I’ll do two sets of evals. First, I’ll grade the picks. Then, I’ll grade/rate the teams. I’ve always felt that you can only screw up a team in the first round, so I’ll grade those picks pass/fail. I’ll give all other picks a letter grade. All grades are based on value for slot and available options (rather than how well the player fits with other picks that the owner has made). I’ll include commentary when it’s appropriate. I won’t grade my own picks. The usual caveats about no hard feelings apply.
1) banditone - Moses Malone- P (but just barely)
I like Moses as well as the next guy, but he has absolutely no business being picked first overall in a 52 mil league.
2) monkee - Wilt Chamberlain- P
Scares me to think what a good owner can do with Wilt in a league like this.
3) sappy - LeBron James- P
Once upon a time, I argued with monkee whether Lebron was worth being picked 2nd. I now concede my error—he definitely is.
4) ncih - Michael Jordan- P
5) tricky24 - Chris Paul- P
Relative to position, arguably the best player in the sim.
6) captainzen - Magic Johnson- P
7) longtallbrad - Dwight Howard- P (but a low pass)
Hard to justify taking a player with his weaknesses this high in the draft.
8) scudmissle - Dennis Rodman- P
9) 98average - Dwyane Wade- P
10) jtred22 - John Stockton- P
This is a close one. Because of the high turnovers, poor rebounding, and positional eligibility, taking Stockton really cuts down on flexibility in later rounds.
11) gtak - David Robinson- P
12) lhtgk - Charles Barkley- P
13) chester_o - Kareem Abdul Jabbar- P
I have no idea how he fell this far.
14) macphisto - Bob McAdoo- P
Contra monkee’s comments in the forum, there’s no way McAdoo should ever be used as a sf.
15) vancem - Shaquille O'Neal- P (but a low pass)
His lack of offensive rebounding and positional inflexibility are almost as significant as the low FT %.
16) uvasooner I - Kevin McHale- N/A
17) empdenied - Larry Bird- P
18) wandmtribe - Tim Duncan- P
19) dh555 - Bill Russell- F
The game has passed him by. He’s no longer a first rounder (or even a top 50 pick) in a 52 mil league.
20) chris_snid - Karl Malone- P
21) omegax - Hakeem Olajuwon- P
22) ashamael - Oscar Robertson- P
Both he and Dream should have gone about 10 picks higher.
23) uvasooner II - Kevin Garnett- N/A
24) katernberg - Troy Murphy- F
You cannot build a team around him, which is the primary question you ask about a first round pick. Despite the gift defensive rating that has been so justly derided, Murphy lacks the kind of scoring, free throws, and offensive rebounds that you’d like out of a small forward at this point in the draft. Even if you like what Murphy brings, he’s markedly inferior to Shawn Marion (who went 7 picks later).
25) katernberg - Tom Boerwinkle- C
He is good for what he’s good for, but the lack of positional flexibility and scoring efficiency take too much away from his value to justify the pick this high.
26) uvasooner II - Artis Gilmore- N/A
27) ashamael - Ben Wallace- B
He gives you a limited game—efficiency and rebounding. However, there are some holds in both aspects of these contributions (e.g., subpar offensive boards and ft% that cuts into offensive efficiency).
28) omegax - Jerry Lucas- A
He is a great pick in a 52 mil league, where you can cover up his (small) weaknesses.
29) chris_snid - Dikembe Mutombo- B
My main concern with taking him this high is his lack of multi-position elgibility.
30) dh555 - Spencer Haywood- B-
I think valuing him properly is a good proxy for understanding sim value in general. He puts up tremendous raw numbers, but his percentages and per-minute contributions aren’t exceptional.
31) garyman II - Shawn Marion- A
32) empdenied - Kevin Willis- C+
He is a great rebounder, but doesn’t bring much else. Offensive efficiency is subparr, and overall numbers are decidedly inferior to several players who were available here (Mel Daniels and Swen Nater, for two).
33) uvasooner I - Jason Kidd- N/A
34) vancem - Bill Walton- B+
This is about where he should go, which is the quintessence of a B+ grade. Besides low minutes and ft%, offensive rebounding numbers are a slight drawback.
35) macphisto II - Gary Payton- B
He takes up a lot of minutes and shots, but he’s not that productive or efficient.
36) chester_o - Chauncey Billups- A-
He is strong in all the right places, and his weaknesses can all be compensated for.

