Summer 2021 Fantasy Draft: Draft Thread

[Somebody]

Wrong post

[Somebody]

So I did not expect this guy to be here. A bit unsure about him but there is no denying the guy is a game-changer so I am going to pick Rudy Gobert with the 4th pick.

Gobert was my backup plan if I missed out on Middleton. Don't love drop bigs tbh, but Gobert is absolutely elite in what he does. Nice value pick in the 3rd round!

Me either. The other option I was contemplating was a guard who can shoot well enough to exploit those drop bigs in a major way thinking that would give me three perimeter guys who can all knock down 3s off the dribble in PnRs to exploit those slow footed bigs like Gobert.

I was watching some clips of Gobert and another center who is more mobile and well rounded defensively (and offensively) and I was taken aback at just how large of a difference there was in terms of intimidation 15 feet and in between the two. Guys wouldn't even shoot when Gobert was in the vicinity and they tended to shoot well against the other guy even though he was doing a really good job out there. I am not sure if Gobert or the other guy is the better player to be honest ... but this is why I picked Gobert over him.

That's because Gobert can actually block those shots lol. He's really more versatile than what people on this forum think, it's not his fault that he had freak injuries to his hip and ankle in game 6 of the WCSF and his teammates became traffic cones on that end of the floor.

[nickagneta]

Just getting back from the Sox win and see I was able to nab Jrue Holiday. I love his fit alongside Jaylen and Lebron.

He is obviously a PG that doesn't have to dominate the ball or initiate the offense to be effective, so is just the type of guy I wanted alongside Lebron: plays excellent defense, hits threes at over 39% and is an efficient scorer and passer. Great PG size and length, but is, like JB and Brown, versatile enough to play 2 positions extremely well

Given his year last year with Giannis his stats should translate to this team. Oh, and now he has a championship pedigree.

Not sure what others think of the Spurs, but I am loving my team so far, especially the two way abilities of all three guys and overall fit together.

[gouki88]

Just getting back from the Sox win and see I was able to nab Jrue Holiday. I love his fit alongside Jaylen and Lebron.

He is obviously a PG that doesn't have to dominate the ball or initiate the offense to be effective, so is just the type of guy I wanted alongside Lebron: plays excellent defense, hits threes at over 39% and is an efficient scorer and passer. Great PG size and length, but is, like JB and Brown, versatile enough to play 2 positions extremely well

Given his year last year with Giannis his stats should translate to this team. Oh, and now he has a championship pedigree.

Not sure what others think of the Spurs, but I am loving my team so far.

I'm thinking they'd be an extreme pain in the butt to play against. High IQ offensive engine alongside two two-way real talents

[nickagneta]

Just getting back from the Sox win and see I was able to nab Jrue Holiday. I love his fit alongside Jaylen and Lebron.

He is obviously a PG that doesn't have to dominate the ball or initiate the offense to be effective, so is just the type of guy I wanted alongside Lebron: plays excellent defense, hits threes at over 39% and is an efficient scorer and passer. Great PG size and length, but is, like JB and Brown, versatile enough to play 2 positions extremely well

Given his year last year with Giannis his stats should translate to this team. Oh, and now he has a championship pedigree.

Not sure what others think of the Spurs, but I am loving my team so far.

I'm thinking they'd be an extreme pain in the butt to play against. High IQ offensive engine alongside two two-way real talents

Lebron's defense has fallen off, but come playoff time, he is still a great two way player.

Also, TP for making my pick.

[gouki88]

Just getting back from the Sox win and see I was able to nab Jrue Holiday. I love his fit alongside Jaylen and Lebron.

He is obviously a PG that doesn't have to dominate the ball or initiate the offense to be effective, so is just the type of guy I wanted alongside Lebron: plays excellent defense, hits threes at over 39% and is an efficient scorer and passer. Great PG size and length, but is, like JB and Brown, versatile enough to play 2 positions extremely well

Given his year last year with Giannis his stats should translate to this team. Oh, and now he has a championship pedigree.

Not sure what others think of the Spurs, but I am loving my team so far.

I'm thinking they'd be an extreme pain in the butt to play against. High IQ offensive engine alongside two two-way real talents

Lebron's defense has fallen off, but come playoff time, he is still a great two way player.

Particularly when he's able to defer on offence and not have to carry such extreme loads like he has done.

[Who]

When I look at that Spurs team with LeBron, Jaylen and Jrue the first word I think of is "tough". Man that is some serious physicality on the perimeter. Imposing. Huge powerful backcourt of Jaylen and Jrue next to the physical freak known as LeBron at SF. Just matching up to them and their physical power is going to be a difficult for a lot of teams.

[Somebody]

When I look at that Spurs team with LeBron, Jaylen and Jrue the first word I think of is "tough". Man that is some serious physicality on the perimeter. Imposing. Huge powerful backcourt of Jaylen and Jrue next to the physical freak known as LeBron at SF. Just matching up to them and their physical power is going to be a difficult for a lot of teams.

