First post. I've been reading this site for a little while and enjoy the discussion. Anyway, I'm writing to elicit some opinions on my fantasy basketball team. First, a little background on my league. Typical 9 category Yahoo league with 12 teams, 13 players on each team. Here's the wrinkle: Each year every team selects 5 players to holdover for the next year, so usually the top 60 players are off the board for the draft. We also allow trading of draft picks in the offseason. Our league has been around for 7 years now, and it is super competitive. I'm the defending champ. Here are the players that I will definitely retain: Nowitzki; Duncan (recently acquired via trade for Paul Pierce straight up); Camby; and Joe Johnson So here's the question: Given the above, should I keep either Charlie Villaneuva or Boris Diaw as my fifth keeper? Also, reasons would be appreciated. Thanks, I look forward to your responses.
You should keep Diaw. (1) Boris is in a contract year, so you won't have to worry about motivational issues which are bound to come up with Villanueva. (2) Boris has some continuity on the Suns, while Charlie's going to have to adjust to a new team and new starting position. (3) Boris is just a better all-around player and in a situation that is more conducive to fantasy stats. Charlie still has questionable 3 pt. shooting, and rebounding and we don't know how far down the pecking order he'll be in Milwaukee. I say trade Villanueva now, while his value is still high. I think he'll have a great season, but not necessarily a great fantasy season. btw, Welcome to JBB.
Thanks for the advice Chutney. As an obvious Raptor fan, you probably have alot to say about Villanueva I had completely forgotten that Boris is in a contract year. It is really good motivation, but, at least to me, Boris doesn't come off as a player that needs that type of external motivation, a la Jerome James, Erika Dampier, etc. As for your second point, I actually think that works in Villanueva's favor. Boris was a better overall player last year than Charlie, but with Amare and Thomas coming back, I don't expect Boris to raise his stats much, if any, over last year. With Charlie, I think there's a good chance of a dramatic increase, considering the fact that he won't have to play out of position, will probably get ~10 extra minutes a game, and is playing next to a good passing center, Bogut. The fact that they were both essentially rookies last year evens out the natural progression/experience factor. As to your final point, you're probably right that Boris is the overall superior player. But, it's hard to knock Charlie's 3 pt. shooting and rebounding, when Boris' doesn't take any 3's and their rebounding is pretty much a wash. I hope you're not offended. I've been churning this decision in my head all summer and have so many arguments in favor/against both guys. If you came out and said Charlie, I would have laid out my arguments for Boris.
Not offended at all. It's refreshing to read someone articulate themselves properly. I've had more time to think about it and you've convinced me that Villanueva's the better choice. My first response was more focusing on this season, which I definitely think will have Boris producing better numbers. But, his contract situation after that is up in the air and its hard to turn down Charlie's potential. You still have some issues for this season, though. (1) You have too many forwards/centers. For this season, Diaw would be much better, because he's sliding down to the 2/3. (2) You don't want to depend too heavily on Charlie, because he could really go either way this year.
LOL, thanks Chutney. Believe me, you may find me refreshing now, but you'll get sick of me eventually. Anyway, my league operates a little differently than most. In about 2 weeks, all 12 teams have to declare the 5 players that they'll hold over from last year's team. About a week after that, we'll hold an 8 round draft to fill out our 13 man rosters. Given the 5 players I've chosen to hold over, I'll exclusively target PG's, SG's and SF's in the 8 round draft. I actually think this works to my advantage. Guards and swingmen are cheap, whereas big men are always at an expensive premium. I can't tell you how many times I've reached for a promising young big (f*%!ing Kwame Brown), only to be totally burned. I'm sure that I'm not alone. The two most common mistakes in fantasy bball are over-ranking bigs and rookies. Just to give you an idea, I think the best bigs that'll be available in our 8 round draft are Kaman, Bogut, Okafor and Darko (who's such a sleeper, he's become over-rated). Whereas, there are a ton of underrated guards out there, like Kevin Martin, Battier (love the all around small ball stats), Jameer Nelson, Deron Willams and Raja Bell (tons of 3's).
