2025 CelticsBlog Fantasy Draft: '05-'25 Edition

[smokeablount]

The Bulls accept your hate, Roy. It makes us grow stronger.

I like your starting lineup Snively. But switch Jimmy and Granger and I might like the B squad better than the starters in the modern game. Deron, Jimmy, Al, Chandler would be a nasty group with a lot of efficiency, defense and spacing, and a lot of passing from Deron/Jimmy/Al, shot creation from Deron and Jimmy, and finishing from Al and Tyson

Definitely something to that, but my defense of my old school line-up + Jimmy vs the modern age will center on the Lakers' destruction of the Magic in 2009. The 09 Magic were very close to the modern prototype of 4 out with a rim-running hyperathletic 5. And the Lakers rolled out a starting line-up with similar shooting constraints.  Their 2010 group too.

D-Will, Granger and Horford (and to some extent Chandler) are there to give modernized flavor as needed, but a core tenet of this roster is that old school can still beat new school to some degree.

Love it and love so many of these teams. God help the sim

[Donoghus]

7.  Philadelphia 76ers

PG: Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook (MVP)
SG: James Harden (MVP)
SF: Andrei Kirilenko
PF: Amare Stoudamire, Kevin Love
C: Anthony Davis, Marcus Camby (DPOY)

I would pay to watch a reality series of this team's interactions with each other.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

Catching up on everything now, and happy with my pickups today. TP to Roy for being available and taking a list for me.

Gordon Hayward was the guy I was really happy with as a 6th man. Unselfish, versatile, can kind of slot into any role and can play alongside any of my starters or lead the second unit. He was really great that last year in Utah.

With Bogut I really wanted a big center off the bench that can bang down low, rebound, and provide some post defense. I love Duncan and Bosh as a pairing but I needed someone physical off the bench and Bogut is also a great team guy and really solid passer.

OG was the perfect 3 and D guy for me. Switchable on defense, not going to need the ball, and long and athletic.

Everyone had some great pickups today. I should actually be around to be a part of this tomorrow!

[smokeablount]

Jvalin, please make your pick today when you can, thanks

[Who]

Trivia: I did not realize this but in the 2005 Playoffs Ben Wallace led all players in steals with 43 steals. Manu was 2nd with 28 steals. Huge margin.

Not only did Big Ben lead all players in the playoffs in steals but he also led them in blocks with 59 blocks. Duncan ran him close with 52 blocks of his own. Big Ben was #2 in rebounds with 282 to Duncan's 286 rebounds.

Amazing feat to lead all players in both steals & blocks in the 2005 playoffs.

------------------------

I wonder if Big Ben did it in the 2004 Playoffs as well.

Yep, led all players in steals. 44 steals to Kobe's 42 steals. Ben came 2nd in blocks though. 56 blocks to Shaq's 61 blocks. Ben led all players in rebounds with 328 rebounds to Shaq's 291 boards.

Impressive feat.

[Moranis]

I've had Wallace before and he always gets killed for his offense.  Think he was called the worst offensive player thst was drafted.  I always thought that was overly harsh, but it isnt a meritless critique either. But man could he defend and rebound. 

[smokeablount]

Big Ben was a beast. I had Rudy, Ben, and 2-3 other guys that I wanted to target as ?limited centers? that I think would be really good in this format, with Rudy and Ben being the 2 DPOYs. Once I got Rudy I prioritized other spots.

Ben is probably the best defender in the entire pool, but even on only low volume high percentage shots, he was not good. Rudy has bad hands but shoots very efficiently on the shots he does take. There are some guys with flaws that are truly elite at a few things.

[tazzmaniac]

7.  Philadelphia 76ers

PG: Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook (MVP)
SG: James Harden (MVP)
SF: Andrei Kirilenko
PF: Amare Stoudamire, Kevin Love
C: Anthony Davis, Marcus Camby (DPOY)

I would pay to watch a reality series of this team's interactions with each other.

The Rondo, Harden and Westbrook combo is wild.  Let's see if his last guard choice can make it wilder.   

[Who]

Sheed was another of one of those versatile PF/Cs who can play inside and outside on offense and defend both interior bigs and well on the perimeter.

Horford, E Mobley, JJJ, Sheed.

Great pick. He'll fit in great next to Jokic and them guys. Give you a big sized lineup when you need one.

[smokeablount]

Thank you Jvalin!

We?re back on schedule, and ready for Mo to kick us off anytime this AM. Yesterday was got started before 9am so do check in.

[Jvalin]

Thank you Jvalin!

We?re back on schedule, and ready for Mo to kick us off anytime this AM. Yesterday was got started before 9am so do check in.

Had a hectic day yesterday. Sorry for the delay.

[Moranis]

I went early.  Will be off and on today, but should be able to make next pick around lunch time.

[Who]

I love the Donovan Mitchell and Carmelo Anthony picks for Cleveland. They give the team great versatility 1-4. Lots of matchup / lineup options. Lots of firepower.

[smokeablount]

A little context on Vince Carter and his inefficient era.

Vince Carter was a superstar definitely on the Raptors, maybe on the Nets, and in 06-07 he had a 50.3% eFG% with a 13.7% defensive rebounding rate and a 17.4% assist rate at SG.

For context and on guys from that era:

-KG?s eFG for his 3 prime Wolves years during this era are 50.4%, 52.9% and 48%. He went #3. Yes KG a better player and a 2 way player, but Vince also went 64 picks later. Vince had a better assist rate.

-DWade?s eFG from his quintessential season is 51.6%. He went 1st round

-Dirks eFG in 10-11 was 54.5%. The 6 prior years it was 49.8%, 49.8%, 51%, 52.9%, 51.5%, 49%. He was a 1st round pick.

-CP3?s eFG from his magical 07-09 NO years, 52.8% and 52.4%. He was a 2nd round pick.

-Pierce?s eFG from 04-09 was 49.9%, 50.9%, 50.2%, 52.9%, 50.8%. He was a 3rd round pick.

Now, these guys range from good to elite defenders, and that?s important.

The issue is if you think that Vince was a high volume chucker, then Vince as your 8th man at pick 67 is a lot less of a problem that one of the above guys as a #1-3 guy at the cost of a top 20-25 pick. They all have comparable usage rates to Vince, so they would all be inefficient chuckers too. Much more expensive ones

Era matters, and all these guys were studs with games that would translate today. Melo too, and hopefully he and Vince would try harder on D because they had the potential to be solid

[smokeablount]

These 3 picks have been home runs. Spyder is a fantastic offensive anchor off the bench and I had Spyder, Hali and DeAndre very high on my BPA board with the latter two guys actually higher.

Snively is now on the clock!

Followed by CFF (pick traded from Roy), SAB, and Dons!