OK so I guess we are all doing our own evals....so here is my strategy and why I picked these clowns when I did:
1. Tim Duncan, PF/C: Safe pick at that point of the draft. Five great to excellent seasons. Now a lot of downside from a 1st round pick. Reb, FG%, decent assists for a big man, blocks and D.
2. Dikembe Mutombo, C: At the time, there were more "scorers" available, but I thought Mutombo, combined with Duncan, would give me an INCREDIBLE defensive force down low in the paint. Mutombo is one of the best Center defenders in history, plus gives you above avg rebounds, blocks and D# plus a lil bit of offense with a good eFG. At least five very good seasons! SHOULD BE an incredible force defensively in the paint. So far, not so much...or at least as expected.
3. Ray Allen, SG: Obviously with those two bigs I started with, I needed either a bomber or an assist guy. I figured at this point, if I need a bomber, I might as well grab the one who leads NBA HISTORY in treys! Looking at the draft, I probably wouldn't have done anything different. Allen has only really done well for 2 of my 5 teams, but when I was in need of threes, he was probably the guy to go to at this point.
4. Rajoon Rondo, PG: I was ecstatic to grab Rondo at this point. REAL tough decision though, probably my roughest of the draft. Rondo or Deron Williams? I decided to go with Rondo because he had 5 seasons with a generally higher asst% and overall MUCH better D, but not as good 3's. You ask 100 people who they'd rather have and 50 would take Rondo and 50 would take Deron.
5. George "Iceman" Gervin, F/G: Here was my great or awful decision of this draft. I decided to take Gervin for a number of reasons. One, great USG% in four seasons and a decent one in a 5th. Well above 50% eFG in almost all five seasons. Above avg D for most of the 5 seasons. Fairly low TO's for all 5 seasons considering how high his usage is. Yes, his rebounding percentages are **** for a SF, but at the time, with Duncan and Dikembe along with Rondo, I was doing ok on the glass. Now, I'm thinking, I have a low post above avg scorer in Duncan, a deep three threat in Allen, and now, a high eFG scorer in the mid range. Rondo is not a big scorer tho, nor is Mutombo, so I felt I needed a third scorer. Now, six games into the season, I am finding that all 5 of my teams are a bit low in rebounding and I'm thinking Allen and Gervin at the 2 and 3 position might have left me a bit weak.
6. JR Smith, SG: My thinking here is that I ONLY have Allen as a distance threat, so I need a bunch of minutes to fill with another 3 pt bomber, and JR Smith is the one guy out there who had 5 pretty good seasons in that role. Average D, decent reb for the position, low TO%. Hig eFG.
7. Mel Daniels, C/PF: Needed a backup for Mutombo and Duncan. Both are above average rebounders, but Daniels has some EXCELLENT rebounding seasons. Seems like a good choice at the time. 2 EXCELLENT seasons, 2 pretty good seasons, and 1 somewhat usable season. slightly above average D and average usage and eFG, but not many guys available at this point with a 11-14 Oreb and 25-30 Dreb %'s!
8. Brevin Knight, PG: I know, I know...I coulda got him a few rounds later, but I wanted a HIGH asst% guard to back up Rondo. Knight has a couple really high assist seasons with pretty good D and steals%. Even his 3 lower assist seasons are pretty high. Usage is low so his poor eFG shouldn't hurt me that much. Looking back at the draft, MAYBE Jameer Nelson would have been a better choice but he doesn't have the D so maybe not.
9. Mark Eaton, C: At this point, my thinking is...OK I have Mutombo and Daniels, whose D is suspect. It would be good to have another STANDOUT defensive big to backup Dikembe in the event that I am playing Shaq, David Robinson, or D Howard, which are ALL in my division. Eaton is NOT a scorer, but his usage % won't hurt me. His rebounding is decent but not great. I can mix and match either Eaton or Daniels depending on the opposing C.
10. JaMychal Green, SF: Has 1 or 2 excellent backup seasons with good rebounding for a SF and decent D. Has 2 other seasons that are borderline usable. He is the only player I drafted that DOESN'T have five full or partial seasons.
11. Gordon Heyward, F/G:: I needed another guy who could play the 2 or 3 with above average 3's, assists and average rebounding. Heyward has two seasons where he has pretty good D combined with the above stats.
12. Steve Kerr, G: My favorite player going back to his days at Arizona. Won't play a lot cuz his usage is low but his eFG is off the charts, especially with a couple of his five seasons.
11.