^this. Resilient offence as well with a LeBron-led attack, so you need a really balanced team to beat them.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

Sorry about the missed pick everyone, things got crazy at work.

I’ll take a shot here, he may have missed 2 seasons but he’ll be back around Christmas and be determined to prove he’s still got it. 
Pistons take Klay Thompson

[gouki88]

Sorry about the missed pick everyone, things got crazy at work.

I’ll take a shot here, he may have missed 2 seasons but he’ll be back around Christmas and be determined to prove he’s still got it. 
Pistons take Klay Thompson

No worries, nice pick. Was wondering when he’d go, and had been thinking a lot about him in the upcoming round. He won’t have forgotten how to shoot

[Somebody]

Sorry about the missed pick everyone, things got crazy at work.

I’ll take a shot here, he may have missed 2 seasons but he’ll be back around Christmas and be determined to prove he’s still got it. 
Pistons take Klay Thompson

No worries, nice pick. Was wondering when he’d go, and had been thinking a lot about him in the upcoming round. He won’t have forgotten how to shoot

Yeah I would've gone for him if my team wasn't this defensively slanted.

[Roy H.]

If somebody is trying to “win” this draft, Klay is probably too much of a question mark.  I felt the same way about the Kawhi selection.

If the goal is to build a personally satisfying squad that somebody feels good about, then I think both are great picks.

[tazzmaniac]

If somebody is trying to “win” this draft, Klay is probably too much of a question mark.  I felt the same way about the Kawhi selection.

If the goal is to build a personally satisfying squad that somebody feels good about, then I think both are great picks.

I think there are big differences between the Klay and Kawhi selections.  3rd round pick versus a 1st round pick.  Klay's Christmas return date seems realistic.  He's already is on-court again.  Kawhi's February return date, only 7 months from the injury, seems pretty optimistic.  There's a good chance Kawhi misses the whole season.  Kawhi's playing time was already being heavily load managed before this latest injury.  Klay's game is likely less affected by the injuries.  He just needs to be able to move a bit and shoot to be effective.  Another shooter can be drafted to start until Klay gets back.  There's not a lesser Kawhi to replace most of his productivity until he returns. 

[Roy H.]

If somebody is trying to “win” this draft, Klay is probably too much of a question mark.  I felt the same way about the Kawhi selection.

If the goal is to build a personally satisfying squad that somebody feels good about, then I think both are great picks.

I think there are big differences between the Klay and Kawhi selections.  3rd round pick versus a 1st round pick.  Klay's Christmas return date seems realistic.  He's already is on-court again.  Kawhi's February return date, only 7 months from the injury, seems pretty optimistic.  There's a good chance Kawhi misses the whole season.  Kawhi's playing time was already being heavily load managed before this latest injury.  Klay's game is likely less affected by the injuries.  He just needs to be able to move a bit and shoot to be effective.  Another shooter can be drafted to start until Klay gets back.  There's not a lesser Kawhi to replace most of his productivity until he returns.

How good is Klay if he's missing his lateral movement?  Is he any better than the typical great shooting, average-or-worse defender?  Because that's not a 3rd rounder in a 12 team draft.

And, if he's the Klay we've seen before, it's a very good pick.

[Somebody]

If somebody is trying to “win” this draft, Klay is probably too much of a question mark.  I felt the same way about the Kawhi selection.

If the goal is to build a personally satisfying squad that somebody feels good about, then I think both are great picks.

I think there are big differences between the Klay and Kawhi selections.  3rd round pick versus a 1st round pick.  Klay's Christmas return date seems realistic.  He's already is on-court again.  Kawhi's February return date, only 7 months from the injury, seems pretty optimistic.  There's a good chance Kawhi misses the whole season.  Kawhi's playing time was already being heavily load managed before this latest injury.  Klay's game is likely less affected by the injuries.  He just needs to be able to move a bit and shoot to be effective.  Another shooter can be drafted to start until Klay gets back.  There's not a lesser Kawhi to replace most of his productivity until he returns.

How good is Klay if he's missing his lateral movement?  Is he any better than the typical great shooting, average-or-worse defender?  Because that's not a 3rd rounder in a 12 team draft.

And, if he's the Klay we've seen before, it's a very good pick.

Klay relies on north-south movement (as in sprinting and running around screens) rather than lateral movement to create his looks on offence, so I don't think his offence would drop off too much. Even if he becomes an average defender, the value he brings on offence would still make him a low-level All-Star, which I think is worthy of what's technically the 36th pick in a fantasy draft. Obviously you can rate him a bit lower and say that he's more of a sub All-Star, but when you get to the late 30s/early 40s range it's just a bunch of players who're really close to each other in terms of quality.