Fantasy basketball: Pick-by-pick 'mock draft' of a real team (2024)

The Details

Scoring system: Standard 8-category Roto

League type: $150 NFBKC Draft Champions, $800 league prize with $2,500 overall prize

Draft type: 25-round snake draft with third-round reversal, slow draft with four-hour timer

League settings: No trades and no player pickups, the team you draft is your roster all season long

Roster breakdown: Weekly lineups, start 4 guards, 4 forwards, 2 centers, 2 utility

Draft tool: Using my proprietary RotoEvil draft tool, which helps you track your draft real-time, while also displaying how strong or weak you are in each category. Screenshots are included below to show how each pick effects your team’s category ratings.

Team name: Redemption Song, or Steph Curry and the 3-Headed Monster

Regarding the team name, the first league that I signed up for this season began on November 16, and it was a similar style slow draft. I drafted Stephen Curry No. 9 overall, and when my fifth-round pick came around the very next day, I happily teamed him up with Klay Thompson. That was roughly 24 hours before Klay suffered his torn Achilles tendon injury, knocking him out for the rest of the season. Ouch!

While that somewhat sucked for my fantasy team, it was obviously much more devastating for Klay. So the next draft would be my Redemption Song, and I hope that Klay Thompson would approve of this team. As for the 3-Headed Monster part, I suggest you keep reading…

Redemption Song, or Steph Curry and the 3-Headed Monster

Round 1, pick 7: Stephen Curry

Passed on: Giannis Antetokounmpo

If you already read my detailed breakdown of the first round, then you should understand why I liked getting this pick selection. In that column, I separated “the Top 7” from “the next 5,” meaning I was guaranteed to get someone from my very top tier. The first six picks in this draft were Luka Doncic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Nikola Jokic, meaning both Giannis and Curry were available to me at No. 7.

If this were a head-to-head league, I would have gone with Giannis over Curry. But because this is a Roto league, with a nice overall prize at stake, I didn’t want to face that uphill battle in the FT% category. And obviously, I’m somewhat determined at this point to draft another team around Curry,to make up for my previous squad that lost one of its Splash Bros.

In my draft tool spreadsheet that can be found at RotoEvil.com, there is a “team tracker” tab that automatically calculates your averages for each category, using my unique rating system, where 5.00 is league average, and you’re striving to get well over average in each category. For 9-category players, there is a column for turnovers, as well as many other stat categories, but I have omitted them here since this is an 8-category league.

Conditional formatting has been placed on the cells, so that as the numbers change automatically, the colors do too! As you can see, Curry is still expected to dominate in points, threes made and FT%, but his boards and blocks are in the red, so we’ll want to fix that right away.

Round 2, pick 18: Joel Embiid

Passed on: Kyrie Irving, Deandre Ayton

A Curry plus Irving duo would have been intriguing, but I chose to balance out my squad instead by selecting Embiid. What needs to be noted about NFBKC leagues is that they require two starting centers in every lineup, but they aren’t nearly as generous as Yahoo is with their PF/C designations. So there are fewer center-eligible players available, plus players do not earn new position eligibility during the season.

As a result, the top centers tend to fly off the board quickly. This could be seen in the second round here, as Bam Adebayo and John Collins went No. 16 and 17, right before me, and Jusuf Nurkic and Deandre Ayton went No. 19 and 21, right after me. While Embiid’s injury history is scarier than all of those guys, his upside is enormous, and if you play it safe with every pick, you’re unlikely to ever win an overall prize.

Check out how well-balanced my team averages are after this pick. Of course, everyone’s average ratings are going to look fantastic at the beginning of the draft, but the trick is maintaining strong, nicely balanced numbers as you go deeper and deeper into your picks.

Round 3, pick 30: Nikola Vucevic

Passed on: De’Aaron Fox, Chris Paul, Jamal Murray, Fred VanVleet

I had a tricky decision to make here. The four picks right before me were Donovan Mitchell, Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVine and Ja Morant, and all of them would have been nice fits alongside my Curry and Embiid duo. With those guys off the board, I strongly considered taking one of the lead guards listed in the “Passed on” section here.

Before making each decision, it’s wise to consider who is going to be available for your next pick, and I was concerned that the rest of the elite centers wouldn’t make it back to me. So I went with the solid and reliable Vucevic, who gives me another center with diverse skills and few weaknesses. I’m happy with this trio, and I plan on taking a point guard or forward with my next pick.

What stands out looking at my average ratings after three rounds? Is it my beefy 6.37 value for rebounds, or the fact that I’ve drafted two centers and my value for 3-pointers made is still 6.00, and my FT% value is somehow even higher, at 6.05?

Round 4, pick 43: Rudy Gobert

Passed on: Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson

Say what!?! Normally, Gobert gets picked right before Andre Drummond and Domantas Sabonis, but in this draft, Gobert fell several picks past them. If I were focused on balancing out my team, then Jrue Holiday would have been the sensible pick. And perhaps I made a mistake by passing on him.

