Here’s Patrick on why we do this:

So what are player tiers? It’s the practice of grouping players of similar value into levels or tiers. The goal is to identify areas where there are large gaps in value between groups of players, so that there is a large drop off in value between the players in tier A and those in tier B. This not only simplifies drafting, it also helps you to identify times during a draft where it might be worthwhile to take a lesser ranked player at a certain position because he is the last guy available from his tier, while there maybe be plenty of similarly ranked players are other positions.

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The following analysis is derived from Give Me The Rock’s positional ranking spreadsheet.

After looking at the 35 players below, I’m not too psyched about drafting small forwards this year (wouldn’t have known that by looking at my mock draft, right?). The SFs below are listed with their overall ranking on the Give Me The Rock Big Board.

Tier 1 - Can’t live with em, Can’t live without em
3.5 - LeBron James
10.5 - Caron Butler

These are both strong multi-category contributors, but they’re not quite (at least in my opinion) the kind of guys you want to build a team around. They’re actually better Roto players than H2H. If I’ve got the 4th pick, and LeBron is there, there’s no one else I’m going to take. Likewise, if it’s the end of the first round, or into the second round and Caron is still there, I will take the kind of look you take at a girl when you’re trying to decide if she’s anorexic or just really skinny. (For those who’ve never had to make that decision, it’s a very long [though not more than 90-second], curious, and intent look)

Tier 2 - In which R-Lew occupies his own tier
13.5 - Rashard Lewis

So there’s Rashard. And this is why I think the SFs are kind of thin this year. Luckily, if you’re playing on Yahoo, you can put Rashard at PF and F. But what kind of strategy are you running if that’s what you’re thinking? Small ball owners shouldn’t really be looking at Rashard in the 2nd round (which is where he should probably go). But Big Ball owners will be disappointed by his only slightly above average rebounding and poor shot blocking.

Tier 3 - Three Amigos
28 - Paul Pierce
31 - Rudy Gay
34.5 - Carmelo Anthony

Here’s where I feel like we get to the solid SFs (not that LeBron and Caron aren’t solid, but they’re good enough overall players regardless of position). Of course, all of these guys will go in the 3rd round, so you’ll have to decide which one you want depending on your first two picks. If you’re going Big Ball, Gay is probably the best choice, especially since he can play PF and F. Small ballers will want Pierce, since he’s got more assists, a better FT%, and Yahoo says he can play SG and G. And there could be worse things than picking Carmelo at the end of the 3rd round. Like picking your nose at the end of the 3rd quarter when the Kiss Cam comes on.

Tier 4 - The Black & White Cookie Tier
38 - Ron Artest
42.5 - Mike Dunleavy
43 - Peja Stojakovic
43.5 - Gerald Wallace
52.5 - Hedo Turkoglu
53 - Josh Howard

This is another fairly solid tier of SFs. They’re down here, though, because there’s some question marks about each of them. While Artest is on a new team with injury-prone players, it’s still Ron Artest. Dunleavy had a career year, and I’m sure we’re all wondering if he’s going to be able to do it again. Stojakovic played 77 games last year, but he has an on-again-off-again relationship with playing that many games. Wallace also has an aversion to playing more than about 70 games a year. Tukoglu is another guy with a career year. But, this year, he’s playing for a Fat Contract, so you can probably draft him counting on a continuation of 07-08. Some of Josh Howard’s numbers were down a bit last year; will he bounce back or continue his poor shooting from the end of last season?

Tier 5 - What you see is what you get
65 - Corey Maggette
67 - Kevin Durant
67.5 - Andrei Kirilenko
69.5 - Richard Jefferson

With the exception of Jefferson, these are actually some of my favorite SFs. I guess that’s why RJ is at the bottom of the tier. He’s still strong enough though to stay away from the Tier 6 guys though. Maggette should be as solid as ever even with GSW, and Durant’s middle name is Upside. Others may tell you it’s Wayne, but I hear he’s considering having it legally changed.

Tier 6 - More Upside
75.5 - Shane Battier
78 - Jamario Moon
78.5 - Luol Deng
81 - Grant Hill
97 - Michael Beasley
101.5 - Marvin Williams

These guys will all be solid in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get sort of way. Deng and Beasley probably have the most upside. Williams could be a good sleeper. I’m wary of Moon coming out of nowhere to play like he did last season, so I’m of the mind to let other managers draft him. If he’s a stud, then I’ll deal with that. You can never go wrong with Shane Battier.

Tier 7 - Should be higher
103.5 - Francisco Garcia
106 - Tayshaun Prince
113.5 - Ryan Gomes

These 3 should be ranked higher overall, but you just know they’re not going to get the PT or they’re already on a fairly stacked team that will limit their opportunities.

Tier 8 - Value stock picks
119.5 - James Posey
130 - Kyle Korver
144.5 - Dorell Wright
136.5 - Thaddeus Young
139 - Andres Nocioni
139 - Travis Outlaw

You can definitely tell we’ve transitioned from Growth to Value picks with this tier. If you can get these guys at the end of the draft and predict which one will get the most playing time, and make the best use of that time, then you’re going to get someone who will end up much higher on the player rater than their draft position. Of course, it’s also possible that they could all strike out.

Tier 9
146.5 - Danilo Gallinari
154.5 - James Jones
157.5 - Eduardo Najera
167.5 - Wally Szczerbiak

Finally we’re to the end. What do you want to know about these guys that you can’t already guess by reading their multi-national names?