Staff Fantasy Basketball Draft Recap: Analysis of Our 12-Team Head-to-Head League
Round 9
| Pick | Overall | Player | Position | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 97 | P.J. Tucker | SG/SF | Sam Hauss |
| 2 | 98 | Ryan Anderson | PF/C | Derek Lynch |
| 3 | 99 | Otto Porter | SF | Jacob Kent |
| 4 | 100 | Kyle O'Quinn | PF/C | Jay Kim |
| 5 | 101 | Kobe Bryant | SG/SF | Mike Comerford |
| 6 | 102 | Zach LaVine | PG | Shae Cronin |
| 7 | 103 | Zach Randolph | PF/C | Brett Weisband |
| 8 | 104 | Ed Davis | PF/C | Brandon Gdula |
| 9 | 105 | Joakim Noah | PF/C | Russell Peddle |
| 10 | 106 | Dwyane Wade | PG/SG | Dale Redman |
| 11 | 107 | Stanley Johnson | SF | Brett Oswalt |
| 12 | 108 | Marcus Smart | PG | Bryan Mears |
This was another round of interesting upside picks versus reliable floor plays.
Otto Porter, Kyle O'Quinn, Zach LaVine, Ed Davis, Stanley Johnson, and Marcus Smart are all popular sleeper picks this year, and are all worth a flier late in your drafts. We like Smart best out of that bunch, as our algorithms project him 118th overall as a good source of threes, assists, steals, and low turnovers.
Ryan Anderson, Joakim Noah, and Dwyane Wade are all fine picks in this range, despite being hampered by playing time and injury concerns. Wade, in particular, is a fantastic pick by Dale here, since his high per-game upside has him projected at 66th overall by our system. Random DNPs and the potential of his not playing both games in back-to-backs will be scary for fantasy owners to navigate, but he's slipping down far enough to be a bargain in some drafts this year if you can hack it.
Kobe Bryant is a likely bust candidate this year at his ADP, and will probably be for however long is left of his career. The points, threes, rebounds, assists, steals, and free throw percentage are all still great, but if you're not punting field goal percentage or turnovers, he will single-handedly bury your team in those areas.
Zach Randolph is a solid source of points and rebounds this late for Brett Weisband.
My pick: Joakim Noah, PF/C - Noah was another floor play for me here in the ninth round. Yes, I am concerned about his injuries and the possibility that he might lose his starting job to Nikola Mirotic, but his new coach, Fred Hoiberg, has been heaping praise on him during training camp and the preseason. He could still be in for decent minutes, regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench, so I like him as a source of rebounds, assists, and blocks here.
