Give Me The Rock
this is fantasy basketball
In the first Dwight Howard related post, I created team that could win the free throw percentage category in a roto league with Dwight Howard prominently involved. Of course the team you have to build around Howard to win FT% is slightly ridiculous, filled with some of the best shooting guards in the league, a few very good shooting forwards and my boy Mehmet Okur.
But what if the goal isn’t to win the free throw percentage category? Can you create a more realistic team that makes use of Howard’s strengths if the goal is to simply create a team with an above average FT% (with average being 77.6%)?
As in the first post, the same rules apply.
The Ground Rules
The Results
After spending way too much time staring at spreadsheets, I can honestly say there are hundreds if not thousands of combinations of players that can be paired with Dwight Howard to create a team with a decent FT%. All you have to do is limit the selection of players to those with above average FT%. It doesn’t even have that much better than average to work. For example:
Team Big Balls
| Pick | Name | FTM | FTA | FT% |
| 8 | Dwight Howard | 6.4 | 10.8 | 59% |
| 16 | Brook Lopez | 2.1 | 2.6 | 79% |
| 32 | Kevin Martin | 9.0 | 10.3 | 87% |
| 40 | Andrea Bargnani | 2.8 | 3.4 | 83% |
| 56 | Mo Williams | 2.5 | 2.8 | 89% |
| 64 | Charlie Villanueva | 2.6 | 3.1 | 84% |
| 80 | Josh Howard | 4.0 | 5.0 | 80% |
| 88 | T.J. Ford | 3.3 | 3.8 | 88% |
| 104 | Jamal Crawford | 3.5 | 4.0 | 86% |
| 112 | Corey Maggette | 6.8 | 8.1 | 83% |
| Total | 43.0 | 53.9 | 79.8% |
A nice big ball team that would probably be competitive in points, rebounds, blocks, threes and both percentage categories. Lopez is bit of a reach in the second (especially if your of the opinion that he is in for a hangover type year), but the most restrictive part about this project is finding another center to pair with him. Andrea Bargnani could also be the team’s center, but a better use of Bargnani and his blocks is at the PF spot. Charlie Villanueva is another nice all-around player at the F and Josh Howard brings 6+ rebounds a game from the SF position. If you’re looking for even more blocks, you could swap out Howard or TJ Ford for my boy Francisco Garica.
As far as guards go, I love Martin at pick 32 even with his brutal injury history, Mo Williams is a solid, if unspectacular source of threes and assists and T.J. Ford contributes with assists, steals and decent field goal percentage.
Ok, so maybe you don’t like Martin this season, taking Lopez that high is crazy, and Howard and Ford are just injuries waiting to happen. Here’s Howard with a team of completely different players.
Team Feel the Love
| Pick | Name | FTM | FTA | FT% |
| 8 | Dwight Howard | 6.4 | 10.8 | 59% |
| 16 | Chauncey Billups | 4.5 | 5.0 | 91% |
| 32 | Shawn Marion | 1.7 | 2.1 | 80% |
| 40 | Jameer Nelson | 2.2 | 2.5 | 87% |
| 56 | Ray Allen | 3.0 | 3.2 | 94% |
| 64 | Al Harrington | 3.3 | 4.2 | 79% |
| 80 | Kevin Love | 4.0 | 5.0 | 79% |
| 88 | Francisco Garica | 2.2 | 2.7 | 81% |
| 104 | Marvin Williams | 3.4 | 4.1 | 83% |
| 112 | Richard Hamilton | 3.3 | 3.9 | 85% |
| Total | 34.0 | 43.5 | 78.2% |
This is more of an all-around team than the first one. Taking Chauncey Billups in the 2nd is a clear message that no categories will be punted. Howard’s teammate Jameer Nelson will also help the team’s assists and threes. Of course we’ll need some rebounds and blocks to pair with Howard, so Marion is a decent value at the end of the 3rd round and Kevin love is a rebound machine in the 7th. Al Harrington will be the team’s second center, but his blocks are horrible, so enter Francisco Garcia, who is a member of the exclusive 1 steal/1 block/1 three club.
Again, even if you hate any of the specific guys on these teams, it’s easy to mix and match a ton of guys to create a fantasy team around Howard that will be league average or better in FT%. My personal recommendation when drafting a roto team with Howard would be to fill the guard positions with great free throw shooters like Billups, Allen and Mo Williams and then use the remaining spots to surround Howard with players who complement is skill set:
The 20 Best Players to Pair with Howard to go Big (in terms of rebounds, blocks and FG%)
Brook Lopez
Amar’e Stoudemire
Pau Gasol
Kevin Garnett
Chris Bosh
Shawn Marion
Kevin Love
David West
LeBron James
Troy Murphy
Ronny Turiaf
Dirk Nowitzki
Mehmet Okur
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Andrea Bargnani
Carl Landry
Michael Beasley
Nenad Krstic
Kevin Durant
Rasheed Wallace
Also remember that you almost certainly won’t have to take Howard in the first round of a roto league. Everyone is so scared of the guy at the moment that there is no way he goes before the second and he may even fall to the third. If you could somehow pair Amar’e Stoudemire with Howard; that would be one of the ultimate 1-2 bounces in my opinion.
Team Shock and Awe
| Pick | Name | FTM | FTA | FT% |
| 8 | Amar’e Stoudemire | 5.8 | 7.0 | 83% |
| 16 | Dwight Howard | 6.7 | 10.8 | 62% |
| 32 | Derrick Rose | 2.8 | 3.5 | 80% |
| 40 | Mehmet Okur | 3.8 | 4.7 | 80% |
| 56 | Ray Allen | 3.0 | 3.2 | 94% |
| 64 | Russell Westbrook | 4.3 | 5.2 | 83% |
| 80 | Boris Diaw | 1.3 | 1.8 | 71% |
| 88 | Michael Beasley | 2.3 | 2.9 | 80% |
| 104 | Jamal Crawford | 3.5 | 4.0 | 86% |
| 112 | Marvin Williams | 3.4 | 4.1 | 83% |
| Total | 36.8 | 47.2 | 78.0% |
Amar’e and Howard are such a dominant 1-2 combo that you could fill the rest of the team with D-league all-stars and it would probably be competitive in the big man categories.
We’ve been trained to automatically think small ball when we hear the name Mehmet Okur, but as the team’s PF, he brings 7.7 rebounds, 0.7 blocks and good FG%. Diaw’s FT% is horrible, but he barely takes any free throws, so he can still work on this team. He and Beasley are a couple of flexible SF/PF types to complement the big two. Rose is always a good PG to pair with Howard because of his good FG% and respectable TO numbers. On the other hand, Russell Westbrook is no Derrick Rose, but he’s a good source of assists as that point in the draft. If you don’t like his TOs, he could be swapped out for O.J. Mayo or Mike Bibby or John Salmons or Al Harrington or… you get the point.
You may not be able to win the FT% category with Howard, but if you focus on drafting players with decent FT%, it’s easy to create a team that will at least be competitive in that category.
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For fantasy analysis exactly like this but with less Dwight Howard, check out the Four Fingers Draft Guide. We talk about other players too, I promise.
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