Week Two Roundup

Gonna run through some risers and sinkers, see what ya'll think about a trade, then give out Bonus Stars.

Let's get it,

Risers

Devonte' Graham - Without BI in the lineup, Graham's minutes have doubled, and as a volume scorer this is wonderful news for his production. With BI out for several more games with a concussion, Graham's still a valuable pickup

Luke Kennard - After being dropped by Password is Taco this week in order to make room for the Big Brass Balls Bonus Star (See below), Kennard is the biggest name we've had on the difficult to understand waiver wire since the draft. He's been fine, but with the Clippers pushing the boundaries of load management, he's bound to keep getting big minutes. And as the best three point shooter in the league last year, he's likely to produce

Davion Mitchell - Off Night's seen a serious decline in minutes, only getting 12 in each of his last two games. But in that time, he's seemingly found his role. His role is hardly a star, but if you need a guard, he's gotten 14 and 15 fantasy points the last two games

Chris Duarte - A slow burner to keep an eye on. After a great rookie year, Duarte lost out on the starting battle to none other than Aaron Nesmith. Yeah, the guy who almost kinda sometimes played for the Celtics. While Duarte's young and erratic, we're monitoring him

AJ Griffin - We're at the point in the season where we're looking WAY ahead, but in the two games rookie AJ Griffin has played, he's shot the hell out of the ball (7/10 from the field, 4/6 from downtown). He can't play defense, he's injury-prone, and Bogdanovic is coming back fairly soon. But if you're looking to take a swing on somebody, Griffin's a prime candidate

Sinkers

Nets Players - Joe Harris, Seth Curry, and Markieff Morris are all at minimum upgraded to questionable. This has potential for some Kawhi Leonard bench bullshit, but the Nets are playing so poorly that it feels like if any of these guys are ready to go they'll slide right into the lineup. Keep an eye out this next week, but it's likely Nets players not named Harris, Curry, and Morris aren't gonna see nearly as many minutes as they have been seeing (And here I was, ready to give Edward Sumner and Yuta Watanabe a shoutout)

Terance Mann - Don't count him all the way out just yet, but as one of the more exciting members of this Clippers bench mob, he's flopped hard. Hasn't scored double digit real life points in any game so far, even the ones that he's started. He's also had 7 turnovers in his last two games

Dario Saric - In a headline that escaped me, Saric missed the beginning of the year with the birth of his child. Can't imagine that's why he's only played 2 minutes all season, but it's a nice silver lining on his absolute bed-shitting

Old Free Agents - It's probably too early in the season to overreact to players like Carmelo Anthony, Boogie Cousins, and Hassan Whiteside not being picked up by anybody. But it's still disheartening

A Trade

Late Wednesday night I got a hankering for trading Kawhi. He's played two games (and yes, he's looked great in both, snagging 23 and 25 fantasy points) but he recently flew back to LA to work on his knee, and with the way Kawhi has been for years, that's not promising. Also having Norm Powell on my team (who's relegated to my bench as the Clips start him over Kawhi) has really crippled my flexibility. With this in mind, I went in search of Okongwu, Harrell, JTA, and Andre Drummond. Thinking, in order, to go after someone I desperately want, someone who's been balls all year but might not stay that way, someone Steven would definitely trade for me so maybe I could ask for better, and another rock solid center I was also hoping to land in the draft. After deep consideration (and an initial hell no for Drummond) Will decided to trade me Brandon Clarke.

A quick look at Clarke will show you that he's been fine, just fine on the season except for his most recent game, wherein he showed his potential. Unfortunately for me, that game began before the trade went through. All part of Will's master plan? Probably.

So who won that trade? Like, subscribe, and comment below.

Now, for three Bonus Stars

The Baskerville Bonus Star for Best Free Agent Signing goes to Isaac, for Bol Bol. In three games this week he's totaled 39 points, 22 rebounds, and 7 blocks. That's right, Bol Bol did that. He's played so well he worked his way into the starting lineup on Friday. With the injuries Orlando has taken this season, it's likely just a loophole start. My scouts are in the area monitoring the situation, but for now I'm hype

The Big Brass Balls Bonus Star for Gutsiest Free Agent Signing goes to Will, for Russell Westbrook. That's right, he's coming off the bench, it really happened. And while shooting horrifically, missing bunnies, and turning the ball over like a motherfucker, his other stats actually dragged him into a good showing of 21 fantasy points

The Dopey Bonus Star for Not Understanding How the League Works and Making the Ultimate Mistake of Telling Me About It goes to Cody, for not figuring out that you can, and in fact should, adjust your roster daily around who's playing, and then losing week one by a single point. Tough break, kid

Week One Winners, Losers, and Mario Party Bonus Stars

Week one has come and gone and it's time for some winners, losers, and Mario Party bonus stars.

Winners

Christian Wood - My god, this man's been on fire. Averaging 45 fantasy ppg, he's Center #17. There are 13 STARTING Centers in the league who were worse than he was last week

Bobby Portis - Beat the starting allegations and has been balling out with 30 fantasy ppg

Jalen McDaniels - Yes, the Charlotte McDaniels. Meteoric rise from undrafted free agent to Power Forward #25

The Jazz as a whole, but specifically Walker Kessler - This rookie I'd never heard of is Center #16 in the league (That's even higher than Christian Wood). Is he the best white player in the league?

Bennedict Mathurin - The truth. Most real life ppg for a rookie in the first three games of the season since 1995

Losers

Philly, and their whole bench - Philly lost their third game of the year to the freaking Spurs, which isn't even the worst part for us. Here are some of their bench players who are on fantasy teams in our league

• Thybulle - Averaging negative fantasy points on the year and is playing less than a minute per game
• Harrell - Averaging 1.2 fantasy ppg
• Reed - Not playing at all
• Korkmaz - Not playing at all

Lakers - You can't spell organizational dysfunction without LA

• Nunn got -5 fantasy points on Sunday
• Schroeder's still out for three weeks at least
• Maybe they'll trade for Terry Rozier

Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's get to the Mario Party Bonus Stars

The Red Square Star for Worst Luck goes to... Cody and the Sky High Smiths! His whole damn team either got hurt or ended up starting. Here's to hoping Bald Jesus can turn that around

The Orb Star for Most Items Used goes to... Michael and Twerk Nowitzki! This man has been BUSY in free agency, making no less than 13 transactions since draft day (that's five more than Kenny's made, and he had to pretty much redraft a whole team). Shouts out Michael for picking up Colin Sexton before I could even send ya'll an email about him

The Coin Star for Most Original Draft Picks Still on the Squad goes to... Will and Password is Taco! All of them. Every pick is still on the team. He just crushed the draft I guess. Punk.

The Green Star for Luckiest goes to... Steven and the Team I Won't Type The Name of Again! Truly incredible that Wood fell to him in the draft, and now Max Strus is going off, Dragic dodged the starting bullet and is playing well, and Cedi Osman comes out of free agency and lights up the world. Luckiest man in the league right here. No pressure

First Week Thoughts

Firstly, News Roundup:

Kawhi's coming off the bench and he's on my team. Deal with it

Pat Bev's starting (so is Lonnie Walker but who cares?)

Jevon Carter's starting!

The Jazz are just as unreadable as predicted. I wouldn't panic too much about Clarkson and Vanderbilt starting. Since they won their first game, expect some changes soon

#1 overall pick Caruso is starting. With how hurt Lonzo is, this, unfortunately (for Cody) feels real

Dinwiddie's starting. THJ's fully healthy, so that might be for real. We'll monitor it for a week and cross that bridge when we come to it

Royce O'Neale started but Joe Harris is expected back very soon so that's a non issue

Deni Avdija started and that might be real. Another one to monitor

SGA's suddenly fully healthy and starting. Go figure

There's so much more going on, but these felt the most important to us

Now, on to the Best Free Agent Signing

The Best Free Agent Signing of the week goes to Steven of the (goddammit don't make me say it) Uranus Stinky Petes for picking up Cedi Osman. Whether it was great research or marvelous luck we'll never know. What we do know is that Osman played 28 minutes and picked up 23 nice and easy fantasy points. Here's to hoping he calms down a little and stays on the bench. While we're tugging off Steven, Christian Wood has been the highest scorer so far (in a very small sample size).