37) lhtgk - Fat Lever- B+
Doesn’t shoot enough threes to be a tip-top guard.
38) gtak - Kobe Bryant- A-
39) jtred22 - Julius Erving- A
40) 98average - Carlos Boozer- A
41) scudmissle - Dirk Nowitzki- A
A string of four great picks. Each of these guys would have been a good pick 10 spots higher.
42) longtallbrad - Swen Nater- A-
Peja is to 42 mil leagues as Nater is to 52 mil leagues- one dimensional, but it’s an important dimension and he’s as good as anyone else at that dimension.
43) captainzen - Grant Hill- B
He’s productive, but not efficient enough to make up for his lack of outside shooting.
44) tricky24 - Marcus Camby- B-
He is very efficient and cost-effective, but he’s not good enough on the offensive boards to justify the pick this high.
45) ncih - Steve Nash- C
The unreal shooting percentages are not enough to cover up his poor defense and turnovers. He probably doesn’t belong in a 52 mil league.
46) sappy - Robert Parish- B
47) monkee - Wes Unseld- A-
48) banditone - Scottie Pippen- B+
49) banditone - Dana Barros- F
He for sure doesn’t belong in a 52 mil league.
50) monkee - Clyde Drexler- A
Arguably the 5th best shooting guard behind James, Jordan, Wade, and Big O.
51) sappy - Ray Allen- C+
52) ncih - Peja Stojakovic- C-
Neither of Peja nor Allenn should have been drafted this high, but Peja arguably shouldn’t be drafted at all.
53) tricky24 - Paul Pierce- A-
His rebounding and threes are good enough to make up for his high TOs.
54) captainzen - Mel Daniels- A
It’s a crime that he lasted this long.
55) longtallbrad - Deron Williams- B+
56) scudmissle - Tracy McGrady- A-
57) 98average - Patrick Ewing- B
The lack of offensive rebounding is his only real weakness, but it’s a pretty significant one for a big guy.
58) jtred22 - Cedric Maxwell- C+
59) gtak - David Lee- B+
Aside from Troy Murphy, perhaps the biggest beneficiary of WIS’s concerted “affirmative action on defense” plan for white guys.
60) lhtgk - Michael Redd- D
He’s a backup, although a damn good one.
61) chester_o - Red Robbins- B-
62) macphisto - Donyell Marshall- B+
63) vancem - Brent Barry- B+
64) uvasooner I - Bob Lanier- N/A
He doesn’t offensive rebound either, but he makes up for it in other aspects. I didn’t plan to pick him here and he didn’t really fit my strategy, but he’s too good to fall this far.
65) empdenied - Harry Gallatin- D
66) garyman II - Maurice Cheeks- C+
67) dh555 - Jerry West- A-
You have to be careful in building around him, but he’s worth it.
68) chris_snid - Darrell Walker- C+
69) omegax - Dan Majerle- C+
Contra omegax’s protestation, there were at least 6 better sub-20% usage shooting guards at this point in the draft.
70) ashamael - Manu Ginobili- B+
71) uvasooner II - Walt Frazier- N/A
72) katernberg - Joel Przybilla- C-
He is a rotation player, and not even a very good one.
73) katernberg - Andrei Kirilenko- C+
I’ll break my normal rule here and reference one of kartenberg’s other picks—drafting Kirilenko wastes the biggest advantage of drafting Murphy (i.e., his eligibility at SF).
74) uvasooner II - Terry Porter- N/A
75) ashamael - Vince Carter- B+
Only because there’s no “fake injury” setting in the current player controls.
76) omegax - Larry Nance- B+
77) chris_snid - Gerald Wallace- B+
78) dh555 - Mookie Blaylock- B+
79) garyman II - Brandon Roy- B
80) empdenied - Reggie Miller- D
81) uvasooner I - Anfernee Hardaway- N/A
82) vancem - Mark Price- C+
He’s not a legit starting point guard in this league.
83) macphisto II - Derek Harper- A-
He is.
84) chester_o - Marques Johnson- A
Criminally undervalued in this league.

