

NBA Salary Cap League Pre-Season Rankings


TIER 2 – Contenders



Stars headline these teams, with solid complementary pieces to fill out the rotations.



4th place - @Desert_Power - 10.70 average rank

Voting: 7, 9, 9, 10, 11, 11, 12, 12, 12, 14

Top players: Stephen Curry, Seth Curry, LeBron James, Keldon Johnson, Jakob Poeltl, Josh Giddey, PJ Washington, Matisse Thybulle

Current FanTrax Ranking - 9th place, 60 points



3rd place - @scoobus – 11.00 average rank

Voting: 6, 10, 10, 10, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13, 13

Top players: Luka Doncic, Tyrese Maxey, Cameron Johnson, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr, Jerami Grant, Grant Williams, Onyeka Okongwu

Current FanTrax Ranking - 14th place, 37.5 points



2nd place - @trader jake - 11.60 average rank

Voting: 7, 10, 11, 11, 11, 13, 13, 13, 13, 14

Top players: Jrue Holiday, Desmond Bane, Saddiq Bey, Draymond Green, Nikola Jokic, Alex Caruso, Jordan Clarkson, Jaden McDaniels

Current FanTrax Ranking - 1st place, 92 points

 

[Yo Mama]

BATTLE FOR THE WIKKID CUP

NBA Salary Cap League Pre-Season Rankings


TIER 1 – The Front-Runner



Consistently one of the top picks (with one outlier). Star power, a nice starting 5 that makes sense, decent value players for depth.



1st place - @Instinctive - 12.80 average rank

Voting: 8, 11, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14

Top players: Tyrese Haliburton, Donovan Mitchell, Herb Jones, Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Ayo Dosunmu, Brandon Clarke, Maxi Kleber

Current FanTrax Ranking - 7th place, 63 points

 

[Yo Mama]

And with that, our preseason rankings are complete.

 

[Instinctive]

Very well constructed teams with absolutely top end talent where I don't have a lot of questions (I'd put my team here too FWIW #homer):

11. Scoobus: Lukkaaaaaaaaaaaa. I think picks 1 and 2 had a MASSIVE advantage over the rest of the field. I generally like what's been done here, but a lot will hinge on JJJ's health and shooting. I kind of don't love the fit of Jerami Grant, and Ingram will be interesting alongside Luka. I think that he allows Luka a bit more off ball time, keeps him fresher, and also is an upgrade over Luka's real life running mate of Dinwiddie when it comes to attacking as a secondary guy. I think I'd push Maxey to a 6th man role, and rock a Luka-Ingram-Johnson-Williams-JJJ starting lineup or something. I would mess with these lineups a ton all regular season to see where it landed because it's not a seamless, obvious perfect fit. Missing out on guys like DFS, Jrue Holiday, Caleb Martin, Dosunmu in favor of guys like Maxey, Ingram, Grant, Williams...idk it feels like a few awkward fits when I put it together. Maybe the thinking that I see a ton of better picks throughout is coloring that the team is good, but I'd have it 5th overall, which isn't exactly bad!

12. Desert Power: LeBron and Steph was such a good start it was going to be tough not to end up at the top here. I thought Seth might be the round 3 pick he's such a good fit, getting him later was huge value. Those 3 plus Keldon on the wing and Poeltl should do very well. Washington as a backup five is nice too. Overall a really nice job of rounding out tons of shooting and decent defense around these guys, but the defense is where the questions come in. LeBron and Steph are good not great, Seth is bad, Giddey is bad, Poeltl is looking good but not like he's top 5/10 rim protectors in our little league here...and the depth is obviously sorely lacking. Money restraints forced a lot of one dimensional guys because the guys who have more cost more. Going to be an awesome team, but I would have it 4th overall if I ranked myself.