Risers and Sinkers - All the risers are Free Agents (as I write) but some of the sinkers are on teams

Risers, in order 

Alperun Sengun - Someone I've never heard of is starting over him. Since I snagged Kawhi I feel honor-bound to wait at least a few hours after I send this email to try and get Sengun. Can't think of why he's not starting; I love him. Go after him

Doug McDermott - Looks like they're going with the rookie I so desperately wanted in Charlotte, Sochan. Look for Dougie Buckets to put up plenty of meaningless points this year. He's a top-tier free agent

Trey Murphy III - What'd I tell ya'll? 37 fantasy points in the first game and they play Charlotte tonight. He's a killer. Now, did I take my own advice and draft him? No. Will I pick him up now? Maybe

Bennedict Mathurin - Pacers rookie who'd be in their starting lineup if they were trying to win games. He looks legit already

Noah Vonleh - I don't particularly think he played well, but he got plenty of minutes in a team so talented your least favorite uncle could squeak out 10 points

Nick Richards - Having seen him in person a couple times I don't know that he can keep up this double-double pace he's on, but Clifford's playing him WAY more than our rookie Mark Williams. Similar to Vonleh, if you just need a big who's not gonna hurt you, snag Richards

Reggie Jackson - Gonna have to wait a little on this one, but John Wall looked incredible in the Clips' opener. Given, it was against the Lakers, but time's ticking on Reggie going to the bench and becoming a real hot commodity for us

Sinkers, in no order

Matisse Thybulle - In the wake of not getting an extension done, it looks like Thybulle's days in Philly could be numbered. In the first two games combined he played a grand total of 41 seconds. Doc claims he'll earn some minutes soon, but with PJ Tucker essentially doing everything Thybulle can do, and with Melton and House now on the bench, I don't see a road map for Thybulle to break in, barring injury

Pat Bev - He can't shoot and he fouls like a madman but he's the only good defensive player in the Lakers starting lineup. Which is why he was such a good pick for our league. The main problem is that after how bad they've looked in their first two games, I don't see any way he drops to the bench. 

Montrezl Harrell - Tough start for Harrell, who saw 3 mins, then 11 mins in back to back games. Given, these were against the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference, and he really does do his feasting on the lesser teams in the league, but it's still unfortunate to see that the 6 MOY from 2019-20 has fallen so far from grace. Just the first week, but we may have to view him in a different light now

Isaac Okoro - Added 4 fouls to a Tony Snell Special on opening night in only 12 minutes. That's impressively unfortunate

Peyton Pritchard - Pritchahd landed a big ol' DNP-CD on opening night. You could argue Philly was a bad matchup for his horrible defense. You'll say the same about the Heat tonight. You'll find yourself saying that a lot, actually. Not that Pritchard was particularly high on anyone's list, but at this point you're better off grabbing just about anyone else

Draft Grades

The draft is over, and with it, most of the hard work for the season. Now prepare to be graded.

I went with a basic grading system for these: assigning a numerical value to important attributes like Team Chemistry, Team Name, and whether or not you drafted Boban.

Enjoy!

Categories

-Talent Level 1-10

-Fun Level 1-10

-Team Chemistry 1-10

-Risks Taken 1-5

-Team Name 1-5

-Would Your Team Beat the Hornets? 0-1

-Boban Bonus +5

-Jevon Carter Penalty For Stealing Him From Me -5

Sky High Smiths

Talent Level - 6

Fun Level - 8

Team Chemistry - 9

Risks Taken - 5

Team Name - 4

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 33

Rob Riggle

Talent Level - 6

Fun Level - 7

Team Chemistry - 5

Risks Taken - 5

Team Name - 4

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 28

Atlanta Stempien

Talent Level - N/A

Fun Level - 10

Team Chemistry - N/A

Risks Taken - 10

Team Name - 2

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 23

Uranus Stinky Petes

Talent Level - 5

Fun Level - 7

Team Chemistry - 9

Risks Taken - 2

Team Name - 1

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Jevon Carter Penalty - -5

Total - 20

Magic Men Mike Honcho

Talent Level - 8

Fun Level - 9

Team Chemistry - 6

Risks Taken - 3

Team Name - 3

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 30

Brace Family YMCA

Talent Level - 6

Fun Level - 7

Team Chemistry - 5

Risks Taken - 4

Team Name - 3

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 26

Portland P***stars

Talent Level - 6

Fun Level - 6

Team Chemistry - 9

Risks Taken - 2

Team Name - 5

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 29

Password is Taco

Talent Level - 7

Fun Level - 6

Team Chemistry - 6

Risks Taken - 4

Team Name - 5

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 29

Twerk Nowitzki

Talent Level - 9

Fun Level - 9

Team Chemistry - 1

Risks Taken - 1

Team Name - 5

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 26

Melo's Revenge 2.0

Talent Level - 4

Fun Level - 9

Team Chemistry - 9

Risks Taken - 9

Team Name - 3

Would They Beat the Hornets? - 1

Total - 35

Best Undrafted Players

In the wake of technological and extracurricular difficulties, I present to you a quick and dirty list of the best undrafted players. Ranked.

1. Jose Alvarado - Steal master who's earned some serious minutes
2. Jarred Vanderbilt - Who knows what Utah's up to but this guy's on the bench right now and he's too good to be
3. Mathisse Thybulle - None of the defensive stoppers went
4. Cody Martin - Will probably worm his way into the starting lineup at some point but right now is well worth it
5. Ziaire Williams - A solid player who will hopefully avoid the sophomore slump
6. Grant Williams - More of a winning plays than raw stats guy, but he plays big minutes
7. Jordan McLaughlin - Backing up DLo, which could mean big minutes if the Timbs want to win
8. John Konchar - Just your run of the mill Grizzlies bench player
9. Justin Holiday - Hawks depth is less than ideal but all the Holidays are hoopers
10. Duncan Robinson - Nobody wanted to take a swing on big dunc having a bounce back year? Can't blame you
11. Trey Murphy III - Breakout year?
12. Cedi Osmen - Cediiiiiii
13. Georges Niang - A member of this solid Philly bench
14. Bismack Biyombo - As long as CP3 is alive, he's worth picking up
15. Paul Reed - Been taking a lot of minutes off Montrezl in the preseason
16. Sam Hauser - Bill Simmons swears by him
17. TJ Warren - Hurt, like always
18. Ayo Dosunmu - Draft and stash for a long time as Lonzo recovers, but worth keeping an eye on
19. Bryn Forbes - Big swing
20. Peyton Pritchard - Fewer minutes might actually be good for him
21. Ochai Agbajii - Jazz tanking equals big minutes for rookies
22. David Roddy - Just love him

Just Some Thoughts on Draft Day

Just some thoughts on Draft Day:

Draft's at 8

This is not officially a betting league, but if you want to put some money on it just remember two things: 1 - Sack up and do it before the draft, 2 - Include me.

If you have any good ideas for what the loser of the season should have to do, please share. I'm all out of creativity, haha.

Melo's Revenge 2.0 is the team I'm throwing together so we can have 10 teams. I plan on filling it with all the ancient dudes around the league, so if you want an old dude, take him early.

It was a hard decision, but Password is Taco is my vote for best team name. In close contention were Portland P***stars and Twerk Nowitzki.

As a reminder: if anyone drafts Jevon Carter I will make their life a living hell.

After conferring with my sources, I've developed a Mock Draft of the first round. Some of these are confirmed picks, some are complete guesses. 

