The league is one started by …a stern warning via a post on the Carnival of the NBA forum at BallHype.

This was my first experience this year with the new Yahoo Draft Room. At first, I was scared, because they don’t show you where your picks are going to go when drafted, but the flashy animated transition between “waiting for the draft” and “live draft” made up for any concerns I might have had.

The new player list has the average draft position for each player, which is really helpful - of course, more helpful if you know what overall pick you are actually on. Speaking of that…

Eddy Curry was being taken on average at 136 on Yahoo. That means that for every person who takes him at 156, there is someone taking him at 116! Really? I mean, Really?

OH MY GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Moving on…

30 minutes before the draft, I knew I had the 4th pick. The whole time after that I was secretly hoping that Amare would drop. My second (and slightly more likely hope) was that Kobe would drop. Well, neither of those happened.

1. (4) LeBron James, SF

After that, someone pointed out that we only needed 1 center in this league, so I immediately keyed in on which Center eligible players I could get. At pick 17, I’m pretty happy to have gotten:

2. (17) Al Jefferson, PF,C

So, at that point, I committed to the Big Ball strategy (this was a good choice with LeBron because of his low FT%). So, after that I easily made my next pick:

3. (24), David West, PF

At this point, I have an SF, PF, and C. There weren’t a lot of big men that were looking good to me, so I decided it was time to add a Guard to the roster.

4. (37), Joe Johnson, PG,SG

This was probably a mistake. I picked Johnson because he has good rebounds for a Point Guard, and a good number of steals to help with that category. His real strengths, though, aside from Points, are his Threes, FT%, and Assists, none of which (aside from Points, again) are categories I was trying to win. So, after that I tried to get back to the categories I was trying to win with:

5. (44), Greg Oden, C

So, now all my front line positions were filled, and I started looking for more Guards that could fit into my plan. And once again, I drafted a guy who gets Rebounds, Steals, and Points, even though his main strength is FT%, while being above average in Threes.

6. (57), Corey Maggette, SG,SF

Maggette does actually get more Rebounds than Joe Johnson (of course, he can’t play PG), and has a slightly higher FG%, so he’s not a terrible fit for my team, especially down at 57 where I didn’t see a lot of good big men left.

7. (64), Manu Ginobili, SG

The draft was going pretty fast at this point. There are only 10 teams in the league, and 5 of them were auto-picking, so sometimes there were only 30 seconds or so separating 3 picks. I know Manu is out for probably the first month of the season, but I was hoping his high FG% and decent rebounding for a Guard, plus good steals and decent blocks (once again, for a Guard) will help me in the categories I’m trying to win here.

After this, I will admit, I was just reaching to see what I could find.

8. (77), Grant Hill, SG,SF

I went with Hill for his FG% and defensive cats, and - once again - decent rebounding for a GF. I think, once again: once again, that there weren’t any big men that I wanted to reach for at this point, and so I was trying to shore up categories with guys that I felt were worth taking at this point.

9. (84), Francisco Garcia, SG,SF

After Garcia, I finally got to some big men who were strong in the categories I was looking for, and look! they both happen to play for my hometown Chicago Bulls!

10. (97), Joakim Noah, PF,C
11. (104) Drew Gooden, PF

I really wanted to pick up Derrick Rose at some point, but he clearly doesn’t fit with a Big Ball strategy. So, I might have to go with a small ball strategy in once of my other leagues so that I can try to get him on at least one of my teams.

While everyone in this league is a blogger, Points in the Paint already has his post up about it.

The other bloggers in the league are:
Dennis of Dropping Dimes, TEAM: Bout it Bout it.
UtesFan89 of The Utah Jazz, TEAM: Suicidal Penguins
Ethan of Newsports.com, TEAM: The Ollie McClellans
Mookie of A Stern Warning, TEAM: …a stern warning
Zach of Talkhoops.net, TEAM: Kev Ollie’s Mustache
Ryan of Hoops Addict, TEAM: Hoops Addict
Scott of Waiting for Next Year (and DroppingDimes), TEAM: WaitingForNextYear
Zorgon of Blue Blitz, TEAM: Blue Blitz

Chicago Bulls
Last Years Record: 33-49
Key Losses: None
Key Additions: Derrick Rose

1. What significant moves were made during the offseason?

Getting the first pick of the draft. Signing some people.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

Playing 5 players at a time?