85) lhtgk - Emeka Okafor- B-
His production is good enough, but there were a few others available who could do the same things better.
86) gtak - Lamar Odom- B-
87) jtred22 - Buck Williams- A
88) 98average - Alvin Robertson- B
His offensive rebounding makes up for his lack of outside shooting.
89) scudmissle - Nate Thurmond- B-
90) longtallbrad - Mike Miller- C+
He doesn’t score very much, but he does everything else well.
91) captainzen -Pau Gasol- B
He’s a very efficient offensive player and a great passer, but hard to justify taking him over several others (including Elton Brand and Bobby Jones).
92) tricky24 - Horace Grant- B+
93) ncih - Clifford Ray- B
94) sappy - Willis Reed- A
95) monkee - Anthony Mason- B
96) banditone - Chris Webber- B+
97) banditone - John Havlicek- C
He was once a stalwart of this league, but he’s not a viable shooting guard anymore.
98) monkee - Terrell Brandon- A
He’s one of the top 10 or 12 point guards, and a perfect compliment to Wilt.
99) sappy - Mark Jackson- C+
100) ncih - Tyson Chandler- B-
Same problem here as for Okafor above, except that Chandler scores less and lacks positional flexibility.
101) tricky24 - Raja Bell- C
102) captainzen - Andre Iguodala- C+
103) longtallbrad - Antawn Jamison- A-
If monkee had picked him instead of Mason, we’d all be playing for second place.
104) scudmissle - Jose Calderon- B+
The best offensive efficiency of any point guard, in my opinion.
105) 98average - Jerome Williams- B+
106) jtred22 - Bobby Jones- A
If you can plan around the low offensive rebounding, he is a great contributor.
107) gtak - Jason Terry- D
Doesn’t pass or defend well enough to justify being picked this high.
108) lhtgk - Al Jefferson- A
His big-minute season is productive enough to warrant being picked here, but his two shorter-minute seasons provide more flexibility to cherry pick later values.

you should give me a huge F for Majerle...it was a wasted pick

damn...i was wondering why russell fell that far....guess i know why now....im dreading my team evaluation....i have a feeling your going to kill me for not having any 3s

dh555, note that while UVA is the reigning champ (and the man), his way is not the only way. And while he's right more than he's wrong, low/high are relative terms when talking about much of what is discussed here.

yeah - I have to make a retraction on that McAdoo thing - I thought his most expensive season (3100 minutes) was 100% SF effective and it isnt - I wouldnt want to use 3500 minutes of the lesser seasons at SF either

uva, thanks for the high grades.

nice job on the evals thus far, though hearing what u said about russell not being a top 50 pick surprised me a little.

bobby jones rated higher than a larry nance? can't agree with u on that one.

always fun learning new things about players and what owners think of them.

Quote: Originally posted by scudmissle on 1/25/2010always fun learning new things about players and what owners think of them.

I concur. uva, I'm especially curious to know why you have a higher opinion of Calderon than of Nash in a $52 mil league.

"75) ashamael - Vince Carter- B+
Only because there’s no “fake injury” setting in the current player controls. "

Comedy gold.

This post could not be converted. To view the original post's thread, click here.

Why is the primary task of a first round pick being "someone to build around"??

I thought its about building a team??

A team can be built in many ways... It doesn't have to be a "star". He has just to fit into your strategy.

I think one of the things this eval (and my performance in BOWIS so far) is showing me is that building a 52m team is WAY different than building a 42.

salary cap plays a huge role, emp. I'm much better at building lower caps than higher.

yea it really is different....i think i drafted more of a 47 mil team then 52.....im going to end up playing a 7 man rotation with mins to spare from those 7....i basically drafted jayson williams so other teams couldnt use him against me haha