Cody - Christian Wood

Isaac - Malcolm Brogdan

Peanut - Jordan Poole

Will - Bobby Portis

Steven - Jordan Clarkson

Kenny - Bruce Brown

Michael - Brandon Clarke

Daniel - Dennis Smith Jr

Melo's Revenge - Udonis Haslem

Me - Norman Powell

Goodbye and Good luck

The Only Document That Matters (2/2)

With the Undraftables out of the way, I figured I'd make a different list of the Very Much Draftables. This is not a complete list of everyone who can be drafted; it's more of a guide.

Again, if their names appear on this list they can be drafted.

Here they are, listed, in my humble opinion, in order of how highly they should be drafted on their respective teams.

Boston

1. Malcolm Brogdan

2. Grant Williams

3. Sam Hauser

4. Peyton Pritchard

5. Blake Griffin

6. Mfiondu Kabengele

Brooklyn

1. Seth Curry

2. Cam Thomas

3. Patty Mills

4. Royce O’Neale

5. Day’Ron Sharpe

6. TJ Warren (Hurt)

New York

1. Obi Toppin

2. Derrick Rose

3. Isaiah Hartenstein

4. Quintin Grimes

5. Immanuel Quickley

Philly

1. De’Anthony Melton

2. Georges Niang

3. Furkan Korkmaz

4. Matisse Thybulle

5. Paul Reed

6. Montrezl Harrell

7. Danual House Jr.

Toronto

1. Precious Achiuwa

2. Chris Boucher

3. Otto Porter Jr

4. Malachi Flynn

5. Khem Birch

6. Delano Banton

Chicago

1. Alex Caruso

2. Andre Drummond

3. Goran Dragic

4. Javonte Green

5. Coby White

6. Derrick Jones Jr

Cleveland

1. Kevin Love

2. Raul Neto

3. Isaac Okoro

4. Cedi Osman

5. Dean Wade

Detroit

1. Alec Burks

2. Jalen Duren

3. Isaiah Livers

4. Hamidou Diallo

5. Killian Hayes

Indiana

1. Bennedict Mathurin

2. TJ McConnell

3. Goga Bidatze

Milwaukee

1. Bobby Portis (Can’t start for the first week or so, but you can stash him)

2. Pat Connaughton

3. Jevon Carter

4. George Hill

5. Wesley Matthews

Atlanta

1. Onyeka Okongwu

2. Bogdan Bogdanovic

3. Justin Holiday

4. Jalen Johnson

Charlotte

1. Cody Martin (Might start so be wary)

2. James Bouknight

3. Jalen McDaniels

4. JT Thor

5. Mark Williams

Miami

1. Max Strus

2. Duncan Robinson

3. Gabe Vincent

4. Dewayne Dedmon

5. Victor Oladipo

Orlando

1. Cole Anthony (Can’t start for us until Fultz and likely Suggs come back)

2. Mo Bamba

3. Chuma Okeke

4. RJ Hampton (for the start of the year)

Washington

1. Deni Avdija

2. Delon Wright

3. Daniel Gafford

4. Rui Hachimura

Denver

1. Bones Hyland

2. Bruce Brown

3. Jeff Green

4. Zeke Nnaji

5. Ish Smith

Minnesota

1. Kyle Anderson

2. Jordan McLaughlin

3. Naz Reid

4. Bryn Forbes

5. Austin Rivers

OKC

1. Jalen Williams

2. Darius Bazley

3. Aaron Wiggins

Portland

1. Nassir Little

2. Gary Payton II

3. Shaedon Sharpe

Utah

1. Jordan Clarkson (Honestly could start, but worth drafting)

2. Jared Vanderbilt

3. Walker Kessler

4. Talen Horton-Tucker

5. Ochai Agbaji

Golden State

1. Jordan Poole

2. Jonathan Kuminga

3. James Wiseman

4. Moses Moody

5. Donte DiVincenzo

Clippers

1. Norman Powell

2. Nicolas Batum

3. Terance Mann

4. Robert Covington

5. John Wall

6. Luke Kennard

Lakers

1. Patrick Beverley

2. Dennis Schröder

3. Juan Toscano-Anderson

4. Austin Reaves

5. Thomas Bryant

Phoenix

1. Cam Payne

2. Landry Shamet

3. Dario Saric

4. Torrey Craig

5. Bismack Biyombo

Sac Town

1. Malik Monk

2. Davion Mitchell

3. Richaun Holmes

Dallas

1. Christian Wood

2. Spencer Dinwiddier

3. Maxi Kleber

4. Davis Bertans

5. Josh Green

Houston

1. Derrick Favors

2. Kenyon Martin Jr

3. Tari Eason

4. TyTy Washington

Memphis

1. Tyus Jones

2. Brandon Clarke

3. Ziaire Williams

4. Xavier Tillman

5. Jon Konchar

6. David Roddy

New Orleans

1. Jose Alvarado

2. Larry Nance Jr

3. Trey Murphy III

4. Devonte’ Graham

San Antonio

1. Josh Primo

2. Josh Richardson

3. Zach Collins

4. Jeremy Sochan

The Only Document That Matters (1/2)

Gents, it's almost time. Draft is this Sunday at 8pm.

Here I've compiled the official starting lineups of every team. If their name is on this email, you cannot start them in our league. You can draft and stash the players who are only starting because the actual starter is injured, and you can start this player in our league the moment they return to their rightful place on the bench. So depending on how much injury news you want to read, and how intently you plan on updating your squad throughout the season, you might just want to shy away from these specific guys. Up to you.

Again, if their name's on this email, you can't play them. 

Here goes.

Boston

Marcus Smart

Derrick White

Jaylen Brown

Jayson Taytum

Al Horford

*When Robert Williams comes back after a month or so (hopefully) Derrick White will become available for our league

Brooklyn

Kyrie Irving

Joe Harris

Kevin Durant

Ben Simmons

Nic Claxton

*Although this might be the most mercurial starting lineup in the league, this is the official lineup our league will operate under

New York

Jalen Brunsen

Evan Fournier

RJ Barrett

Julius Randle

Mitchell Robinson

Philly

Tyrese Maxey

James Harden

Tobias Harris

PJ Tucker

Joel Embiid

Toronto

Fred VanFleet

Gary Trent Jr

OG Anunoby

Scottie Barnes

Pascal Siakam

Chicago

Ayo Dosunmu

Zach Lavine

DeMar DeRozan

Patrick Williams

Nikola Vucevic

*Lonzo Ball is the natural starter over Ayo, but the injury sounds really nasty and I don't know when we'll see him this year

Cleveland

Darius Garland

Donovan Mitchell

Caris LaVert

Evan Mobley

Jarrett Allen

*LaVert's the soul-crusher here. We'll monitor if he loses that starting spot

Detroit

Cade Cunningham

Jaden Ivey

Saddiq Bey

Bojan Bogdanovic

Isaiah Stewart

*Marvin Bagley was going to start over Bogdanovic but now he's out until early November. We'll see who wins that spot when he comes back

Indiana

Tyrese Haliburton

Chris Duarte

Buddy Hield

Jalen Smith

Myles Turner

Milwaukee

Jrue Holiday

Grayson Allen

Bobby Portis

Giannis Antetokuonmpo

Brook Lopez

*I have beef with this one. Every report I can find still backs up what Middleton said on media day, which was that he would miss the start of the season. Yet both ESPN and CBS (a shockingly reliable source for lineup info) have him starting. For this reason I am making a declaration, based on their preseason games: Bobby Portis is a starter. Until Middleton comes back you cannot start BP in our league. You can absolutely draft him, because he's a great bench player who will return to the bench very soon. But you cannot start him

Atlanta

Trey Young

Dejounte Murray

De'Andre Hunter

John Collins

Clint Capela

Charlotte

Terry Rozier

Kelly Oubre Jr

Gordan Hayward

PJ Washington

Mason Plumlee

*Everything about this team frustrates me. LaMelo's out with an ankle sprain, and with the tank for Wembenyama already well underway, they might keep him out for a little while longer. Oubre slid into that spot in their final preseason game, so I have to assume that will happen. If Cody Martin takes it instead, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it

Miami

Kyle Lowry

Tyler Herro

Caleb Martin

Jimmy Butler

Bam Adebeyo

*Talk about a stake in the heart. I didn't want it to be true, but Tyler Herro's gonna be starting games for the Heat. Unless he's relegated to the bench during the season, he is unavailable for us to draft

Orlando

Cole Anthony

Terrence Ross

Franz Wagner

Paolo Panchero

Wendell Carter Jr.

