As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was excited to have the first pick in the draft this year. I spent a reasonable amount of time (probably not enough) coming up with scenarios and trying to get a solid draft strategy in place. In fact, this year I felt I had the strongest draft strategy that I have had in several years.

Unfortunately, the execution of my draft strategy fell apart during the draft.

That said, I think I had decent draft and hope to improve it by picking up a sleeper or two off of the waiver wire over the course of the season. Hopefully my main guys stay injury free, and if so, I should be ok.

Here’s my self evaluation of my draft:

Round 1: Chris Paul
Can’t go wrong here. At this point, my strategy then becomes to make sure to be unbeatable in the two categories that CP dominates: assists and steals

Round 2: Baron Davis
Not my preferred choice here, as the three people I had targeted all got taken ahead of me. But if he stays healthy, I have a solid hold on assists and steals.

Round 3: Paul Pierce (back-to-back with #2)
At this point, I really would have liked to have a solid big man, but since the guys I had targeted were gone, I didn’t want to go too far down the draft sheets this early. Still, can’t complain with Paul Pierce. At this point I think I’m looking pretty good in assists, steals, and FT%, and not too shabby with 3s.

Round 4: Chris Kaman
Now I really needed a big man and I wanted to make sure I had someone who gets a lot of boards and a lot of blocks.

Round 5: Rasheed Wallace
My #2 center. Not a typical big man, but contributes in blocks, 3s, and also shoots a good FT%.

Round 6: LaMarcus Aldridge
Another big. Also doesn’t hurt FT%. Took a little chance with him, as Greg Oden’s entry to the lineup can hurt, but he’s shown good improvement, and I’m hoping for a good season here.

Round 7: Josh Howard
Needed to get someone at the SG spot and I like guys who can play two positions. Howard is a SG/SF, so he gives me some flexibility. A good scorer for this late in the draft, who contributes a little in all categories.

Round 8: Andrei Kirilenko
Another guy that contributes across the board. Gets some 3s, gets steals, good percentages, and will hopefully put up a lot of blocks this year. Might be coming off the bench, though, but I’m not too worried about Matt Harpring’s long term prospects at this point.

Round 9: Jason Terry
My worst pick of the draft. I was panicked here since again, the guys I had targeted all got taken before my pick, and I had to pick twice in a row. Kirilenko was ok, then I got strapped for time and took the highest guy available on the player rater. Mistake. I’ve already dropped him.

Round 10: Stephon Marbury
Possibly a terrible pick, but could have some upside. I recently read an article talking about how Starbury could possibly start. If so, this will be huge. If he gets traded, this could be huge. I like the upside a lot here, but it could also be a bust.

Round 11: Marvin Williams
I like getting Marvin here. He’s always improving, and I think this will be a good pick.

Round 12: Ryan Gomes
At this point, I didn’t really care too much who I got. But Gomes played well the second half of last year, and if he can contribute, I’m happy with that at this pick.

Round 13: Andrea Bargnani
Another big man who can shoot the three. Probably won’t be on my team for too long.

So that’s my team for now. I think I’m looking pretty good in FG%, FT%, AST, ST. But unfortunately, that’s not good enough. I think I have a reasonable shot at 3s, and can win BLOCKS and PTS occasionally, don’t have too much of a chance with REBS. In our league, you only need to win 5/8 categories to win for the week, so hopefully I can use some waiver wire magic or maybe make a trade to firm things up. We’ll see.

Hopefully, some of the other guys will talk about their draft in future posts. If not, then I may take a stab at a couple other teams

Looking foward to Day 1 tonight!