I’m not sure here… I mean, with Ben Gordon resigned, the offense shouldn’t be terrible. I hear that Tyrus Thomas has taken a liking mid-range jumpshots, which can’t be a good thing.

Transition offense should be a good thing. The Bulls have a young roster, and this Point Guard who’s supposed to be pretty good, so I think running will benefit them and be an instant offensive catalyst.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

Defense. Yeah, Larry Hughes gets a lot of steals, but I’m hoping he doesn’t get a lot of playing time. The Bulls frontcourt looks to be Drew Gooden and Joakim, and while not terrible defensively, they’re probably going to have a hard time shutting down other teams’ big men. Contain maybe, but they - Gooden especially - are going to have to make up for it on the other end.

4. What are the goals for this team?

The goals are to get some guys back on track after a very disappointing season last year. Player development for guys like Rose, Noah, Thomas (and I would always argue Thabo Sefolosha) will be important as well.

Non-player goals would be to try to trade some expendable players to get help at the SG position. Yes, I know that Ben Gordon is on the team, but, while I can’t deny his scoring ability, at 6′ 3″ (and apparently a smaller 6′ 3″ than Derrick Rose) I’ve always felt his height was a liability and that the Bulls would have a very hard time making it through the playoffs with him as the go-to guy.

5. Who provides the best fantasy value on the Bulls?

There are some guys who will be selected ahead of him, but I feel like Derrick Rose will have the biggest impact of all the Bulls when you take into account where he gets drafted. He’s at 112 on the Big Board and 118.67 on the Mock Draft Roundup, and 106.7 average in Yahoo drafts. He’s got the potential to step in and be a Top 100 player. Upsiiiiiiiiiiide!

Predicted Record: 42-40 - Could I be any more middle of the road? Maybe a little!

If you’ve noticed that I’ve left off any particular good site or piece of information, hit us up with an email or comment and we’ll add it to the buffet. Like my momma taught me: sharing is caring. Thanks and good eating.

Big Boards/Player Ratings/Cheatsheets:

GMTR Big Board
Points in the Paint: Top 50 Players H2H
Basketball Monster
Fantasy Insider Online – PG | SG | SF | PF | C
ESPN Top 190
ESPN (PDF)
CBS
Brandon Funston’s Big Board
Yahoo Experts – PG, SG, SF, PF, C
Yahoo Player Ranker (Power to the People)
Fantasy Basketball Suite

Player Tiers:

GMTR Tiers
GMTR Tiers Alt
Points in the Paint: Top Tier Players by Position 08-09
Second Round Reach
Fantasy Basketball Guy by Stat Cat: Points | Rebounds | Threes

Player Projections:

ESPN
John Hollinger Projections (Not fantasy, but useful)
CBS: Guards | Forwards | Centers
Pro Fantasy Games: PG | SG | SF | PF | C

Mock Drafts:

GMTR Mock
Dropping Dimes
ESPN
CBS H2H
CBS Roto
Yahoo – Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6
Eastern/Western Conference Mock Drafts

Team by Team Fantasy Reviews:

2nd Round Reach
Fantasy Basketball Jedi
Roto Rob

Depth Charts:

GMTR
NBA.com
Fantasybasketball.com
Yahoo
ESPN

Sleepers/Breakouts:

Hoops Fantasy - PG | SG | SF | PF | C
RotoEvil
Rotowire
ESPN
ESPN by Team: Atlantic | Central | Southeast | Southwest | Northwest | Pacific
Fantasy Basketball Cafe
CBS Breakouts
CBS Sleepers
ESPN – Love/Hate

Busts:

Fantasy Basketball Guy
CBS

Keepers:

Yahoo

Rookies:

Fantasy Insider Online
NBA.com
ESPN

Injuries:

Injury “Risks”
Yahoo
ESPN
NBA.com (injury news)

Positional Battles:

2nd Round Reach
ESPN

Schedule Grid:

Basketball Monster
RotoGuru

Draft Strategy:

How to Win at All Costs
Draft Tip #1 – Percentages are not Created Equal
Draft Tip #2 – If you think he’s a sleeper and I think he’s a sleeper, then he’s not a sleeper
Draft Tip #3 – Avoid the Youth Tax
Draft Tip #4 – Positions Matter… Kind Of
Draft Tip #5 – Veteran Discount Theory
Draft Tip #6 – Queue It Up
10 Commandments of Drafting
Hedge Pick
The First Bounce
Pre-Ranking Your Guys
Last Round Draft Picks
Contract Year Players
CBS Who to Target in Roto
Exploiting the Waiver Wire
Differences Between Roto and H2H
Who to Draft with the 1st Pick
Fantasy Draft Essentials

Draft Kits:

GMTR Draft Guide
ESPN
CBS
Fantasy Insider Online

Our predictions for the upcoming year
Who both of us think is the better fantasy basketball owner
Our fantasy basketball strategies
Nels’ 10-point plan to fix the economy by 2010.

Erik has some incredibly wonderful things to say about us and the site. Much too nice. All I can say in return is that I hope that Points in the Paint’s wish of turning Gay this year comes true.

Boston Celtics
Jeff Clark: CelticsBlog.com    
Jim Weeks: Green Bandwagon      
FLCeltsFan: LOY’s Place
John Karalis: Red’s Army
Dustin Chapman: Celtics 24/7

New Jersey Nets
Dennis Velasco: About Basketball

New York Knicks
Joey: Straight Bangin’
Seth Rosenthal: Posting and Toasting

Philadelphia 76ers
Dannie & Pete: Recliner GM
Jon Burkett: Passion and Pride

Toronto Raptors
Franchise: RaptorsHQ.com
Ryan McNeill: Hoops Addict
Cuzzy: Cuzoogle

Also see links to all the previews at CelticsBlog.com

It’s that time of year again, when there’s actually enough fantasy basketblogs to do good old fashioned link roundup!

Points in the Paint has the 10 Commandments of Drafting. Thy will be done.

HoopsFantasy has some Power Forward Sleepers. I hope he’s not one of the b5media blogs that’s taking a pay cut.

2nd Round Reach has compiled his own spreadsheet of Players by Tier. I haven’t fully cross-referenced yet, but the colors do look suspiciously similar to those of the GMTR Rankings by Position. Of course, it could just be that Google Spreadsheets don’t really have a depth of variety in colors when you have to go 9 tiers deep.

Um, really? Does that actually make anyone want to play fantasy sports at Bet Arcade? I mean, sure, they’ve got my attention. Then they deliver a message this is pretty much the exact opposite of what I anticipated. Sometimes that surprise element can be effective. In this case, however, I doubt it.

I made my own awesome ad, too, though, just to emphasize the point:

Really, though, this experiment in advertising is really just filler for the announcement that there are still 3 spots left in the Gigantic Monstrous Tremendous Ridiculous League. That will get us to the max number of teams that Yahoo allows (which is, unfortunately, only 20).

I’ve resent invites to 5 people who got invited but didn’t sign up, so who knows if they’re really as interested as they might have been before. So, if you leave a comment on this post, you’ve got a chance to get in on the madcap action that is only so certainly going to occur in this 20 team league. As a PS, I’ve balanced the roster sizes according to the recommendations of several fantasy basketball experts, so it won’t be like you’ll end up drafting Spence Hawes. But someone might draft Shaq.

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.

End filler.

Insert picture.

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?