*Jalen Suggs, Markelle Fultz, and Gary Harris are all hurt for the Magic, so draft and stash Anthony and Ross, but you can't start them until the better players come back

Washington

Monte Morris

Bradley Beal

Will Barton

Kyle Kuzma

Kristaps Porzingis

Denver

Jamal Murray

Kentavius Caldwell-Pope

Michael Porter Jr

Aaron Gordan

Nikola Jokic

Minnesota

D'Angelo Russell

Anthony Edwards

Jaden McDaniels

Karl-Anthony Towns

Rudy Gobert

OKC

Josh Giddey

Tre Mann

Lu Dort

Poku

Jeremiah Robinson-Earle

*Two things. SGA is out for the start of the season, so once he comes back it's likely Tre Mann will be benched. Secondly, I'm guessing on the Poku thing. My sources (ESPN and CBS) say Bazley will start at the 4, but he's come off the bench in every preseason game. So I'm declaring it will be Poku

Portland

Damian Lillard

Anfernee Simons

Josh Hart

Jerami Grant

Jusuf Nurkic

*Josh Hart, the lovable son of a bitch, he went and made the starting lineup

Utah

Mike Conley

Collin Sexton

Malik Beasly

Lauri Markkanen

Kelly Olynyk

*I can't lie to ya'll. I don't know. Nobody knows. This team's gonna do whatever it takes to suck shit through a straw and get that number one pick. The only problem is, there's some really good talent for our purposes on this team. So above is my best guess, but we might have to make adjustments soon (AKA: draft from Utah at your own risk)

Golden State

Stephen Curry

Klay Thompson

Andrew Wiggins

Draymond Green

Kevon Looney

*Looks like nothing at all is gonna happen with this Draymond thing, so he's locked into the starting lineup

LA Clippers

Reggie Jackson

Paul George

Kawhi Leonard

Marcus Morris

Ivica Zubac

LA Lakers

Russell Westbrook

Kendrick Nunn

LeBron James

Anthony Davis

Damian Jones

Phoenix

Chris Paul

Devin Booker

Mikal Bridges

Cam Johnson

Deandre Ayton

*Looks like Cam Johnson's gonna be fine, so the Sun's lineup stays intact

Sac Town

De'Aaron Fox

Kevin Huerter

Harrison Barnes

Keegan Murray

Domantas Sabonis

Dallas

Luka Doncic

Tim Hardaway Jr

Reggie Bullock

Dorian Finney-Smith

Javale McGee

Houston

Kevin Porter Jr.

Jalen Green

Eric Gordan

Jabari Smith

Alperen Sengun

Memphis

Ja Morant

Desmond Bane

Dillon Brooks

Santi Aldama

Steven Adams

*When JJJ comes back, Aldama will very much be available for our league

New Orleans

CJ McCollum

Brandon Ingram

Herb Jones

Zion Williamson

Jonas Valanciunas

San Antonio

Tre Jones

Devin Vassell

Doug McDermott

Keldon Johnson

Jakob Poeltl

*Another guess. If anything changes drastically we'll pivot

Draft Tiers

Draft Tiers are here! Plenty of things will likely change but this feels pretty good.

Here are 110 players put into tiers. As a reminder, you draft 10 players, and it's a 10-person league, so 10 of these guys won't even be taken. Didn't get everyone in this, but I feel like I got most.

Upside factored into my rankings. So for instance I put Okongwu in the second tier because he has potential to break out behind an aging Capella; while an absolute shoe-in to play heavy minutes and put up a decent stat line (Ish Smith) fell to the third tier.

The Tiers, Explained

6th man candidates - Pretty obvious. Unfortunately, by my calculations we won't all get one of these

Super subs - A step above regular production, but not consistently electric

Heavy minutes - Good dudes who will play a lot. Logically, we might all end up with plenty of these guys

Upside picks - The kind of guy you draft and once he starts playing well you feel good about yourself

Safe and sound - These men will not hurt you

Home run swings - The kind of guy you talk yourself into the more beers you have

(?)'s are behind those who we have questions about whether they're starting or not

Tier 1 (6th man candidates): Caris LaVert(?), Jordan Poole, Jordan Clarkson, Tyler Herro, Montrezl Harrell, Christian Wood, Tyus Jones, Malcolm Brogdan

Tier 2 (super subs): DeAnthony Melton, Bruce Brown, Malik Monk, Moses Moody, Spencer Dinwiddie(?), Kyle Anderson, Alex Caruso, Norm Powell, Onyeka Okongwu, Pat Connaughton, Josh Hart(?), Precious Achiuwa, Seth Curry(?), Bogdan Bogdonavic (Hurt), Devonte Graham, Kelly Oubre Jr, Zaire Williams, Gary Payton II, Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, Bones Hyland, Jonathon Kuminga, Obi Toppin, Gabe Vincent, Derrick Rose, Bobby Portis(?) 

Tier 3 (heavy minutes): Ish Smith, Davion Mitchell, Robert Covington, Terance Mann, Richaun Holmes, James Wiseman, Isaiah Hartenstein, Grant Williams, Quinten Grimes, Gary Harris, John Wall, George Niang, Derrick White (?), Royce O'Neale, Matisse Thybulle, Chris Boucher, Goran Dragic(?), Alec Burks, Marvin Bagley III(?), Donte Divincenzo, Jordan McLaughlin, Pat Bev, Dennis Schroeder, Larry Nance Jr, Jose Alvarado, Cody Martin(?)

Tier 4 (upside picks): Ochai Agbaji, Demarcus Cousins, Jalen Johnson, Cam Thomas, Bryn Forbes, Trey Murphy III, Jalen McDaniels, Victor Oladipo, Zeke Nnaji, Mo Bamba, Coby White, TJ Warren, Immanuel Quickley, Cedi Osman, Mark Williams, Duncan Robinson, Jalen Suggs, Poku, Trey Burke, Juan Toscano Anderson, Davis Bertans, John Konchar, 

Tier 5 (safe and sound): Danual House, Otto Porter Jr, Delon Wright, Furkan Korkmaz, Javonte Green, Jeff Green, Raul Neto, George Hill, Aaron Holiday, Justin Holiday, Deni Avdija, Dario Saric, Daniel Gafford, Maxi Kleber, Derrick Favors, 

Tier 6 (Home Run Swings): Shaedon Sharpe, JT Thor, AJ Griffin, Delano Banton, Johnny Davis, Cam Reddish, Dean Wade, Killian Hayes, Jalen Williams, Boban Marjanovic, David Roddy

Sleepers and Stayaways

Thanks for subscribing to the One Court To Rule Jamal Crawford newsletter. This week we're focusing on Draft Sleepers and Stayaways. This list is a healthy mix of deep research and light drinking. Hope it's helpful

Sleepers

Demarcus Cousins - Boogie's a free agent for now, but I don't know why. He looked really good backing up Jokic last year, and with teams always needing backup centers (cough cough, Boston) he should get picked up fairly soon and give you solid minutes. The sleeper part of this is that he must just be really annoying or something. No one hangs onto him for long, and that could hurt his chances significantly

Bryn Forbes - Minnesota's bench is a little low on shooters, and all Bryn really does is have surprisingly great shooting nights. A quality late rounder (Remember, these are sleepers, so keep those expectations nice and low)

