vancem - Kevin Durant, Shawn Marion
As I said earlier, I had Durant #13 on my big board... so getting him at 23 was great value in my opinion. Matrix is a great compliment as well. Vance can now focus on getting the best fit for his team's utility instead of worrying about getting enough usage, as he's got 10 points right now. Both Marion & Durant are good rebounders for their positions, and both have good efg%. Both play good defense and foul very little. I love this start.
natenoy - Jerry Lucas, John Stockton
I feel like these picks should have been reversed. Stockton is a first rounder in this league, despite only being a 4th tier usage player. He does too many good things to be a second rounder... so the fact that you scooped him up when you did is very, very nice. Lucas, I feel, is a bit overrated by owners in the sim. I feel like he's a mid-late 2nd rounder, as there are guys that rebound better & play better defense still available. He's a tier 5 usage player in his season that his fg% is really high, so, again, I feel like you could have done better when looking at support Big Men. However, you do have the support in place for the offensive barrage you're going to put upon everyone in the later rounds, so I like the mindset even if I am not a huge fan of the Lucas pick itself.
eleibowitz - Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan
Once upon a time, I would call Magic at 21 a steal. I might still, but I've refined the way I evaluate players and Magic just doesn't rank as high with me as he did before. Still... 100+ 3s, 52% efg%, tons of fta with 90% make rate, tier 3 usage, 30%+ ast%, good rebounding for a PG and low fouls... hard to argue against that. Especially at 21. Duncan... here's a guy I used to rag on, but I actually really like these days. I feel like Duncan is a top 15 pick now for his 06-07 season, despite the fact that it's only 2700 minutes. A tier 2, almost 55% fg% guy with over 35% creb that can play the 4 or 5... good defense... low fouls... okay at getting to line (but doesn't shine). His rookie season is pretty damn good, too... just a tad below David Robinson's 90-91 season imo. Either way you go, it's a solid building block for a team. Thus, I feel getting him where you did is not just a great value, but an incredible steal. You've got most of your needed usage taken care of and have virtually no weaknesses going forward while holding a great draft position near the turnaround to really take advantage later. Well done, I say.
krishnaman - Ben Wallace, Tyson Chandler
Well, you certainly have your support bigs out of the way. If you're looking at building a team around a high-volume scorer, you've certainly started off right. Wallace is a monster on the defensive boards while being solid on the offensive ones, while Chandler is solid on both. Chandler also gives you a few points at a really high shooting percentage from the floor, so even though he's a tier 6 (or tier 5 if you use the excellent Dallas season) usage player, he does give you some good offensive stuff. I personally don't like building around a high volume scorer, but I have seen many who do it well and are successful doing so. I'm really intrigued to see who you're building around.
smokey57 - Julius Erving, Bob Lanier
Personally, I feel like I'm looking at a team's 2nd & 3rd round picks and wondering if they traded away their first round pick. I know you like Erving, but he's not 1st round material in this league. Erving would work well with krishnaman's team as the high volume guy, but Lanier's not the kind of guy you put with him. I'll have to see more to be convinced that this is anything more than a lottery team.
poppapump - Artis Gilmore, Penny Hardaway
Excellent pairing thus far. Penny goes about where he should (maybe a tad early, but not much if at all). He brings great defense, good efg% at a 3rd tier usage rate, decent rebounding for a point... lots of good in the foul factor, as well. A little low on ast%, but getting the right guys at the 2 or 3 will make up for that. Gilmore is a stud, depending on the season used. I personally like the 3rd tier usage, 3400 minute, 58% fg% version.
xxevilivexx - Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo
Trading up to grab Mutombo when you already had Rodman kind of surprised me. This is what I don't like about Mutombo: his best rebounding season is only slightly above average defensive season. It's kind of like the Bill Russell problem of perception for me... when I think Mt. Mutombo, I think defense. But then the player I'm getting is not really that great at defense. Yeah, you can take a bit of a board hit and go with the higher defense option, but there are better rebounding options available that can play more than just center at that point who have just as good defense. Really annoying to me. Anyway... you've got the ultimate support in Worm, and now have added either more boards or more defense in Mutombo, so that's a good pair. Seems like you're gunning for a high volume scorer. We'll see how it all turns out!