Staff Fantasy Basketball Draft Recap: Analysis of Our 12-Team Head-to-Head League
Round 4
| Pick | Overall | Player | Position | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37 | Wesley Matthew | SG/SF | Sam Hauss |
| 2 | 38 | DeAndre Jordan | PF/C | Brandon Gdula |
| 3 | 39 | Chandler Parsons | SF/PF | Galin Dragiev |
| 4 | 40 | Eric Bledsoe | PG/SG | Brett Oswalt |
| 5 | 41 | Mike Conley | PG | Daniel Lindsey |
| 6 | 42 | Nikola Vucevic | PF/C | Mike Comerford |
| 7 | 43 | Derrick Rose | PG | Russell Peddle |
| 8 | 44 | Thaddeus Young | SF/PF | Kyle Stanzel |
| 9 | 45 | Gordon Hayward | SG/SF | Bryan Mears |
| 10 | 46 | Tim Duncan | PF/C | Brett Weisband |
| 11 | 47 | Kemba Walker | PG | Shae Cronin |
| 12 | 48 | Zach Randolph | PF/C | Mike Hurley |
Sam Hauss reached down the board yet again in Round 4, taking Wesley Matthews at pick 37. That might seem a bit early, but Wes is easily one of the most underrated fantasy guys out there and we have him aggressively projected as the 20th-ranked fantasy player this season. That's not to say you should draft him there, but if he's still sitting around in that 40-50 range, snatch him and his elite threes up and enjoy the value.
Mike Conley was a nice value pick, dropping to Daniel Lindsey here at 41. The teams that wanted point guards early snatched them up, while some other guys were testing out the #LateRoundPG strategy (props to our editor-in-chief, who they were ripping off). Dan might be laughing all the way to the bank if Conley brings his 1.5 steals from last season back up in the 2.2 range from the two seasons prior. When he was stealing at that rate, he was locked in at top-25 value in nine-category leagues.
Mike Hurley reached a bit for Zach Randolph here, considering his O-Rank on Yahoo is 75 and we have him projected as our 89th-best fantasy asset. Mike must really love Z-Bo's Z-bounds and his chances of flirting with 20-point, 10-rebound performances on the regular. The lack of defensive numbers (0.7 steals, 0.3 blocks) and pedestrian field goal percentage for a PF/C (46.7%) might make him a difficult big to build around, but Mike having Anthony Davis locked up allows him to take those kinds of chances.
My pick: Derrick Rose, PG - I made this pick as an NBA fan more than as a savvy fantasy player. Just like hoops fanatics everywhere, I'm rooting very hard for a return to form for the former MVP and I'm worried that if it doesn't happen this year, it may never happen. Rose was the 27th-ranked fantasy player two seasons ago and 17th the year before that. Eyeing that as a ceiling, taking him at 43 had plenty of risk associated with it, but I wanted those ridiculous reward possibilities and a chance to root for his full recovery.