Ochai Agbaji - Would've been a perfectly good pick if Cleveland had kept him, but now that he's on Tankathon Utah, I see the four-year college player getting some serious minutes. Especially as they trade away what little talent remains as the season goes on

Danuel House - The last year he played for Daryl Morey in Houston he averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in 25 minutes. Reunited and it feels so good. The only thing stopping a good season would be Daryl loving him so much he starts him, which he truly might do

Isaiah Hartenstein - He only counts as a sleeper because he's not a particularly big name, but backing up Mr Injury Mitchell Robinson will provide plenty of minutes for Zach Lowe's favorite unknown player

Jalen Johnson - I'm taking a big swing here, but looking at the Hawks forward depth, I like Johnson's chances. He spent last year in the G League and while it's not the one-way ticket to stardom Fred VanFleet made it look like, it is a solid league that helps people break into teams that get injuries. When DeAndre Hunter goes down, I'm looking for Johnson to step into some backup minutes and impress

Coby White - Somebody's gotta take over at point for the Bulls (likely for the whole year; this Lonzo injury sounds bad) and while it's likely to be Dragic or Dosunmu, White's a textbook backup sleeper with more athleticism than Dragic ever had

Jalen McDaniels - The McDaniels brother in Charlotte. With Miles gone and Hayward bound to get hurt, McDaniels could get some real minutes over even younger JT Thor (another sleeper)

Trey Murphy - I'm telling you, this kid had an efficient year last season and he's poised for a better showing this time around, while a loaded Pelicans squad will secure his bench position

Cam Thomas - He's got a ton of talent ahead of him on the Nets, but let's briefly examine that talent: Kyrie, who will miss plenty of games; Seth Curry, who's coming into the season with a slight injury and isn't getting any younger; and Patty Mills, who is a legend, but looked bad at times last year. It pretty much comes down to this: if the Nets have a successful, wholesome, stable season then Cam Thomas will be a terrible pick. But I'm not betting a penny on that

David Roddy - My official pick for Rando Who Goes Off On The Grizzlies' Bench. Mostly because his body makes me chuckle. I like watching him play basketball. Dude is a unit

Shaedon Sharpe - Another rookie and another huge swing. We know nothing about this guy. The only thing we really know is if he's even decent he'll be really good. I don't see any way he's an average player

Stayaways

Dwight Howard - Yes, Dwight's turned it around and been a solid enough backup center in the waning years of his 30 For 30 deserving career. And yes, someone will need a big man to eat some regular season innings and he'll likely get picked up. But don't take him. Do yourself a favor and research a lesser known name who isn't going to be popping up in the WWE and grabbing as many techs as rebounds

DeAndre Jordan - If you've actually watched basketball the last two years you should already know everything I might say. The only thing that could make him a valuable player is the talent around him at Denver

Matthew Dellavedova - Another example of drafting for the name that will bite you in the ass. I love Deli, and he's a good passer and a fun player, but he's behind a surprisingly good and deep group of guards in Sac Town and he'll barely see the court

Serge Ibaka - I should just rename this category after grabbing players you've heard of. Serge looked like he'd been rode hard and hung up dry last year (or whatever the saying is). He hardly played and when he did he was bad. A veteran presence who will help the Bucks win the chip this year with a remarkable performance in a random playoff game, but will do nothing else

Juancho Hernangomez - Yes, Bo Cruz looked like a top tier athlete in that movie. And if anyone knows how to best use a rangy athlete it's Toronto. But he's got some serious competition ahead of him if he wants to even make the bench

Dwight Powell - It's not like anybody was beating down the door to draft Powell last year, but with the additions of Christian Wood and apparent starter Javale McGee, Powell simply won't see enough of the floor to be worth drafting

Naz Reid - I like him and I love what he brings off the bench behind KAT. That being said, here's how I see the Timbs new front court playing out: Rudy and KAT start together, then one of them is subbed in the first few minutes and they alternate at center until the end of the game when they bring them both out to close. Not a ton of space in there for Naz. This is the realest pick I have; it could very easily blow up in my face

Shake Milton - Little Bill has popped up here and there with good games for Philly, but with Melton in town taking most of his minutes, I just don't see him playing enough to support his inconsistency

Victor Oladipo - I want it to work out in Miami for him, I really do. And he had good showings in the playoffs. But damn, just take a look at his last several regular seasons. Since 2019 he's played in only 60 games. When healthy he's been good, but I don't know if you can justify taking him. Could turn out to be good value in the late rounds. Could play 6 games all year. Too risky for my blood

Kai Jones - Don't know if any of you were seriously considering taking him, but allow me to dissuade you. I hope everything I write about him turns out to be untrue, because he's a joy to watch and a helluva dunker, but the kid's nowhere near NBA-ready. Adding our hopeful franchise center in Williams to an already crowded and untalented bunch of bigs spells even less playing time for Jones, who only saw the court 21 times last season for an average of 3 minutes

Thanasis Antetekounmpo - This one hurts me the most, because this man is what this league is all about. As Mark Jackson said, "He could play for me any day." But sadly, he averages less than 10 minutes a game, and never puts up actual stats. I love him, and I might pick him as a glue guy, but he's simply a terrible fantasy player

Risers and Sinkers

After just one week of preseason basketball we have some pretty major shiftings-around going on. So here are some Risers and some Sinkers.

Risers

Christian Wood - This guy was already pretty high on my board, but he's gotten even higher. In the two games the Mavs have played so far he's come off the bench to give first a 16 point 13 rebound show and second a 23 point outing. He's doing nothing shy of preparing his case to be the number one overall pick

Sam Hauser - It is only the preseason and we're not allowed to overreact to the preseason, but 14 points in 19 minutes and 22 points in 26 minutes is a helluva first two games of the year for this ascendant bench player. It earned him a starting spot in the Celtic's next preseason outing (albeit against the Hornets) where he played 24 minutes. With or without the absence of Timelord, the buzz (and by "buzz" I mean what Bill Simmons says) around Hauser is that he's a part of the rotation. And, for our purposes, he's a perfect mid-to-late-round swing because he's in no danger of starting

Dennis Schroeder - In a storyline that has completely evaded me, Schroeder's been stuck in Germany for the first week of preseason with Visa issues. The Lakers finally have Kendrick Nunn, who's looking good. That, coupled with the memories of the last time Schroeder started for LA, would seem to secure his bench spot, and thereby boost his stock in our league to the solid backup PG this former sixth man can really be. 2nd round potential

Zeke Nnaji - Notching 20+ minutes in both Nuggets preseason games so far, Zeke makes this list for two reasons: 1-The Nuggets are too good a team with too high of hopes to be okay with playing DeAndre Jordan a bunch (or even a little) and 2- Zach Lowe mentioned him on his podcast. Nnaji (6'9, 240, 21-years-old) is in a great situation to play good minutes with a very talented bench. Look for him in the 5th or 6th round if you still need a big

Precious Achiuwa - In spite of a preseason where Toronto's really giving every player a shot (seriously go look at the minutes for their first game; crazy evenly distributed) Achiuwa still seems to fit exactly what they want: 6'8, 225, hustle. I thought the Heat were a little crazy to include him in the Lowry trade, and I think he proved me right last year. Look for quality minutes as the Raptors keep playing their futuristic lineups. 4th rounder, could easily go higher

Onyeka Okongwu - I don't actually know how my stock can get higher on this guy. Go back and look through my phone and you'll see texts of me wanting the Hornets to take him with the third overall pick the year we took LaMelo. Am I happy we didn't do that? Yes. Am I bummed that the next closest team landed the guy I wanted in the draft, who then bodied up Giannis in a playoff game and is garnering attention from actual sports journalists now? Absolutely. If the first preseason game is any indication (Capella started but Okongwu played 7 more minutes than him and put up 11 points and 7 rebounds) just stay out of my way and let me pick him too early

