2025 CelticsBlog Fantasy Draft: '05-'25 Edition

[RodyTur10]

[dang]  Dons. That was my pick at #29!!!

Excellent choice. Man I had my two picks stored for today and they were on the board as I hoped.
Now I have to do a quick re-think.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

Draymond is the PERFECT player for this format.

[Who]

So it is Draymond, Dirk and Dwight.

Will you start all 3 of them or use Draymond as a 6th man?

[Who]

So Toronto are

G: Wade
F: Kawhi
F: S Marion
C: Marc Gasol

Interesting team.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

Draymond is the PERFECT player for this format.

As is Marion. Both elite switchable defenders who don?t need the ball and can fit flawlessly around superstars while doing the dirty work.

[Donoghus]

So it is Draymond, Dirk and Dwight.

Will you start all 3 of them or use Draymond as a 6th man?

Should be able to start all 3 although that may change depending on my roster construction.

[Donoghus]

Draymond is the PERFECT player for this format.

As is Marion. Both elite switchable defenders who don?t need the ball and can fit flawlessly around superstars while doing the dirty work.

Yeah, I've had Marion in this before.  Swiss army knife player. Great guy to have on your roster.

[Roy H.]

Yeah, I really appreciate guys like Marion.  And Gasol brings the beef (and DPOY credentials).

[Moranis]

I thought about Marion, but thought it was a bit early where I picked. I know the sim loves him though.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

If anyone with one of the first few picks next round is interested, I am looking to trade up. Send me a PM!

[Moranis]

So it is Draymond, Dirk and Dwight.

Will you start all 3 of them or use Draymond as a 6th man?

Should be able to start all 3 although that may change depending on my roster construction.

I dislike greatly Draymond at SF. I dont think he can do it.

[Moranis]

Look, the fit of Lebron and Luka sucks, but the talent is undeniable.  He's the guy I had at #6 in my ratings.  Clearly, I overrated him based upon our league consensus, but he had a pretty bad team in the Finals last year.

Weirdly, I like him more in the first round than I do in the third.  I think he needs to be the alpha, and right now he's third to two other alphas.  To some extent that's inevitable in a superstar draft, but it's hard for me to see as much value in Luka if he doesn't have the ball in his hands consistently.

I don't see an issue with Luka and Lebron.  They played pretty well this year.  Now I get Lebron isn't the same player as he is in this league, but even Miami Lebron had no issue sharing the ball and working well with Wade (who is basically a lesser Luka offensively).  In fact, Lebron has never really had an issue sharing the ball with other players that do well with a lot of touches see Davis in LA, Luka in the small sample size last year, and his stints in Cleveland (well the 2nd one, he had no one in his 1st Cleveland stint).  Luka is a superb rebounder, passer, and an excellent shooter.  I think the 2-man game between them (with Shaq cleaning up down low) is going to work very well offensively.  I do need to pick up a great guard defender to help cover Luka some, but Lebron and Shaq both received DPOY votes in the seasons picked, so 2 excellent defenders in the first 3 rounds is a good start there.

[tazzmaniac]

Yao was a guy I thought would go in the 2nd round. Such a matchup problem at 7 foot 6 300lbs.

I was looking around at some of the monster front lines and figured I needed some highly skilled beef in the middle.

I didn't like the Pau pick in the 2nd but you made a nice recovery in the 3rd. 

[tazzmaniac]

Look, the fit of Lebron and Luka sucks, but the talent is undeniable.  He's the guy I had at #6 in my ratings.  Clearly, I overrated him based upon our league consensus, but he had a pretty bad team in the Finals last year.

Weirdly, I like him more in the first round than I do in the third.  I think he needs to be the alpha, and right now he's third to two other alphas.  To some extent that's inevitable in a superstar draft, but it's hard for me to see as much value in Luka if he doesn't have the ball in his hands consistently.

I don't see an issue with Luka and Lebron.  They played pretty well this year.  Now I get Lebron isn't the same player as he is in this league, but even Miami Lebron had no issue sharing the ball and working well with Wade (who is basically a lesser Luka offensively).  In fact, Lebron has never really had an issue sharing the ball with other players that do well with a lot of touches see Davis in LA, Luka in the small sample size last year, and his stints in Cleveland (well the 2nd one, he had no one in his 1st Cleveland stint).  Luka is a superb rebounder, passer, and an excellent shooter.  I think the 2-man game between them (with Shaq cleaning up down low) is going to work very well offensively.  I do need to pick up a great guard defender to help cover Luka some, but Lebron and Shaq both received DPOY votes in the seasons picked, so 2 excellent defenders in the first 3 rounds is a good start there.

Think Lebron, Embiid and George would have been significantly better than Lebron, Shaq and Luka.  Luka will get abused defensively and I don't think Shaq at 32 was good enough defender to help much.   

[snively]

Yao was a guy I thought would go in the 2nd round. Such a matchup problem at 7 foot 6 300lbs.

I was looking around at some of the monster front lines and figured I needed some highly skilled beef in the middle.

I didn't like the Pau pick in the 2nd but you made a nice recovery in the 3rd.

Yeah it felt like a reach when I made it. I just really wanted a KG or Duncan to build my frontcourt around and Pau I thought offered the most comparable package (high/low post skill, mobility, length, passing ability) of the bigs after them. Plus he had an extended run of going head to head with the guys picked ahead of him - TD, KG, Dwight - and acquitting himself very well.

I also really like to say Pau/Yao