Evals Through Round 3
Atlantic
robocoach: Lebron James (2.83, 1), Tyson Chandler (16), Kevin Love(12)
This team terrifies me. Robocoach picked one of the most flexible players and just absolutely nailed his supporting cast (so far). He pretty much has all his big needs covered: Strong rebounds, good FT's, good assists, TWO top-tier usage guys, two strong 90+ defenders, and plenty of 3's. It's going to be very, very hard to mess this team up.1
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: ????2
iccoachb: Scottie Pippen (28.7, 4), Serge Ibaka (18), UPDATE: Tree Rollins (8)
Great defensive squad so far with fairly decent all-around stats, but with a couple of question marks. Scottie Pippen and Serge Ibaka are similar in that they both have decent to above average stats for their positions, if played at the correct spot, and very similar strengths. This team has a few glaring weaknesses that I think are compounded by the fact that these guys are on the same squad. iccoachb going to be forced to get either a point guard, or power forward/center that can shoot three's (both of which are becoming much harder to come by as the draft progresses), and in order to find that in later rounds, he'll likely have to sacrifice other aspects, like usage%, rebounds, and maybe even assists. I think by picking both SI and SP, he nullifies whatever advantage he gains by having players like them on his team.
UPDATE: iccoachb selected Tree Rollins for his third round pick. Although not a bad pick, this doesn't address one of his biggest needs.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: 3PAPG
natenoy: Wilt Chamberlain (2.00, 1), Jerry Lucas (13), James Harden (38)
I don't understand or like the Jerry Lucas pick. He as a lot of the same strengths as Wilt and similar weaknesses. I feel like this might be a rare example of too much of a good thing (at the potential expense of other equally important things). Maybe nate knows something I don't; which is why I'm going to address this team using direct quotes3 from the G.M. himself.
"you REALLY need to be careful with the usage% of all your remaining players."
...Which makes me wonder why you wouldn't pick a higher usage guy in the second round. You had a top tier usage guy in Kevin Love, just sitting there, waiting for some Love'n.4
"His ast% means you can do fine without a 30% ast PG"
Did I mention that Love adds even MORE assists for a big guy, allowing you more flexibility to play someone like...say... James Harden at the point guard position?
"the killer in this league is you have $47m for 5 positions or $9.4m per position."
What about the other seven guys on your squad? I think you need to reserve at least $7 mill for your backups (I personally prefer around $13 mill). With your first three picks you're potentially using up about $28 mill of your $40 mill starting lineup budget. Filling out this roster, while still have decent backups, is going to be difficult, but definitely not impossible!
"For me the key is to keep Wilt as the 3rd highest usage player on the court at all times that way you can hopefully maximize his insanely high efg%"
Thankfully this is still totally do-able with several available players. Even though I don't care for the Lucas pick, this team can still easily be turned into a playoff contender with a strong finish in the draft, shoring up any weaknesses.5
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: Usage% and more Defense
coachcroft: Magic Johnson(19.00, 5), Shawn Marion (10), Chris Webber (70)
Another interesting squad with good balance and a lot of flexibility. If you manage to nab a PF with 3's, you can even play Shawn Marion at SG, and Chris Webber at SF.6 Lots of interesting and potentially fun possibilities.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: 3PAPG and OReb%
theyard2: Ben Wallace (19.83, 4), Manu Ginobili (4), Steve Nash (3)
So far, theyard2 has almost replicated the exact same team that I wanted to build before the draft started, and before Wallace didn't fall to me. This team has fantastic potential.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: More Defense and More OReb%
postage: Charles Barkley (14.00, 2), Anthony Davis (?), Deron Williams (9)
I'm as excited to use Anthony Davis for the first time as I am bummed that I have to use him with Charles Barkley. He's like a cheaper Kevin Garnett/Elton Brand. I'm surprised Deron Williams fell to me, but I really shouldn't be. He's a pretty good point guard with lots of assists, decent boards for a PG, good eFG%, and second tier Usage%. He gets to the free throw line a lot, like my other players, but he doesn't shoot that many 3's; which is a big need for me right now.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: 3PAPG and More DReb%
Central7
jkaye24: Dwight Howard(8.00, 3), Donyell Marshall (14), Ray Allen (12)
If jkaye24 finds a point guard or power forward that can shoot threes, he can REALLY make it rain.... or he can do the more logical thing and focus on his few needs; which, depending on where his fourth round pick is8, might be difficult to do (but probably not). I've also noticed that neither Marshall nor Allen get to the foul line much; Howard, however, has no difficulty doing so. Uh oh.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: Assist%9
eleibowitz: Kevin Durant(12.67, 2), Horace Grant (5), Andrei Kirilenko (29)
If you were to combine this team's ridiculous wingspan, you could potentially have the world's greatest hug.10
Kevin Durant is great, in that he offers a lot from the shooting guard position, but like I said earlier, not as much from the small forward, because I prefer to have more rebounds from that position. Horace Grant is a fantastic pickup for this team, because he gels really well with your first round pick, and has decent assists and GREAT rebounds for a small forward and... wait... wait a minute. You drafted Andrei Kirilenko, A.K.A. "AK-47", A.K.A. "lil' Durant." I'm just... what?