Tier 1 – The First Rounders

1. Kobe Bryant (4)
2. Dwyane Wade (9)

No surprise that Kobe Bryant is the top ranked SG going into the season. Unfortunately, if you do take him, you’ll have to wait until the season starts to see if you drafted Scoring Machine Kobe or Good Teammate Kobe (or some bi-polar combination of both). Either way, one of those Kobes will finish the year as one of the best fantasy guys in the league, it just makes planning out the rest of your team during the draft a little difficult. Dwayne Wade is neither as good nor as consistent as Kobe, but he should go in the first round of most drafts. He looked good during the Olympics, which kinda should almost mean something.

Tier 2 – Guys to Go to War With (And Vince Carter)

3. Danny Granger (21)
4. Jason Richardson (22)
5. Kevin Martin (25)
6. Vince Carter (25)

Danny Granger is getting so much love this season that even David Duchovny is starting to get jealous. Granger busted out in his third season to average over 19 points, 6 boards, and 2 threes a game. He’s 25-years old and the Pacers appear to be building around the guy. He went #21 in the GMTR Readers’ Mock Draft and #26 in the FantasyBasketball.com draft, which are both spots I’d feel comfortable taking him.

Jason Richardson put up the best season of his career in 07-08, averaging 22/5/3 with a league leading 3 threes a game. Amazingly, he also played in all 82 games and managed to increase his FG% up to a career-busting high of 75%. The fact that he went 41 in the GMTR mock is an indication how people feel about his likelihood to repeat that performance. Personally, I feel that his stats should remain fairly constant from last season, but the games played might take a dive.

If Vince Carter were a normal man, fights would be breaking out in war rooms across this great land to draft an all-star on a team as bad as the Nets. Instead, people are worried that the 2008 Nets are going to look an awfully lot like the 2004 Raptors.

Tier 3 – Beauty and the Beast

7. Andre Iguodala (39)
8. Joe Johnson (42)

The old two person tier. Classic. Go ahead and stick them in the second tier if you swing that way, but I’m definitely picking these guys after all the guys in tier two (yes, even Vince Carter). Before there was Josh Smith, Iguodala was the guy who gave 90% of the fantasy basketball community a hard-on when they drafted him. He keeps getting better as well, pretty much averaging 20/5/5 last season. If it wasn’t for Brand joining the Sixers (and the uncertainty that brings), Iguodala probably would have slid into a higher tier.

Tier 4 – Good Things Come to Those Who Shoot

9. Ray Allen (48)
10. Brandon Roy (49)
11. Manu Ginobili (55)
12. Stephen Jackson (55)
13. Michael Redd (58)
14. Jamal Crawford (62)
15. Jason Terry (62)
16. Mike Miller (64)

Manu would definitely be in the second tier if not for his ankle injury that will now keep him out until at least mid-December, and maybe longer. This could be one of those annoying injuries where his return date keeps getting pushed further and further back until you realize it is February and he’s still wasting away on your bench… I’ve been hurt before.

I really want to like Brandon Roy, I really do. I mean he averaged 19 points and 6 assists in only his second season. Taking into account his likely improvement, that means what this year – 20 and 7? 22 and 7.5? 35 and 15? But the fact that Roy has been a pretty fragile guy in his short career and that he’s already had knee surgery in the off season scares me a little. Ok, a lot. You’ve got to take him in his tier, I just won’t be crushed if it’s someone else taking him.

And Jamaal Crawford. Does he become a breakout player in Mike D’Antoni’s system? Is this the year he shoots over 41% from the floor? Reports are that the Knicks are going to be playing fast, which is likely a boon for Crawford’s offensive game. He’ll hurt your team’s FG% for sure, but the points and threes will be worth it. He went #73 in the GMTR mock, if you can grab him there, he’ll be worth it.