Jalen Duren - Is this list just becoming guys the Hornets didn't draft? Maybe. Although Duren didn't play the Piston's second game, in his first outing as a Piston he grabbed 14 rebounds in 24 minutes. That's more than a rebound every 2 minutes. You get up to take a piss during this game and Duren's grabbed another board. This is peak overreacting, but with his athleticism, Duren's one of the more confident upside picks who could find himself going as early as the third round in our draft

Obi Toppin - Initially not on my radar because I thought the Knicks might actually listen to their fan base and start him. But based on two preseason games, he's looking like he'll stay the electric bench player he was last year. Which, for us, is excellent. If dunks counted for double points, this guy would be the number one overall. Also, look out for some Loophole Starts with him if the Knicks season goes a little wobbly. An iffy 3rd or 4th rounder who's playing his way into 2nd round contention

RJ Hampton - Wouldn't have thought with all the Magic's depth at guard that I'd be suggesting somebody take Hampton in the later rounds, but my god every guard Orlando has is hurt [See Sinkers - Cole Anthony and Terrance Ross]. If you're late in the draft and just need someone who's gonna play real minutes for the start of the season, snag Hampton

Brandon Clarke - It feels like I should've put the Sinkers first because ya'll are gonna read my dramatic lineup findings in reverse. Regardless, based on the first three preseason games, Memphis look like they're going with Aldama in the starting lineup [See Sinkers - Santi Aldama] which is nothing if not wonderful news for Brandon Clarke fans. He's an absolute pogo stick off the bench who will get big minutes and make some serious plays. I love him in the 2nd round

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Landry Shamet - Two dudes who could realistically have been drafted before Payne and Johnson got hurt who have a chance to see some real early season minutes. Neither Payne's nor Johnson's injuries seem to be serious, but if you're nerding out over this league and you think you can get a real advantage with Shamet's extra time on the floor and Timothe's sporadic usefulness, knock yourself out and take one of these guys in the mid-to-late rounds

Sinkers

Jordan Poole - As much as I think a hard punch to the face from a teammate would motivate a young, competitive guy like Poole, I'm worried about the vacuum in the starting lineup after what feels like an inevitable suspension for Draymond. Bobby Portis (who keeps tweeting that we should leave him out of this) got suspended 8 games for punching a teammate in a much better situation than this. Feels like the Warriors could give Draymond 10 pretty easily. That raises the question of how the Warriors will start those games, and one of the best options they have is to drop Wiggins to the 4 and play the Poole Party lineup with Steph, Klay, and Poole. Which would obviously make Poole ineligible for our league until Draymond comes back and reclaims that starting spot. Unless the Warriors do better without him (which seems unlikely but definitely possible) in which case Poole might have worked his way into a starting spot and out of our league (again, this seems unlikely. But it creates enough uncertainty for Poole's stock to falter (by "falter" I mean still absolutely take him in the first round, just be wary that you might have to bench him for the start of the season))

Jonathon Kuminga - Kum Buckets is another natural replacement for Draymond. Again, this is all speculative at this point, and Kuminga should absolutely be drafted, but if he can't play for us the first couple of weeks because he's starting that could bump him down into the lower rounds. And god forbid he's taken a leap and the team's doing well with him in the lineup when Draymond comes back (is there anything better than a player punching his teammate days before the season starts?)

Josh Hart - Starting one preseason game hardly means you'll start the regular season, but starting the very first preseason game, and playing well, on a team that could use defensive flexibility and the general winning plays Hart provides...well, that's grounds enough to make me wonder. Monitor this situation, though, because if Hart's not starting he's got 2nd round talent

Nic Claxton - Two games in and it really looks like the Nets want to make the Simmons Claxton thing work. I get it defensively, but I guess they've just got enough offense with their other three starters to make up for the terrible shooting and worse free throw shooting of that duo. Claxton starting brings some other players on the Nets into consideration for us (Royce O'Neale and Day'Ron Sharpe) but neither of them have the upside for me that Claxton would've brought

Cole Anthony and Terrance Ross - Magic guards are dropping like flies. Fultz is out indefinitely with a toe, Harris is out indefinitely after knee surgery in August, and now Suggs is out indefinitely with a knee. Anthony's the logical replacement in the starting lineup, and Ross has started the last two games. A real shame for the Magic and us for the foreseeable future as these two can get buckets

Santi Aldama - Can't believe I'm saying this, but it really looks like the Grizzlies are gonna fill the JJJ injury hole with... Santi Aldama. He's started the first three preseason games and he's been running with the other actual starters. Tough stuff for anyone who was looking to steal him in the 7th round. Great news for Brandon Clarke fans, though!

Boogie Cousins - There's still time, but the number of teams who need a backup center that haven't reached out to Boogie is damning. Looks like he might just get to wait around and stay healthy until closer to January when someone will get hurt or a dream-chasing team will need depth. Keep a weather eye out for him, but don't draft him

Cam Payne and Dario Saric- There's been no update on the finger and thumb injuries Payne and Johnson suffered the other day, but the Suns plan to re-evaluate them next week. Payne still be worth drafting, but we'll see just how long he's out to see how high he should go. Johnson (a starter this year) affects Saric's stock. Dario should still be drafted and should still play plenty of bench minutes, but much like Payne, the potential roster shakeup early on might sideline him for our purposes for a little while

Goldmines and Graveyards

Inundating your Inboxes once again,

This week we're focusing on teams you should be looking to for players and teams you definitely shouldn't be in a segment I like to call

Goldmines and Graveyards

Goldmines

Golden State - I didn't just pick this team because they've got gold in their name, they also have the perfect combination of an awesome bench and an aging group of starters who they'll look to rest. Poole's the current favorite for Sixth Man of the Year and those younglings they've got are all (yes, even Wiseman) set for huge years

Players to watch: Poole, Divincenzo, Kuminga, Moody, Wiseman

LA Clippers - Another ideal mix of game management and talented backups. With Kawhi, George, and Wall, look for some serious Loophole Starters in this bunch. As exciting as GS's bench is, the Clippers have proven killers. Reggie Jackson is about to be arguably the best backup PG in the league

Players to watch: Jackson, Mann, Covington, Powell, Kennard

Memphis - A genuine football Next Man Up mentality will keep this group solid even with the losses of Melton and Anderson. Be on the lookout for a rando like Santi Aldama or David Roddy to pop up midseason and have himself a game. That's just who this team is. Also, Tyus Jones is the truth

Players to watch: Jones, Williams, Tillman, Konchar

Philly - Morey's brought in some real Morey players this offseason and with an actual shot at a chip, they're gonna log some real minutes this regular season. If your worst bench player is Shake Milton, that kind of rocks

Players to watch: Harrell, Melton, Thybulle, House, even Niang

Sacramento - Goldmine might be a little strong, but I felt like highlighting a team that has been trash for so long that my instinct is to ignore them. With Red Velvet and Monk coming in, they're sneaky deep

Players to Watch: Whoever doesn't start between Monk and Huerter, Mitchell, Holmes

Miami - I can't claim to know which of their players are gonna go off, but this team is a factory that pumps out great bench players no one's ever heard of

Players to Watch: Hell, close your eyes and throw a dart at their roster, you'll probably get a good player

Washington - Hear me out: they've got entirely too many high draft picks just floundering around and the team won't be good enough to not give them a shot. Deni Avdija is one of only five players who played all 82 games last year. He only started 8. Get this man

Players to Watch: For real, any of them, although I'd be cautious with Johnny Davis

Indeterminate

Brooklyn - Listen, if you look at their depth chart you'll see some tempting options. And I'm not gonna stop you from drafting any of them. But god, things are just so volcanic up there that I can't possibly feel good about recommending any of them. Seriously they might start Royce O'Neale. The good news is there's no way they start Simmons and Claxton together, right? I mean sheesh, a team that requires some serious study

Utah - I'm not willing to call them either Goldmine or Graveyard just yet because Ainge is going to strip this team like a gullible college freshman playing poker. They've got plenty of fun bench talent to keep an eye on, though

Graveyards

Boston - An already paper thin bench takes a hit with Timelord out at least the first few weeks of the season and Gallo gone for all of it

Players to Watch: Brogdan's pulling a lot of weight here, Derrick White as well

LA Lakers - You know this. As top heavy as a Barbie. They improved the bench a bit this year I guess, although essentially swapping Monk and Melo for Pat Bev and Schroeder isn't exactly what I'd call a knockout

Players to Watch: The only reason to pay attention to this team is if Russ goes to the bench. Some potential for a revenge tour from him if so

San Antonio - They might turn into a Goldmine as the year goes on because damn, this team's gonna be bad and they are gonna play some strangers some serious minutes. Unless you've got some insider info, I"d stay away from them until the season gets into full swing

Players to Watch: I guess Josh Primo

OKC - Another year passes with OKC stars getting hurt and them holding open tryouts like it's that Marky Mark movie Invincible. I don't know who the fuck's gonna play. Just like SA, this is a team to dig into once the season goes south around December

Players to Watch: I mean that rookie Jalen Williams should play 

Draft Board 1.0

As your commissioner I reserve the right to email you as many times as I good and goddam well want to.

