CURRENT TEAM ROSTERS
Moranis (Cavs) -
PG:
SG:
SF: Lebron James (MVP)
PF:
C: Shaquille ONeal (prior MVP)
CFF (Magic) -
PG: CP3
SG:
SF:
PF: Tim Duncan (prior MVP)
C:
Who (Knicks) -
PG: Steve Nash (MVP)
SG:
SF:
PF: Kevin Garnett (prior MVP)
C:
Jvalin (Pacers) -
PG:
SG:
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF:
C: Nikola Jokic (MVP)
Snively (Bulls) -
PG:
SG: Kobe Bryant (MVP)
SF:
PF: Pau Gasol
C:
Roy (Celtics) -
PG: Steph Curry (MVP)
SG:
SF:
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo (MVP)
C:
SAB (Thunder) -
PG: SGA (MVP)
SG: Kevin Durant (MVP)
SF:
PF:
C:
Dons (Bucks) -
PG:
SG:
SF:
PF: Dirk Nowitzki (MVP)
C: Dwight Howard
RodyTur10 (Raptors) -
PG:
SG: Dwayne Wade
SF: Kawhi Leonard
PF:
C:
Timdawgg (76ers) -
PG:
SG: James Harden (MVP)
SF:
PF: Anthony Davis
C:
EARLY TEAM BREAKDOWNSMo, Cavs
Lebron in 2012-13 and Shaq are a potent 1-2 punch. Both these guys won MVPs, LBJ that year and Shaq in the past. This was Shaq's last great season, where he finished #2 in MVP voting, and is probably the 3rd best eligible center season. Lebron's 2012-13 season is probably the single best season eligible here, and now Mo picks #21 to form the first trio, and will form the first starting 5 with essentially 5 top 40 players along with Snively, the only GMs who can (semi) claim that. A concern is whether Lebron's reliance on the paint at this pre perimeter time of his career is hindered by Shaq clogging it, and is Shaq's interior defense going to hold up. I'm not sure the sim will care. This team seems like an early contender and odds-on favorite to make the conference finals, at least.
CFF, Magin
I think this is another playoffs conference finals hopeful. This may be a better real life team than sim team, but TD is the best PF of all time and is a coinflip for #1 in this format with Giannis, and CP3 is the best PG in this draw other than Curry. Roy owns both, but is short on picks this week, while CFF will be rounding out his roster starting with the 2nd pick tomorrow. CP3 will ensure everyone gets fed while playing great D and making his 2-pointers, and TD will do it all. Plenty of usage still to distribute too.
Who, Knicks
With KG and Nash, Who is one of 4 teams to start the draft with 2 MVPs, Nash in this timeframe and KG just before the timeframe started. Nash will play a similar role as CP3 with higher efficiency and more 3's but worse defense and rebounding, and KG can play 3-5 and allows for plenty of flexibility and a great target for Nash. They are like CFF's alter ego, and picked right after. A strong start for Who and with his knowledge of the game and expertise on fit, his next 3 picks will be very interesting.
Jvalin, Pacers
Starting with MVP Jokic is starting with the greatest offensive engine in this era. But his defense is poor, and that could be a concern going forward. But he's likely no worse than the 4th best player in the sim, and pairing him with JT gives him a versatile big wing who can do it all and is a top 5 MVP caliber player in the modern era. This isn't the strongest defensive team but the offensive foundation is potent and there is a ton of flexibility in how the next few picks fill out the roster with both guys. A well executed draft with Jokic at the start can easily put a team in the playoffs conference finals
Snively, Bulls
Snively gets incredible real life value from MVP Kobe and his real life 2-time champion running mate, Pau Gasol. So the winning foundation and fit is there. Snively did very well without a first round pick, getting 1st round caliber Kobe, and has a bounty of picks coming his way this week. He will be a major comer in the draft today and tomorrow and will field a starting 5 early. Look for a 2023-24 Celtics build from him, with an elite 1-2 punch but a roster put to the top by its 3-5 or 3-6 rotation guys.
Roy, Celtics
Wow. Roy looks like the 2017 Warriors right now in more ways than one. The dual multi-MVP Curry-Giannis pairing is historically great and both guys are top 5 players in real life and probably the sim. Roy paid a heavy price to get these two, the best 1-2 punch in the league and a fabulous fit, so he needs to find value and make saavy picks for his starters and 6th man. But if he does, boy, look out. Team looks like a shoe in for the sim finals and a top 2 seed- if the man even gives a hoot. Go C's!
SAB,
Spirit OKC
I changed my team to the Thunder, you can probably guess why. With SGA as my #1 (best SG season elibgible) and KD as my #2, I own the midrange but get some 3 point shooting and defense, elite shooting scoring & efficiency, 2 guys who won MVPs in the years I selected and led their teams to titles as the #1 guy and Finals MVP, positional versatility and basically do it all studs. SGA shot 46% on catch and shoot 3's this year on low volume so while it's not a major part of his game, there's no reason to think he couldn't shoot 38-41% on easy catch and shoot 3's generated from KD's surgical game, and a KD-SGA side pick n roll will be lethal. I think this is a top four 1-2 punch, but not yet a top 3-4 team until more picks are made and the roster is rounded out. Still, a lot of potential, great value at 7/14.
Dons
Dirk is an absolute stud, MVP winner and lovable dude. Dwight in the 2nd round may have been an even better pick. Dwight didn't win MVP but the sim loves him, and he's in a tiny club of guys with 27% usage who shot 59% eFG with 90+ defense. He played the most minutes of anyone to do that and was the only guy with 100 defense to do it. Purely from a sim view, that was the steal of the draft so far. Dons has 2 older players for this timeline and it will be great to see if/how he mixes it up... or not! Dons will get 2 cracks at top 33 guys by the end of the week, so he's in prime position to strike.
RodyTur
Getting Kawhi and Wade without a first rounder, for either a backcourt or a wing duo, is an insane pull. One of my favorite duos so far, along with Curry/GA, TD/CP3, and LBJ/Shaq, and KD/SGA. These guys are both 100/100 defenders and are going to make this team a strong contender for sim playoff conference finals if he can nail his next two picks, essentially both top 30 guys. He has built a foundation for himself where he can become the best defensive team in the league, and his top 2 guys are elite and versatile offensive players as well who very much impact winning at the highest level. A very exciting start and just perfect execution on how to trade down and come out strong.
Timdawg
This team was RodyTur's trading partner, and I really like his Harden/AD pairing. Harden was just an offensive engine with absurd effiency, volume, passing, 3 point shooting, and surprisingly solid defense. Draft him, and your offensive is in good shape no matter what else you do. And AD with the defense, rebounding, scoring and efficiency, and that rare modern PG in the all time mix along with Giannis. This is an underrated team and a rate case where both teams making their trade may have come out for the better of it. I prefer Kawhi/Wade and the trade trimmings, but the next 3 picks could easily swing that and with the right players around them, I see Timdawg, Snively, Who, Dons, and SAB with the most to gain and the biggest variance as to how their teams end up over the next 2-3 drafting days.
Sorry guys, i kinda ran out of gas at the end. I'll try to do 1-2 more of these before we wrap. Gnite!
Topic: 2025 CelticsBlog Fantasy Draft: '05-'25 Edition (Read 28700 times)