Tier 5 – Solid Number Twos (And Tracy McGrady)

17. Richard Hamilton (77)
18. Tracy McGrady (73)
19. Anthony Parker (78)
20. Raja Bell (82)
21. Ben Gordon (84)
22. Randy Foye (90)
23. Ronnie Brewer (105)
24. Ricky Davis (113)
25. John Salmons (113)

This is a huge tier that could have possibly been split after Anthony Parker or Randy Foye, but the peeps are really loving John Salmons this season, and I’m loving Ronnie Brewer (although no one loves Ricky Davis). I like Salmons as well as a late round pick and although he’ll be starting, the fact that he’ll likely be splitting time with Francisco Garcia means that I wouldn’t reach for him until the picks get in the 100s. While Randy Foye qualifies at shooting guard, technically he’s a point guard. But since I left him out of the PG write-up, I’ll stick him here and hope no one notices. What? Ok, slide him into tier 6 of the PG rankings if you must. McGrady went #48 in the Fantasybasketball.com mock and #65 in the GMTR mock, so there are people willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Me? Not so much.

Tier 6 – Guys to Take a Chance on in Smaller Leagues

26. JR Smith (139)
27. Russell Westbrook (119)
28. Daniel Gibson (123)
29. Michael Pietrus (124)
30. Deshawn Stevenson (125)
31. Cuttino Mobley (144)
32. OJ Mayo (126)
33. Rudy Fernandez (153)

J.R. Smith has a shiny new 3-year contract to be a scorer off the bench for the Nuggets. He averaged an insane 5.3 threes per 48 minutes last season (2.1 in his 19 minutes a game) and with the departure of Eduardo Najera, he could be in for a few more minutes this year (but he’ll still be coming off the bench). Nels really likes Russell Westbrook on his side of the big board, so he’ll have to back up that move. I guess the minutes could be there for Westbrook since his competition right now is Earl Watson. SA Spurscasters also makes a good point in the mock that Westbrook reminds him of Monta Ellis. Now that is praise worth more than the pixels it’s written on.

Rudy Fernandez joins the Blazers from the Spanish league and already has the support of Nate McMillan, who says that Fernandez might jump right into the starting role and move Roy to PG. Starting or not, he’s a great scorer and three point shooter and that alone makes him worth a late round pick just to see what kind of playing time he gets.

Tier 7 – Guys to Take a Chance on in Bigger Leagues

34. Keith Bogans (147)
35. Larry Hughes (145)
36. Sasha Vujacic (148)
37. Kelenna Azubuike (157)
38. Rashad McCants (172)
39. Maurice Evans (179)
40. Kyle Lowry (160)
41. Eric Gordon (184)
42. Marko Jaric (190)

Alright – last tier of SGs. Basically, a bunch of guys who may not be starting for their teams, but have some at least some potential. Maurice Evans joins the Hawks and will likely replace Josh Childress as their 6th man. The departure of Juan Carlos Navarro will open up some minutes for Kyle Lowry, but he’s still going to be coming off the still off bench in favor of Mike Conley. Keith Bogans will probably play backup Michael Pietrus, who joined the Magic this off season. Rashard McCants was never very good to begin with and will find minutes harder to come by with Mike Miller now on the team. Kelenna Azubuike flashed some talent at times last season, but like last year, he’ll be stuck coming off the bench. Sasha Vujacic is going to find minutes tough to come by in that Lakers’ rotation.

Here’s the features:

STANDARD FEATURES
Up to 32 teams/4 conferences
Live Scoring during all games
Automatic Scores/Results
Customizable/Flexible Scoring
Fast, Reliable Tech Support
Salaries, Contracts, League Acct
NO AD BANNERS/SPAM EMAIL
Support for multiple position definitions
Auction or Draft Leagues (prerank)
Live Online Drafts or Offline Draft
Multiple methods of Player Movement
Waivers, Injured Reserve, Farm
Choose from 20 site designs
Total Pts, Head-to-Head, or Roto

RSB EXCLUSIVES:
Coaching Efficiency Report
Value Rank Report
League History Report
“What If…” Report
Weekly Rank/ Awards Report
Top Players Report
Last XX Weeks Report
Set Lineup Screen Analysis

It’s free to set up a league, and if you like it, then you pay $50. That sounds like a good deal if you want to run something with all the customizable stuff listed above. When I ran a custom league at CBSSportsline 2 years ago, it was $120 ($10 per person… no prize money). I’m not sure how much they’re charging now, but the site says you can save $50 by signing up now, so I’m thinking it’s probably at least $50.