Posted by badja on 10/13/2013 9:09:00 PM (view original):
Kareem goes where he should. He brings the total package for a lot of minutes. I'd say he should go before Rodman just due to the ease of building around him.
While we are waiting for the other thread:
Badja, IMO after being in these draft leagues for over a year now one learns that what is likely to be available in the later rounds should dictate how you rank the top of your draftboard. I’ve had the #4 pick once before and I took MJ (lost to tar in the playoffs) and a couple of leagues back Rodman fell to me at #7 (lost in the playoffs to sly.)
If this were a straight cap league where you could put anyone with your top pick them I’d have MJ and Rodman above Kareem, but IMO in THIS league a team efg% of at least 53% should be a critical target if you want to make the playoffs. Yes, there are other ways to get there, but the further your team is above a 53% efg the more likely you are to have a strong squad as long as you can avoid any major flaws in your team build.
Kareem gives you a significant amount of shots at 57-60%. Jordan is on par in terms of impact, but the key for me is what will be there in the 2nd and 3rd rounds? There are numerous guards that can give you a comparable efg to MJ, not at quite the volume, but the 4-point to 6-point usage tiers is possible. However, you won’t find many bigs at the end of the 2nd that give you anything even close to what Kareem brings.
In a $47mill cap league I’d still likely go Rodman over Kareem because of the salary crunch and the fact that you can win with a far lower efg% than you HAVE to have in the $52mill league. I fully understand all that Rodman brings, but he creates a range void at the SF position and you still need BOTH inside and outside shooting when you take the Worm. IMO the guys you NEED to have with Rodman are too far picked over by the tail end of the 2nd and early 3rd rounds in this draft. Plus you actually have a difficult time not going too far over with minutes when you take the Worm in such a high cap league, the expensive guys you can afford to draft with the Worm are a very scarce resource by the time you get to pick again, so the end result is that you have more cap space than you need by the end of the day.
I’m actually glad LeBron went 3rd this time, as I was considering taking Kareem ahead of even LBJ. Yes, taking Kareem means more boards and D are still a critical need down low, but as long as you don’t botch your team with low efg% guys he gives you the luxury of banking an elite scoring big that actually passes once in a while.
Considering all of the tradeoffs is what makes this draft so enjoyable, that and the back-and-forth we generally get going here.