I'd advise checking the scoring of the league, but I'll give a quick synopsis:

Scoring points is awesome

Steals and Blocks are overvalued, so keep an eye out for that

Turnovers and missed shots hurt

Techs, Flagrants, and Ejections hurt, too, so if you want Dwight Howard, just keep that in mind

Here it is, my Notable 75...

Draft Board 1.0 (as of October 4th)

Caris LaVert - Hammer this guy for 6th Man of the Year after Cleveland's offseason. He's injury prone for sure, but I think the bench role will save his legs and he'll go nuclear this year. Fully prepared to be wrong about this

Jordan Poole - As solid a bet as you can make. He's only gonna get better, and he's already so damn good. Don't overthink it: go after this dude

Jordan Clarkson - Dude's a bucket, we all know this. His missed shots and lack of defense hurt, but regardless of if he stays at Utah or goes to a team that's trying to win, he's still gonna put up big time numbers from the bench

Tyler Herro - Incumbent 6th Man of the Year, certified bucket-getter. He's only low on this list because Pat Riley thinks he's soft (and he is)

Montrezl Harrell - Now I know I have this man entirely too high on this list. That's fine. But coming in after Embiid and giving this Philly offense a versatile backup center seems like it can't possibly go wrong (Also, big Loophole Potential if Embiid gets hurt)

Reggie Jackson - I think John Wall will start the season and Reggie will be the Loophole Starter of the Season if and when Wall gets hurt

Bogdan Bogdanovic - Trey and Dejounte have secured he won't start, and maybe his best days are behind him but I think he's gonna be rock solid

Malik Monk - (If he doesn't start, which he easily could and arguably should) Was the best Laker last year and I don't think it was close. Walking heat check

Terance Mann - Remember Utah two seasons ago? That alone lands Mann in the top 10. They're gonna be resting the fuck out of their old ass starters, and I think he's gonna get some serious minutes

Tyus Jones - Is he the best backup PG in the league? Great value in the second round, could and should go higher

Bones Hyland - I love this guy. The only thing that could derail him from being a top pick is Denver's ludicrous injury list. Sneaky 6th man of the year candidate

Donte Divincenzo - Two Warriors this high is not only egregious, it's correct. The Big Ragu is gonna fit this offense like your oldest and rattiest shoe that you just can't give up (Too High Alert)

De'Anthony Melton - Looked great in Memphis, I don't see him doing anything but killing it for Philly

Luke Kennard - Consistently one of the best three point shooters in the league. Gonna play a lot of minutes for the Clips I'd have to think as they game manage the whole squad.

Bojan Bogdanovic - Supposing he doesn't start, highly coveted veteran presence on a goddam superfun young team who drafted so well and look awesome (I'm not mad about it at all). Should be rock solid

Alex Caruso - Praying Grayson Allen doesn't assault him on live television again. Barring that, he should have a quality season, boosted by steals

Norman Powell - Clips bench is loaded and they're gonna play a ton. Lock this guy in somewhere

Duncan Robinson - Had the worst year we maybe saw out of anyone last year. All that tells me is he's on the upswing. Catch him early while he's not starting yet

Spencer Dinwiddie - With Brunsen gone and THJ maybe hurt, he might start for a while. But if he gets to play his ideal 6th man spot he's a killer

Cole Anthony - Should arguably be higher. I like his spunk, and he just might be a 6th Man sleeper candidate

Kyle Anderson - Slow Mo should be great for an overhyped, weird as hell team that needs bench production badly. It's kinda just him and Bryn

Mason Plumlee - Don't laugh. As a starter I hate him. If he can recover his bench form from when he played in Denver, he can fill it up

Jevon Carter - Do I have Jevon too high? You bet your sweet ass I do. But hear me out: I like him. And while Bud will never play him when it matters, the regular season's a great time for him to eat up second quarters and consistently underperform in counting stats. He's the exact guy I draft in fantasy. Frankly, stay the hell away from him

Seth Curry - Aging but aging well. Is only this low because God herself doesn't know what Brooklyn are gonna do

Gary Payton II - Love this man, and he's guaranteed to get you a steal every time he hops on the court. Might be a risk this high because who knows what Portland are up to, but he should be coming off the bench

Ayo Dosunmu - Only this low because he should start the season. One of the first to look for once Lonzo returns

Jonathon Kuminga - Kum Buckets looked great last year and I'd have to think he's gonna stay on that trajectory. Provides some much-needed athleticism to that Warriors squad. Might be a case of looking better on screen than on paper, but a solid pick nonetheless

Zaire Williams - Played a lot last year and looked like he belonged. I like him and I think he'll pick up some slack left behind by Memphis losing Slo Mo and Melton. Supposing, of course, that he doesn't start

Pat Connaughton - Putting him here because I think Grayson Allen wins that spot. Prepared to be wrong

Bryn Forbes - Don't sleep on how shitty Minnesota's bench is. It's Bryn and Slo Mo

Javale McGee - Has done nothing but be one of the best backup Centers in the league for seemingly 10 years

Trey Murphy III - Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Trey Murphy's gonna have himself a year. Don't know why, I just feel it in my bones. Watch out

Davion Mitchell - Off Night is a shoe-in for a steal and should look good with less pressure on him in a shockingly fun Sac team

Delon Wright - Flashy? Not really. But a quality plug and play

Ish Smith - Sadly, he might really start for Denver. But if he doesn't, he's a rock (at being average (which is great))

Andre Drummond - So much younger than he has any right to be. Also, Chicago is growing increasingly bummed out with Vuc. Look for plenty of Drummond minutes

Shaedon Sharpe - I'm high on him considering we know actually nothing about him, but if he turns out we'll all look stupid for not taking him in the first round

Trey Burke - Impossible to tell what Houston are gonna do, but he's got fun upside that keeps him high on this list

Moses Moody - I might be too low on this guy. He looked like a vet last year and Kerr played him what felt like a ton. Potential sleeper here

Richaun Holmes - I'm assuming they start their younger, funner players in Sac Town, and if so, Holmes will surprise all of us

TJ McConnell - I don't know how to feel about any of the Pacers, but he's good for a steal and if their season goes the way they want it to he won't be starting

Gary Harris - This is the part of the Mock where I get too excited about steals and overvalue players like Harris

Robert Covington - Was anyone overhyped quite like RoCo a couple years ago? That being said, he's a solid bench player who should play a lot

Kelly Oubre Jr - Do I think he'll repeat last year's production? No. But does it demand that I put him this high? Yes

Davonte' Graham - Might be overshadowed in New Orleans by younger, sexier talent, but a more than playable backup PG

Kevin Love - Might have him too low, but I just can't get that image out of my head of him just passing the ball to the other team and looking like he'd rather eat a white dog turd than play for the Cavs ever again. Consider this a sleeper on my end, but he's probably going to be a solid bet

Josh Hart - Supposing he doesn't start, I think he's a winning player. Will that translate into counting stats? Maybe.