But I recognize value when I see it, and Gobert at this spot, using NFBKC rules, is a very nice value. And there you have my 3-headed center monster — Embiid, Vucevic and Gobert. My projections have this trio combining for roughly 60 points, 37 rebounds, 9 assists and nearly 5 blocks per game, which no other team in the league can match.

As you can see, Gobert’s FT% value is quite brutal at 2.19, dragging my team’s average down to a mediocre 5.08. But now I’m set in terms of boards and blocks, and I won’t have to reach for any centers the rest of the draft.

Round 5, pick 54: Malcolm Brogdon

Passed on: Jaylen Brown

I would have loved to pick one of my breakout guys here in Brown, but I passed on him for Brogdon. The reasoning is that if you keep passing on point guards, it will be very hard to find quality sources of assists later on in the draft. Brogdon’s 3-point shooting was way off last year, but after an offseason of working on his shooting off the bounce, I expect his efficiency to bounce back this year.

As you can see, Brogdon is well above average in terms of assists and FT%, helping to balance out my 3-headed monster attack. With the exception of steals, which shows up in yellow now as an area of concern, my team is now at, or well above, 5.30 in every category.

Round 6, pick 67: Kelly Oubre Jr.

Passed on: Buddy Hield, Dejounte Murray

Ahhh, does my Redemption Song team name make more sense to you now? The Warriors had to react quickly after losing Thompson, and they pulled off an excellent trade in acquiring the young and explosive Oubre. So I jumped on the chance to draft Steph’s new backcourt mate. For fans who’ve only watched his offensive highlights, they probably don’t know how Oubre is a tenacious on-ball defender, and one of the reasons I targeted him here was because of his strong steals. I could have chosen Dejounte Murray as well, but selecting a forward made much more sense.

If you’re six rounds into your draft and all you see is green, that’s a very good thing.

Round 7, pick 78: Coby White

Passed on: Marcus Smart, Markelle Fultz, Jaren Jackson Jr.

As I mentioned above, the assist category is one that’s not to be taken lightly, so I targeted another point guard here. Smart or Fultz would have provided me with more steals, but Coby White has much more offensive firepower than those guys. He also becomes my first of several breakout picks that I’ve already shared with you.

You’ll want to think twice about drafting White if your team’s FG% is already iffy, as his 3.68 value in that category drags my average down from 5.46 to 5.20. But since I was already strong in that category, I’m happy with his fit on this squad.

Round 8, pick 91: OG Anunoby

Passed on: Jerami Grant, Andrew Wiggins

I needed another forward here, so I decided to go with Anunoby over Grant or Wiggins. Wiggins would have been a fun pick, as I would have had both Warriors wings running the floor with Curry, but I wasn’t interested in Wiggins’ poor free throw shooting. Grant probably has more stat potential than Anunoby, but OG is the safer play, and he gives me another of my breakout guys.

Anunoby gives me elite steals and solid boards and blocks, while maintaining a solid 5.20 value for my team’s FG%. Now I just need another intriguing forward to fall to me in the following round.

Round 9, pick 102: Brandon Clarke

Passed on: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Darius Bazley

Boom! Clarke is another one of my breakout guys, and he suddenly gives me a young and exciting forward trio. After selecting three centers in the first four rounds, and knowing that I was going to follow up with a couple of point guards soon after, I was somewhat concerned about my forwards being a major weak spot. But I was quite pleased after this pick. I didn’t actually consider Bazley this round, but it’s worth noting that he was selected just a few picks after Clarke, showing how he’s skyrocketing up people’s draft boards.

Clarke drags my team’s FT% value down a bit, but the boost that he provides in terms of blocks and FG% is well worth it. However, drafting three forwards who get very few assists has brought my team down to just 5.16 in that category after this pick, so I’m hoping to land another point guard soon.

Round 10, pick 115: Dennis Schroder

Passed on: Terry Rozier, Caris LeVert

Once you get to pick No. 115, it’s usually pretty hard to find guys with 15+ point and 5+ assist per game potential. So I was pleased to have Schroder fall to me, and I opted for him over guards like Rozier and LeVert. I like Schroder’s fit on the Lakers, and he’s a solid FT% booster, improving my weakest category up to this point.

Now we’re talking! After 10 rounds, I have average team values of 5.18 or higher in every single category, and my team is looking downright dominant in terms of points and rebounds. In case you’re wondering what values between 5.20 and 5.40 translate to, past data suggests that I should be top three or top four in each of those categories, or 9 or 10 roto points per category, in an average 12-team league.

(Note: Now that I have drafted my main core of players, I will stop showing these screenshots. That’s because each pick that I make from here on out will drastically alter the averages, when in reality, I won’t need to be playing the guys below every week. I will simply plug in whoever’s hot at the time, or round out my starting lineup based on matchups or category needs.)

Round 11, pick 126: Larry Nance Jr.

Passed on: Nerlens Noel, Maxi Kleber, DeMarcus Cousins

In a regular league with smaller rosters and player pickups available, it’s okay to roll with only three centers on your roster, then if one of them gets hurt, simply add another one via free agency. But remember that we must start two centers every week, and there are no player pickups during the season, so it’s important to draft a fourth center who you can trust.