13. Trader Jake: Jokic is such a beast, and you filled around him really well with Bane, Holiday, Bey. Even though I think Green may be over the hill a bit and his utter lack of shooting/scoring could clog up Jokic's passing a bit, it could also be fine. Caruso, Clarkson, Crowder is great depth on the wings, I liked Koloko for upside and you're likely to play Green at the 5 for most of the non-Jokic minutes anyway I bet. Well rounded team, lots of offense and defense, Green is the tough fit.

14. Kev: Really interesting idea to go fully switchy guys around Giannis, but I think it may go too far and lack some shooting thats necessary in todays NBA. I like folks like Hield and Murphy to try and address it, but the core lineup is still gonna be Cade, Giannis, DFS, Siakam, and even with Hield as your 5th the gravity is lacking. In this tier, I'm nitpicking for sure, but that's one of the bigger nits I can pick. This team is huge and long and will swallow others up on defense. Obviously, I'm not picking too many nits to have it as my number one team.

 

[Instinctive]

BATTLE FOR THE WIKKID CUP

NBA Salary Cap League Pre-Season Rankings


TIER 1 – The Front-Runner



Consistently one of the top picks (with one outlier). Star power, a nice starting 5 that makes sense, decent value players for depth.



1st place - @Instinctive - 12.80 average rank

Voting: 8, 11, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14

Top players: Tyrese Haliburton, Donovan Mitchell, Herb Jones, Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Ayo Dosunmu, Brandon Clarke, Maxi Kleber

Current FanTrax Ranking - 7th place, 63 points

1. I'm flattered - and this was super fun
2. It does help, I think, that I completely ignored the fantasy stat accumulation aspect and figured if I could construct a great team, I could win from like the 5-10th seed I'd likely land around.

 

[Desert_Power]

BATTLE FOR THE WIKKID CUP

NBA Salary Cap League Pre-Season Rankings


TIER 1 – The Front-Runner



Consistently one of the top picks (with one outlier). Star power, a nice starting 5 that makes sense, decent value players for depth.



1st place - @Instinctive - 12.80 average rank

Voting: 8, 11, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14

Top players: Tyrese Haliburton, Donovan Mitchell, Herb Jones, Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Ayo Dosunmu, Brandon Clarke, Maxi Kleber

Current FanTrax Ranking - 7th place, 63 points

The Herb and Ayo picks were just so good. Combined with Haliburton it gave the flexibility to add Mitchell and Wiggins.

 

[trader jake]

Major props to YoMama for setting this whole thing up. Well done, much appreciated my man.

Congratulations on the pre-season #1 ranking Instinctive. Great team construction, well deserved.

 

[Instinctive]

Major props to YoMama for setting this whole thing up. Well done, much appreciated my man.

Congratulations on the pre-season #1 ranking Instinctive. Great team construction, well deserved.

Can't echo and emphasize that enough - to our fearless leader!!!

 

[Instinctive]

14th place - @Dr. Octopus - 4.09 average rank

Voting: 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, 8, 8

Top players: Cole Anthony, Devin Booker, Jimmy Butler, Paolo Banchero, Robert Williams, Goran Dragic, Bobby Portis, Kelly Oubre

Current FanTrax Ranking - 10th place, 55 points

This was the single most fascinating team construction. Cole Anthony stands out like a sore thumb, and (I assume) sunk the overall team rankings quite a bit. That was my initial instinct, but I ended up as 1 of the 2 rankers giving this roster an 8.

My thought was the team would probably start Dragic at the 1, but move Booker to the playmaking/ball handler position whenever Dragic was out. It's also tough to ignore the defense that Timelord provides on the backside, the demands Jimmy G Buckets would place on his teammates, and the shot-making ability Booker has. Those are three players at the tops of their games right now.

It's also tough to ignore Paolo Banchero's incredible start. He's a bucket already and would allow Butler to play the 3 more. Ditto with Bobby Portis. Those two would be sieves on defense, but would add real punch to the offense. I also think Moses Moody would end up getting minutes for this team at the 2, when Booker is at the 1.