Alec Burks - Considering the youth Detroit are dealing with he might start. But if he doesn't, he's a guy who can go off (and also do very little for long periods of time)

Bismack Biyombo - Can ya'll believe he's only 30? So long as CP3's playing, he'll be a great backup

James Wiseman - He should objectively be much higher but I just don't believe his fit with the Warriors. Poor guy always gets hurt, too. I'll look a fool when he's the best backup center in the league

Jose Alvarado - Really wanted to put him higher, but effort will only get you so far. Suspect a regression to the mean this season (Which isn't to say he'll be bad by any means, just don't expect 4 steals a game)

Terrance Ross - Go for it. He'll drop 40 one night and you'll never hear from him again. The kind of guy this league is built around

Bobby Portis - Will absolutely be one of the first guys taken midseason when Milwaukee are fully healthy and he's coming off the bench and killing it like he does. Right now, though, he's a draft and stash

Onyeka Okongwu - I think this is the year they eventually move away from Capella. I've loved Okongwu since his draft class, but even if I'm wrong he's still a quality pick

Tre Mann - He's this low because OKC is a madhouse and he might be starting. Looks like a bucket, though

James Bouknight - Charlotte picked up Dennis Smith Jr and if I know anything about this franchise that spells less playing time for Bouk. But supposing he finally breaks into the team, this guy's a beast and you'll feel very smart for having him

Malik Beasley - A prime candidate for good stats bad team. Also if Utah goes into full tank mode, he might get some Loophole Starts

Precious Achiuwa - Toronto are always messing around with the lineup, but look for Precious to have a quality bench season

Demarcus Cousins - Plenty of teams need a regular season center, and I don't see Boogie being a free agent for forever

Lonnie Walker IV - I mean shit, why not?

Daniel Gafford - I mean listen, we're all gonna end up with guys like this. I think he's fine, don't be upset

Jeff Green - No comment

Dennis Schroeder - I no longer believe in this man, but LA is so dysfunctional he just might have a great year

Talen Horton Tucker - If you think he's on the Kuzma, Lonzo, literally everyone who was on the Lakers and got traded away track: take this dude earlier.

Immanual Quickly - Lower than he should be because Brunsen's inclusion and Thibs will play D Rose. Whatever the opposite of a sleeper is

Jalen Duren - If you wanna take a swing on a high-upside rookie who might bang his shin on the rim, I'm not gonna stop you

Isaiah Hartenstein - Sleeper for sure with Mitch and Nerlens ahead of him, but Zach Lowe loved this dude last year and I have to assume he knows what he's talking about. Also Mitch and Nerlens stay injured

Patrick Beverly - Who knows if he'll start, but if he doesn't he'll at least give you good bench minutes I guess

Otto Porter Jr. - Will surprise me and put up a great year

Boban Marjanovic - If you don't want this guy on your team I don't want you in my life. It pains me to no end to put him this low, but he simply never plays. Maybe now that he's in Houston he might catch a second wind, though

Patty Mills - Aging poorly and it breaks my heart. The Brooklyn situation is as unreadable as any in the league. Dammit he belongs on this list somewhere, though

Frankie Ntilikina - Frankie Smokes absolutely should not be drafted, but he's another player I just can't quit

Mo Bamba - Is this the Mo Bamba year? No

Poku - Do it, I dare you

Deandre Jordan - If you draft this man I will find a way to penalize you. I don't know what it will be yet, but it will be severe

Draftables 2022

Players Who Can Be Drafted

Boston

1. Malcolm Brogdan*

2. Grant Williams

3. Sam Hauser

4. Peyton Pritchard

5. Blake Griffin

6. Mfiondu Kabengele

Brooklyn

1. Seth Curry

2. Cam Thomas

3. Patty Mills

4. Royce O’Neale

5. Day’Ron Sharpe

6. TJ Warren (Hurt)

New York

1. Obi Toppin

2. Derrick Rose*

3. Isaiah Hartenstein

4. Quintin Grimes

5. Immanuel Quickley

Philly

1. De’Anthony Melton

2. Georges Niang

3. Furkan Korkmaz

4. Matisse Thybulle

5. Paul Reed

6. Montrezl Harrell

7. Danual House Jr.

Toronto

1. Precious Achiuwa

2. Chris Boucher

3. Otto Porter Jr

4. Malachi Flynn

5. Khem Birch

6. Delano Banton

Chicago

1. Alex Caruso*

2. Andre Drummond

3. Goran Dragic

4. Javonte Green

5. Coby White

6. Derrick Jones Jr

Cleveland

1. Kevin Love*

2. Raul Neto

3. Isaac Okoro

4. Cedi Osman

5. Dean Wade

Detroit

1. Alec Burks

2. Jalen Duren

3. Isaiah Livers

4. Hamidou Diallo

5. Killian Hayes

Indiana

1. Bennedict Mathurin

2. TJ McConnell

3. Goga Bidatze

Milwaukee

1. Bobby Portis (Can’t start for the first week or so)*

2. Pat Connaughton

3. Jevon Carter

4. George Hill

5. Wesley Matthews

Atlanta

1. Onyeka Okongwu*

2. Bogdan Bogdanovic

3. Justin Holiday

4. Jalen Johnson

Charlotte

1. Cody Martin

2. James Bouknight*

3. Jalen McDaniels

4. JT Thor

5. Mark Williams

Miami

1. Max Strus

2. Duncan Robinson

3. Gabe Vincent

4. Dewayne Dedmon

5. Victor Oladipo

Orlando

1. Cole Anthony (Can’t start for a bit)

2. Mo Bamba

3. Chuma Okeke

4. RJ Hampton (for the start of the year)

Washington

1. Deni Avdija

2. Delon Wright

3. Daniel Gafford

4. Rui Hachimura

Denver

1. Bones Hyland

2. Bruce Brown*

3. Jeff Green

4. Zeke Nnaji

5. Ish Smith

Minnesota

1. Kyle Anderson

2. Jordan McLaughlin

3. Naz Reid

4. Bryn Forbes

5. Austin Rivers

OKC

1. Jalen Williams

2. Darius Bazley

3. Aaron Wiggins

Portland

1. Nassir Little

2. Gary Payton II

3. Shaedon Sharpe

Utah

1. Jordan Clarkson*

2. Jared Vanderbilt

3. Walker Kessler

4. Talen Horton-Tucker

5. Ochai Agbaji

Golden State

1. Jordan Poole*

2. Jonathan Kuminga

3. James Wiseman

4. Moses Moody

5. Donte DiVincenzo

Clippers

1. Norman Powell*

2. Nicolas Batum

3. Terance Mann

4. Robert Covington

5. John Wall

6. Luke Kennard

Lakers

1. Patrick Beverley

2. Dennis Schröder

3. Juan Toscano-Anderson

4. Austin Reaves

5. Thomas Bryant

Phoenix

1. Cam Payne

2. Landry Shamet

3. Dario Saric

4. Torrey Craig

5. Bismack Biyombo

Sac Town

1. Malik Monk

2. Davion Mitchell

3. Richaun Holmes

Dallas

1. Christian Wood*

2. Spencer Dinwiddie

3. Maxi Kleber

4. Davis Bertans

5. Josh Green

Houston

1. Derrick Favors

2. Kenyon Martin Jr

3. Tari Eason

4. TyTy Washington

Memphis

1. Tyus Jones*

2. Brandon Clarke*

3. Ziaire Williams

4. Xavier Tillman

5. Jon Konchar

6. David Roddy

New Orleans

1. Jose Alvarado

2. Larry Nance Jr

3. Trey Murphy III

4. Devonte’ Graham

San Antonio

1. Josh Primo

2. Josh Richardson

3. Zach Collins

4. Jeremy Sochan