There were several intriguing center options available this round, and I opted for Nance Jr. over Noel, Kleber and Cousins. While Noel is the best shot-blocker of this group, Kleber is the best 3-point shooter and Cousins has the highest ceiling, I believe Nance is the best mixture of all of those traits, along with the safest floor.

Round 12, pick 139: Spencer Dinwiddie

Passed on: Kemba Walker, Tim Hardaway Jr., Joe Harris

That’s right, Kemba Walker was staring me in the face at pick No. 139, and I still passed on him for Dinwiddie. While a healthy Walker would be a no-brainer, I’m not too keen on drafting guys who are already injured, especially this season, given the condensed schedule. And I can maximize my production from Dinwiddie by only playing him in weeks when I know that Kyrie Irving is going to be rested.

Round 13, pick 150: Miles Bridges

Passed on: Obi Toppin, Joe Ingles

Wanting some forward depth this round, I grabbed the athletic Bridges over the even more athletic Toppin. I strongly considered the rookie from New York, but the Knicks appear to be a fantasy wasteland, and Toppin will face his share of struggles. Even coming off the bench, Bridges has nice upside running the floor with LaMelo Ball.

Round 14, pick 163: Dillon Brooks

Passed on: Kendrick Nunn, Kevin Porter Jr.

There were several quality wing players still available in this round, and I went with Brooks for his superior 3-point shooting ability. I’m pretty certain that the Grizzlies are going to be one of my favorite NBA League Pass teams, and while I didn’t draft Ja Morant on this team, at least I have Clarke and Brooks.

Round 15, pick 174: Juan Hernangomez

Passed on: Luguentz Dort, Dorian Finney-Smith

I chose one of my late-round sleeper picks here, in favor of a couple of my other sleeper picks. All three of those guys were much better options than the group of leftover centers who people started reaching for this round, such as: Cody Zeller, Mo Bamba, Aleksej Pokusevski and Goga Bitadze.

Round 16, pick 187: Shake Milton

Round 17, pick 198: Deni Avdija

Round 18, pick 211: Justise Winslow

Whether starting or coming off the bench, Milton should play key rotation minutes for the 76ers, and I’m pleased that both Doc Rivers and Dwight Howard have been heaping him with praise since I made this pick. Avdija offers excellent upside this late in the draft, even if I don’t know what exactly I’m getting with him. And Winslow is a forgotten man after missing most of last season, but he gives me another talented Grizzlies player, who may even start once he gets fully healthy.

Round 19, pick 222: Jaxson Hayes

Round 20, pick 235: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Round 21, pick 246: Jahlil Okafor

You can never have enough centers, right? Just because I already have three absolute studs in Embiid, Vucevic and Gobert, and a rock solid backup in Nance Jr., doesn’t mean I can’t purchase some extra center insurance in Hayes and Okafor, while at the same time depleting the center depth for my competition. Hey, fantasy leagues are fun and all, but if you want to win, you should be prepared to be ruthless. It was also surprising to see KCP fall to pick No. 235 after his strong play in the NBA Finals, so I happily snatched him for extra scoring punch off my bench.

Round 22, pick 259: Cody Martin

Round 23, pick 270: Moe Harkless

Round 24, pick 283: Cole Anthony

Round 25, pick 294: Landry Shamet

Cody Martin is a young and well-rounded player who gives me insurance in case Bridges gets hurt. Harkless is a great fit in Miami, and he might get some spot starts whenever Jimmy Butler is given a day off. I’m not expecting much from Cole Anthony as a rookie, but I made the pick the same day Orlando announced that Terrence Ross had suffered a fracture to his big left toe. And Landry Shamet as my last round pick? Sure, why not. I’ll gladly take a guy who’s made 2.1 treys per game for his career, on over 40% shooting from behind the 3-point arc, who will now be spotting up alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Final roster, by position

G — Stephen Curry

G — Malcolm Brogdon

G — Coby White

G — Dennis Schroder

G — Spencer Dinwiddie

G — Dillon Brooks

G — Shake Milton

G — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

G — Cole Anthony

G — Landry Shamet

F — Kelly Oubre Jr.

F — OG Anunoby

F — Brandon Clarke

F — Miles Bridges

F — Juan Hernangomez

F — Deni Avdija

F — Justise Winslow

F — Cody Martin

F — Moe Harkless

C — Joel Embiid

C — Nikola Vucevic

C — Rudy Gobert

C — Larry Nance Jr.

C — Jaxson Hayes

C — Jahlil Okafor

There you have it, folks, an inside look at how I make my drafting decisions, and what I tend to focus on when building a Roto team from the ground up.

If you’re interested in using my draft tool and the “team tracker” feature that’s shown above, while also getting access to my full stat projections for 350+ players, you’ll want to check out RotoEvil.com.

But I believe I’ve given everyone a nice blueprint here for how to attack your drafts, and how to form a winning team. So what do you think of my Redemption Song, or Steph Curry and the 3-Headed Monster?

(Top photo: MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images)