If rankers knocked this team because of Robert Williams health concerns (and the resulting defensive issues inside) I couldn't really argue with that assessment. Just something about Booker running the show with a lot of talent around him and Butler was appealing to me.

I feel compelled to point out again how crazy it is how much we think about the game alike. Just funny that I'm the other 8.

 

[Desert_Power]

9th place - @Jayrod - 6.30 average rank

Voting: 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 9, 13

Top players: James Harden, Jalen Green, Mikal Bridges, Lauri Markkanen, Bam Adebayo, Nicolas Claxton, Jalen Suggs, Chris Duarte

Current FanTrax Ranking - 6th place, 78 points

May the Lord bless whoever gave me the 13. The Harden pick sunk me and I knew I was in trouble in this when he got hurt. He was already playing better than last year, but a wear & tear injury on his foot is ungood.

Had I gone Curry/Adebayo/Bridges, the rest of my team would have looked much different, but I think I could have had a shot at the top spot.

I assume that is me (I had you 12 out of 14). Loved the depth, but just do not like the Bam/Harden start. Maybe I punished you a bit too much for the Harden injury. Looks like I'm lower on that pairing than most.

I had a real hard time separating my middle tier and kept flipping some of you around. Nothing personal.

 

[Desert_Power]

12. Desert Power: LeBron and Steph was such a good start it was going to be tough not to end up at the top here. I thought Seth might be the round 3 pick he's such a good fit, getting him later was huge value. Those 3 plus Keldon on the wing and Poeltl should do very well. Washington as a backup five is nice too. Overall a really nice job of rounding out tons of shooting and decent defense around these guys, but the defense is where the questions come in. LeBron and Steph are good not great, Seth is bad, Giddey is bad, Poeltl is looking good but not like he's top 5/10 rim protectors in our little league here...and the depth is obviously sorely lacking. Money restraints forced a lot of one dimensional guys because the guys who have more cost more. Going to be an awesome team, but I would have it 4th overall if I ranked myself.

I probably should have taken Herb over Keldon in the 3RR. I didn't expect folks to go after those sub $2mm folks so early.

Going to have to get lucky on some of these late round guys to have a shot/build depth.

 

[Yo Mama]

Major props to YoMama for setting this whole thing up. Well done, much appreciated my man.

Congratulations on the pre-season #1 ranking Instinctive. Great team construction, well deserved.

Thanks, I always have fun doing these things. Kept me away from stupid work and doom scrolling through the end of . . . Never mind, keeping this politics free.

 

[Desert_Power]

I also seem out of step on Sabonis. I think he is a good value and was one of the players I thought hard about before lighting the budget on fire.

 

[Instinctive]

12. Desert Power: LeBron and Steph was such a good start it was going to be tough not to end up at the top here. I thought Seth might be the round 3 pick he's such a good fit, getting him later was huge value. Those 3 plus Keldon on the wing and Poeltl should do very well. Washington as a backup five is nice too. Overall a really nice job of rounding out tons of shooting and decent defense around these guys, but the defense is where the questions come in. LeBron and Steph are good not great, Seth is bad, Giddey is bad, Poeltl is looking good but not like he's top 5/10 rim protectors in our little league here...and the depth is obviously sorely lacking. Money restraints forced a lot of one dimensional guys because the guys who have more cost more. Going to be an awesome team, but I would have it 4th overall if I ranked myself.

I probably should have taken Herb over Keldon in the 3RR. I didn't expect folks to go after those sub $2mm folks so early.

Going to have to get lucky on some of these late round guys to have a shot/build depth.

I like Keldon. I'd have happily taken him over Herb haha.

Guys I'd have been seeking out and definitely landed in your spot, I think, are guys like Bol Bol, Koloko, Kleber, Caruso, Caleb Martin, Hartenstein, etc. The Giddey pick has nice upside, but I think that upside is a lot less useful on a LeBron/Steph team. The Giddey pick hurt quite a bit IMO.