I don't understand! YOU HAD IT! In one fell swoop you took a great small forward and made him an average power forward. Don't get me wrong, in the right circumstances I really like Kirilenko (he's one of my all time favorites to watch); these just aren't those circumstances.
This team's saving grace is that Kevin Durant brings so much to the table as a shooting guard, that this team still has great all-around stats.
With one pick you made what could have been a GREAT team, into a pretty good team.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: I'm actually not sure, as this team is still pretty well rounded. Probably more rebounds?
smokey57: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (4.50, 1), Tracy McGrady (26), Wes Unseld (32)
I have no idea which seasons you will be choosing for Kareem and Wes. There are so many different possibilities. With Tracy McGrady, you don't have to worry as much about Usage%. With Wes Unseld, do you pick a cheaper season, with lower rebounds and higher assists? Do you select the Kareem with better defense, but lower OReb%, and supplement that pick with a one of Unseld's higher OReb% seasons??? THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS.
I'll see you in the 4th, 5th, and 6th rounds, Bart Scott.
www.youtube.com/watch
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: More Defense and More Assist%
tarheel1991: Joakim Noah (20), Mookie Blaylock (3), Andre Drummond (56), Camelo Anthony (67)
This team doesn't have the best eFG%, but they'll have lots of three pointers, lots of assists (especially if you use Noah's '13-14 season11), and, with Drummond, lots of OReb% to make up for it. This is an interesting team, for sure.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: More Defense and more Usage%.
felonius: Shaquille O'Neal (10.00, 2), Bill Walton (1), Clyde Drexler (24)
Updated: I have no idea why I decided to choose the seasons that I did for Drexler/Walton, but I was rightly corrected as to the better choices... so without further ado: felonius team evals for rounds one through three version 2.0.
This team has an incredible amount of flexibility. You can play Drexler either at shooting guard or point guard, knowing that Shaq and Bill have high Assist% for their positions. "The Glyde" also has decent three point shooting, so you don't have to stress too much about filling that role with either your small forward or PG/SG. There are lots of options left for this team.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: Probably less fouls/turnovers, more Assist%, and few more 3PAPG.
amerk1180: Michael Jordan (4.00, 1), Shawn Kemp (19), Gerald Wallace (2)
That's a lot of defense! I predict most teams will shoot poorly against this one. This team has a few holes to be shored up, but it's off to a great start.
Biggest needs for the next few rounds: Assist% and people who don't foul very much.
Footnotes____________________________________________________________________
1 ...and, seeing as how we share divisions, I sincerely hope he does.
2 Seriously, how can you go wrong with this team?
3 All of which will be selfishly taken out of context, to better suit my own needs.
4 See what I did there?
5 This can basically be tacked on to every single paragraph from here on out; which is why doing these evals at this point in the draft is kind of silly (but I still enjoy it).
6 ...or you can be boring and just grab a SG with good 3's. It's up to you.
7 I thought it was interesting that this division's draft picks through the third round, with the exception of Walton and Wallace (which could have easily been the name of a 70's or 80's sitcom), were chosen earlier than they were in the previous ODL. On average, each player was selected 15.5 spots ahead; largely in part due to Melo, Drummond, and Noah's '13-14 seasons.
8 Even though it would be really easy to do, I'm too lazy to look it up.
9 ...and someone to magically take FTA's from Dwight Howard.
10 Just kidding, they're far too wire-y for that. It would be like hugging a fence post.
11 Joakim Noah is the only player with an OReb% and Assist% over 20, while having a defense greater than 90. Cool beans.