so far:

xxevilivexx - Wilt Chamberlain
banditone - Bill Russell
jtred22 - Shaquille O'Neal, Dennis Rodman
gtak - Chris Paul
captainzen - LeBron James
longtallbrad - Michael Jordan
katernberg - Kevin Garnett
vancem - Moses Malone
lhtgk - Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Scottie Pippen
dh555 - Charles Barkley, Jason Kidd
garyman - Dwight Howard, Steve Nash
sappy - Dwyane Wade, Grant Hill
ncih - David Robinson, Bill Walton
tricky24 - Hakeem Olajuwon, Chauncey Billups
empdenied - Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki
uvasooner I - Magic Johnson, Bob McAdoo
uvasooner II - Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler
scudmissle - Artis Gilmore, Carlos Boozer
98moron - Oscar Robertson, Gary Payton
ashamael - John Stockton, Julius Erving
shapandrew - Karl Malone, Tracy McGrady
eleibowitz - Jerry Lucas, Shawn Marion
coachcroft - Kevin McHale, Kobe Bryant

There's often not a lot to say about the first round. Many picks are debatable, but it ultimately boils down to the owner's gameplan. With that in mind, here are my thoughts:

*Russell at 2? I love Russell, but in this sim, in a draft league (42, 47 or 52 million cap), you don't draft him if Rodman is still there. Period. Russell gives you some blocks that Rodman doesn't, and a smidge higher ast% (depending on the season), a few extra free throws (and because of his usage, let me emphasize a few) and extra minutes, but not enough so that Rodman isn't superior - especially in a higher cap league. Rodman has much higher efg% as well... This pick makes no sense to me given where it came, but still, he'll give you a lot of good things. I just think the Russell pick came 10 to 20 picks early (and favoring the 20).

*Shaq at 3. I love Shaq. He's one of my favorite players of all-time, and he gives you something very few players in this sim does - tremendous paint scoring, and at a high efg% doing so. He doesn't bring enough other things to warrant being a top 5 or even top 10 pick though, imo. BUT with your trade up to grab Rodman at five, well, I'm okay with it. Rodman with Shaq gives you an incredible start on the boards (don't think you're done). You gave up a lot to get this duo, but there are a lot of good players to be had later on.

*Garnett seems high, but he gives you a lot of a lot of things, so that's exactly what you're looking for in the early first round.

*Barkley at 11: you bastard! (not that I thought he'd slip to me). I'm actually not as big on Barkley in a 52 as I am a 42, but nonetheless, he'll give you a lot of good stuff. I am pretty sure I use a different kind of Barkley in a 52 than a 42, though, but we'll see what else you do.

*It's appalling that Magic and Bird fell like they did. Extremely good building blocks towards the end of the first round in the hands of an owner who makes extremely good teams. I'm frightened of what uva will do with both teams already. Especially the Bird one.

*Scud, I hate you.

I was amazingly shocked that Bill Russell went at two; but I guess no idea how strategies work out. I am just hoping that I can set up a sweet trio once #48 comes up

Hopefully, I will figure out what to do with Moses. Kind of wish that I had rolled the dice with Dwight Howard.

And hopefully, those two 4th round picks will work out for you jtred22.

I really wanted Magic, but I don't do well drafting guards early in these draft leagues.

Of course, I usually don't do well at all. ;o)

I know he is in better hands with uva.

I instantly regretted the drafting of Stockton. I've always wanted to use his 94-95 season (60% efg%), but he never really fit into my $42 million schemes... I thought it'd work out perfectly in a $52 million scheme, but then I realized he does nothing else that I want out of my point except pass, though he does that really well. I started trying to build teams around him with likely draft picks and was dissatisfied with every line-up I could make, except for one. That involved the guy I kept flip flopping between - the Mailman, who went with the very next pick. I thought I might get him on the turnaround, but that dream was just a dream.

So now I'm once again building a team in a different manner than I'm used to, and am going to try something a little different with the type of players I typically draft. Oh well - that's the fun of draft leagues!

eleibowitz - Jerry Lucas, Shawn Marion

I like this pairing a lot. Still room to draft a 3, 4 or 5... probably will want a five later, but that's the beauty of drafting with positional flexibility in mind! These two give some good boards, good efg% (depending on seasons used) and extremely low tov%. Great defense, too, which is important in higher cap leagues.

coachcroft - Kevin McHale, Kobe Bryant

Let's see, what do we have here? High efg% with McHale, average efg% with Kobe. Decent fta with McHale, many with Kobe. Decent tov% with both. Both are on the 22.1%+ usg%, so that's well on its way to being taken care of. Depending on where you use McHale, he either brings good rebounding or average rebounding... same with Kobe. Positional flexibility is key here, as you can still draft all five positions. There's lots to like to start!

ash, just food for thought, I led the league this past season in assists with Stockton and won 25 games. His shooting, to me, is spotty and like you said, all he does is pass.

the 94-95 version is a stud when it comes to shooting. Your problem was that you didn't have enough rebounds. A problem that I will likely repeat!

ashamael - John Stockton, Julius Erving

I don't like making teams without a certain number of threes. I hate it. No, seriously, I really, really hate it, especially with the current version of this sim. So what do I do? I draft a PG who'll make a hundred of them and a shooting guard who won't make any. I've seen UVA dominate without them, and 98 got to the finals last year without them, so maybe I'm okay, but I won't act like I like it for one second! And I don't see it getting any better anywhere else because I still need loads of boards - and some people to shoot the ball as well as get to the line - and there are very few guys who will do those and do it from behind the arc, too - all while having a respectable defensive rating! Very few. Another issue is that Stockton has no position flexibility (hi, he's a pg). Dr. J can play the 2, 3 or 4 but will likely end up at the 2, using a philly season. We'll see how the rest of the draft goes, though. So welcome to drafting an entire frontcourt using the late rounds!

shapandrew - Karl Malone, Tracy McGrady

I'm pretty sure I saw Monkee do this exact same combo once. You can do this three or four ways. One way is to use a Mailman season in which he is 100% at SF (his most expensive works well here - highest efg% for any of his 100% sf seasons) and Tmac at SG. You've got a good start on the boards this way, tons of ftas and plenty of scoring. Also have a lot of ast% without a high tov%. Not a lot of threes, though, if you go this route. You can slide Mailman to the 4 (and end up with less boards) but this opens up a lot of options for a good three man. McGrady can also slide to the 3, but then you're gonna need a board lord for the C, and honestly, there aren't that many (though you can platoon low-minute/high-foul guys). All-in-all, you've got a great start with a lot of ways to go. And you can still draft all five positions. That's always a nice position to be in after round 2.

Honestly son, I was quite shocked you took Stockton. I thought I taught you better than that.

This from the guy who just took Payton?

Not that Gary isn't a decent asset in this league, but his relatively low assist numbers and efficiency tend to scare me off.

Yeah your right, terrible pick by me. I'd take the Glove over Stockton any day.

kudos on the champ, ash. outta the blue like papa's moustach in the 4th. those are sweet ones.

i dont know if u remember, but it was my stockton (and barkley and another guy) that beat u in a funk finals. lol. stockton's a jewel. i'll trade ya boozer for john.

Quote: Originally posted by 98average on 4/02/2010Yeah your right, terrible pick by me. I'd take the Glove over Stockton any day.

I didn't say he was a terrible pick, and I'll quickly defer to your vastly greater accomplishments in the land of WIS. I just don't usually see Payton taken this highly whereas Stockton seems to be a first round staple.