FBA Rag – 2007-8 Preseason Edition

2007-08 Draft Day Report Card (A biased guy’s opinion)
By: Clay Moyle – AKA Incubus


In order of 1st round draft position:

FJ Cruisers B-/C+ Garnett is a stud, and this team also ended up with some other very nice players in Iverson, Al Jefferson, and Josh Howard. However, based upon where they were positioned in the draft and who was available when some of their picks were made I think they could have done much better. I didn’t understand picking Durant in the 2nd round at all. Here are a few players that were passed up during the draft. In the 2nd round when Durant was selected players such as Paul Pierce, Iguodala, Ming, Dwight Howard, McGrady, Baron Davis, etc. were all available. In the 6th round when Dalembert was picked they passed over players like Maggette and David West who I think would have been very good selections. The bench looks pretty weak to me.

SeaGals D- There has to be an FBA rookie manning the helm of this ship. Carmelo Anthony is a great player, but I was very surprised to see him taken over both Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, and I’m sure the Chief will be thrilled to learn that Bryant fell into his lap at # 3. Frankly, I don’t like any of the picks by this team after Anthony. I think they’re gonna be in a world of hurt with this roster. I’ve got some nice pieces to trade but other than Anthony there isn’t a single guy on this team I think I’d want.

Rednicks B/B- Friggin Chief, he ranks his picks on Yahoo and goes out of town to leave Yahoo to make those picks for him and damned if he doesn’t end up looking pretty well. I cursed aloud when the SeaGals took Anthony with the first pick in the draft because I knew that meant the Chief would get either Kobe or Lebron. I’m sure he’ll love having Kobe in his lineup this year. Josh Smith could be better than most people think this year, and he also got Paul Pierce and Jason Richardson. There are some question marks with this team though. I’m not quite sure what Pierce’s numbers will be like now that he’s got to share the ball with Ray Allen and Garnett. And Richardson is on a new team. The Chief could also be vulnerable at center where my guess is that he won’t get an average of over 30 points from either Okafor or Kaman. I know a guy that is loaded with center eligible players (pssst it’s me) but it’s hard to imagine the Chief and Incubus doing a deal together.

Dubers B- Like the Rednicks, I think the Dubers are vulnerable at the center position where Biedrins and Chandler might only produce averages in the range of 25 FBA points per game. Lebron James is an FBA superstar. Dwayne Wade may start out slowly when he returns in mid-November and it remains to be seen if, or how quickly, he might return to form. Iguodala is a stud but I think that Dwight Howard would have been a better pick than him for this team. I also think they will come to realize that there were a few better players available than Butler when he was chosen, even though Butler is a decent player. Maggette should be a big producer at either a guard or forward position this season now that he’s going to be a starter for the Clippers. Hey coach, ya snagged Maggette right before I was hoping to get him. When you decide you can’t live with your production at the center position let’s talk.

FrontRunners B The FrontRunners look like they can put a pretty formidable starting lineup on the floor in Stoudemire, Rashard Lewis, Gerald Wallace, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams. The pickup of Williams in round 5 was a sweet move. It will be interesting to see how well the choice of Rashard Lewis plays out. Personally, I’m not sold on the former Sonic yet and had a number of other players that were still available ranked ahead of him, such as Ming, D. Howard, McGrady, Baron Davis, Joe Johnson, and Michael Redd. I think the bench looks a little thin for this team as well.

Jitterbugz C+ They landed the reigning MVP of the NBA in Nowitski, but after that I didn’t think this team made out so well. They took Jason Kidd with the 15th pick in the draft and I just don’t think the 35 year old point guard warrants that high of a selection any more. Look at some of the names they passed up when they took Kidd: Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, Iverson, Paul Pierce, Ming, D. Howard, McGrady, etc. I think that pick is going to haunt them all season long. Luckily for them though Ming was still available when their 3rd round pick rolled around. Maybe they can thank the bonehead selection of Delonte West by the SeaGals early in the 3rd round for Ming still being available. I don’t think the choice of Billups in round four was so hot either. I’m not all that impressed with this team, but they do have Nowitski and Ming, and some decent talent in Kidd, Artest, Billups, and David West to go along with those two.

Incubus B/B+ Like I said, I’m biased. I tried to select who I thought were the best players available, not necessarily filling in positions, and I think I ended up with as much overall talent on my roster as anyone in Chris Bosh, Arenas, Dwight Howard, Jermaine O’Neal, Zach Randolph, LaMarcus Aldridge, Ben Gordon and Shaq. I think Aldridge is going to be better than a lot of people think. I also ended up with five players on the roster that are eligible to play center so have some possible bargaining chips to play with when any teams feel the need to upgrade that position, or forward. The sole weakness with this team in my mind is at guard. Arena’s is great, but the only other guard drafted was Ben Gordon. He averaged around 29 fantasy points/game last year. That might be fine based on the potential production from the rest of the team, but I just missed out on the chance to draft both Deron Williams and later Maggette and I would have been much happier to land either of those two, especially Williams. I also have no backup guard at this point.

Clutch City B Nice looking team for Tobias. He landed Tim Duncan, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and Michael Redd. That seems like pretty high octane scoring potential there, although Duncan can sometimes disappoint. My only criticism of their draft might be the choice of Odom, presently injured, over the likes of Deng, and a few others. I’m not a fan of either Jason Terry or Kirilenko and question the strength of the bench on this team, but I still think this is one of Clutch’s better teams heading into a season.

Didigetagood…C+ Ummmm, I don’t know if you got a good team or not yet. Maybe it will be better than I think, but right now I think it’s a middle of the pack kind of team. I’m not that big a fan of Marion and would have taken either Gasol or Carlos Boozer instead of him. I’m also not as high on Nash as some others, and would have taken someone like Vince Carter, Arenas, Dwayne Wake, or any number of other guys over him. Bargnani might be a good producer, don’t know yet, but I heard that Brandon Roy might have a problem with a heel and overall this isn’t a team that I would fear all that much, though they are certainly capable of putting a hurt on another team from time to time, as are most teams.

Cap’n’Parrot B+ And that brings us to the good Cap’n, picking in the spot the Chief is accustomed to picking from, last in the first round. The Cap’n can only hope it works out as well for him as it did for the Chief last year. Gotta love the first two picks by this team, Gasol and Boozer, as that’s exactly who I would have taken at that time with those two picks and based upon who was available. I can’t criticize the teams third pick either, Baron Davis was a solid choice, and Joe Johnson immediately afterward would seem to be a very good choice as well. You just knew the Cap’n had to break down and take someone from the Jazz by the 5th round and sure enough he took the C/F eligible Okur. A very nice pick for a 5th round selection and a guy that can play two positions. Getting a guy like Deng as low as the 6th round just might be a steal, and Heinrich and Mo Williams with the last two picks provides some good depth at guard. Nicely done Captain.