 

[dawgtrails]

2. Moops: Ja and a bunch of pieces that don't really fit - Who else is creating or doing the scoring? How do Gobert and Wood fit together? With Bruce Brown too? Very little shooting, not much ball handling either. I like the pick of Barrett especially at his price, and I like Martin too as a glue guy who'd be great on all the teams. Overall though, i think this may turn out to be a good defense with Gobert that craters when he sits and doesn't score enough with or without him.

When Gobert sits, the 2nd, or perhaps best defensive center in the league, Brook Lopez comes in. Not sure how my defense craters with the mighty Lopez. Also considering Brown, Covington, Martin, Mitchell are all above average to very good defenders.

My shooters consist of guys who can hit open shots. Bruce Brown, Terry Rozier, Dean Wade, Robert Covington. But most importantly it consists of the unstoppable Sam Hauser. Don't sleep on that dude.

And Christian Wood fits along side any center

 

[Kev4029]

Here is what I sent Yo Mama last Thursday. There may be a couple small changes I would make with nearly an extra week of information, but nothing major. Note I'm in reverse order from teh scoring (i.e. #1 is best, #14 is worst).

1. Instinctive – I’m skeptical of a drop center, no matter how good, having the best team in this format, but he did a great job of providing the players around him to make it work. If Mitchell’s defense is real, this is the best team (other than mine, obviously).

2. Scoobus – Lots of big athletes around Doncic and Maxey. The bench beyond the first couple is pretty weak.

3. Dunfee555 – John Collins is holding this group back from #1. If that was somebody that I trusted more on a good team, they would be higher.

4. Trader Jake – I understand the theory of Holiday and Green, but Jokic needed more two way players (Holiday is that, Green is not) and an elite ball handler to play with. But, Jokic will make the offense work, no matter how clunky.

5. Desert_Power – Let’s see how good Lebron really is still. If Giddey was somebody that I thought belonged on a good team, I might have them a spot higher.

6. Eephus – I actually really like the team build around two players I’m low on due to fit (Towns and DeRozan) but he has the worst #1 in the league other than Chem X.

7. Yo Mama – There are a handful of outs to make this a top-level team with all the young players, but I also don’t trust a team of players that are this young. Plus Anthony Davis is probably going to be out for the year soon.

8. Moops - I loved the combo of Morant and Gobert, but I don’t think there is enough shooting around that pair for ultimate success.

9. nysfl2 – Another team with some all O or all D players but I like them a little more.

10. Juxtatarot – If Leonard didn’t look like he was going to play 25 games this year, I would probably have them higher. At the end of the season, he’ll either be top 5 or bottom 3.

11. Frosty – Lots of all D or all O players and I’m not a believer in either Murray or Sabonis.

12. Jayrod – I mostly like the starting unit, but there is a serious lack of shooting and general competency beyond the starting group.

13. Chem X – This team is going to get fuuuucking murdered defensively, and offensively they are probably closer to middle of the pack.

14. Dr. Octopus – Icky. Booker and Butler were fine picks, Paolo looks to be a real player even in his rookie year, but the rest of the team is garbage.

 

[Frostillicus]

You guys are all dumb.

 

[Jayrod]

Immediately questioning where I have Dunfee given the scores - maybe underrating Tatum-Garland-Anunoby? Or do others really like Collins/Turner? I have this as among the worst frontcourts in spite of an awesome wing tandem. Interested to hear some thoughts here, maybe learn something.

I had him at #1

Tatum is now a top 7 player in the league. Garland is an All-star PG that does everything well and Anunoby is leading the league in steals right now. Turner is a great rim protector and just put up 37 pts in a game and is shooting 35% from 3 for his career at 6'11" and 250 lbs. Collins is strong, tough, a decent defender and shoots 37% from. 3 for his career. I felt like it was the best starting 5 in the competition with no serious holes.