By Omer Dikman, Arik Zilber and Hovav Maimon

In about a month the 2022-23 NBA season will officially start, which for us fantasy addicts can only mean one thing – It’s draft season baby! And is there a better way to prepare for your draft than doing a mock draft by yourself? YES THERE IS! Because unless you have a group of good players who are willing to mock draft with full integrity, you will usually find yourself in a public mock draft, with half the players experimenting with Jabari Smith and Collin Sexton in the 2nd round, and the other half abandoning well before the end of the 4th.

This is why, we at the "Day To Day Fantasy NBA" team decided to hold a real mock draft with some of the best fantasy minds in Israel and around the world including: Josh Lloyd and Kyle McKeown from basketballmonster.com, Steve Alexander from NBC Sports EDGE and Dan Besbris from Fantasy NBA today podcast, who were generous enough to accept our invitation.

(BTW – in case you missed it, we have already published our full ranking and projections on our new app, check out on Android or Apple). 

This is the full list of participants in order of draft selection:

  1. Hovav Maimon (Day To Day)
  2. Steve “Doc” Alexander (NBC Sports EDGE)
  3. Omer Levin (Experienced High Stakes Manager)
  4. Tamir Gabay (Experienced High Stakes Manager)
  5. Dan Besbris (Fantasy NBA Today podcast)
  6. Dan Cohen Hamoz (Experienced High Stakes Manager)
  7. Yonatan Cohen (Experienced High Stakes Manager)
  8. Sergio Strelbitski (Experienced High Stakes Manager)
  9. Omer Dikman (Day To Day)
  10. Josh Lloyd (basketballmonster.com)
  11. Arik Zilber (Day To Day)
  12. Kyle McKeown (basketballmonster.com)

The mock was held using the Snake format for a roto league: 9 cat, 12 teams, 13 players, and here are the full results, with some commentary and insights by the D2D team:

Round 1

  1. Nikola Jokic (Hovav)
  2. Luka Doncic (Steve)
  3. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Omer. L)
  4. Joel Embiid (Tamir)
  5. Kevin Durant (Dan. B)
  6. James Harden (Dan. C)
  7. Jayson Tatum (Yonatan)
  8. LaMelo Ball (Sergio)
  9. Stephen Curry (Dikman)
  10. Trae Young (Josh)
  11. Karl-Anthony Towns (Zilber)
  12. Tyrese Haliburton (Kyle)

Hovav:

I won the first pick and it took me no more than a second to take the Joker. There is no doubt that the interesting pick of this round is Luka goes 2nd ahead of Giannis & Embiid. Everyone already knows that Steve has a crush on him, and yet a 2nd overall pick seems exaggerated even for him. Luka hasn't shown yet in his career that he is a first round guy let alone 2nd overall, and frankly I don't see that coming this year also. He already has the highest USG% in the league so he can’t improve there, and his FT% not going anywhere as well (70% in eurobasket also suggest that), and he is probably not going to improve his defensive stats either. I did rank him 6th due to his durability, age and his fit to a punt ft% strategy. 

Other interesting picks are Lamelo in 8th place and Trey in the 10th, ahead of Towns, who has been a 9 cat stud for years and still very young. I assume Sergio and Josh are a little bit concerned that Towns will lose some value following Gobert's arrival.

Dikman:

This is probably the messiest year for round 1 that I can recall, with almost no safe picks. Basically aside from Jokic, every pick here has a reasonable chance to become a fiasco, so with that setting, I can see the appeal of Luka as a real superstar with proven durability if you wish to punt both TO and FT% . My least favorite pick here is actually Durant at 5. Durant played 90 games in the last 2 seasons combined, and had a bizarre offseason saga which makes me doubt if he even wants to play basketball anymore, so picking him before players like Tatum, Steph, or even Harden, is just too risky IMO.  

Looking into the value picks of this round, I think Tatum, Steph & KAT are too solid to drop this far. Out of the 3, I think that getting Steph on 9th is the biggest steal of the 1st round. I know that Josh is down on Steph’s durability this year with a 63 game projection, but I’m more optimistic than that and have him written down for 67 games which is not that horrible. Don’t forget that Steph finished 6th per game last year, and it was by far his worst FG% shooting year in recent history, so I do expect a bounceback in that area. 

Zilber:

I started the draft with the 11th pick, and to my surprise, Towns still was on the board. I understand the concern about taking him earlier because of Gobert's arrival, but I think he'll still be a fantasy beast. His blocks, rebounds and some fg% will go down, but the threes are supposed to go up and also the steals and assists a bit, which should relatively balance his value. His durability is something else that is lacking in the first round which makes him a steal in the 11th pick.

Picking Luka 2nd is early and I agree with Hovav. Beyond that, I really liked Halliburton's pick. His numbers since the trade to Indiana have been pretty crazy and there's no reason he shouldn't replicate them, perhaps except for the exceptional field goal percentage (50.2%). He's currently in a situation that will allow him to even improve some of these stats, because Indiana isn't going anywhere, so promoting youngsters is the main goal of this season.They may tank of course, which is the only worrying point, but it's a slight risk when it comes to such a young player. It was nice to see that a stud Fantasy like Kyle McKeown agrees with me. Beyond that I think Steph was picked too late and Durant was picked a bit too early, but overall other than that a pretty standard round

Round 2

  1. Anthony Davis (Kyle)
  2. Damian Lillard (Zilber)
  3. Kyrie Irving (Josh)
  4. Jimmy Butler (Dikman)
  5. Devin Booker (Sergio)
  6. Fred VanVleet (Yonatan)
  7. LeBron James (Dan. C)
  8. Dejounte Murray (Dan. B)
  9. Anthony Edwards (Tamir)
  10. Rudy Gobert (Omer. L)
  11. Ja Morant (Steve)
  12. Donovan Mitchell (Hovav)

Hovav:

Until a month ago I wouldn't have thought anyone would touch Kyrie in the second round but it seems that lately managers are less concerned about his off-court problems. Ja Morant is interesting teaming up with Doncic in what looks like a punt ft% for Steve and possibly a TO punt as well.

I am really high on Dejounte and Edwards this season. Ant was close to a 2nd round value last year before he played a stretch with an injury that limited him and cost him about 20 spots in the ranking, and this upcoming season he should have more USG and hopefully better percentage. Murray will lose some value this year following the trade to atlanta. I project him to have 3.3 AST less and a drop of 2% USG, but remember that he finished 7th on a per game basis last year so even with this drop he should be easily a middle 2nd round guy (he is 17th on my board).  

My least favorite pick is actually my own pick of Mitchell (even though I think he’ll be great in Cleveland). I probably should've picked Vucevic over him for some big man stats because good centers are a rare thing to find this year.

Dikman:

All in all a pretty solid round. I’m even okay with Ja that early on such an aggressive double punt, although he would have definitely waited for the doc at the 3rd as well. I like that no one picked the super risky Paul George or Kawhi this early, which shows the quality of the draft.  My least favorite is Booker at 17th. Booker is solid and has clear advantages, but his lack of Steals and relatively low 3pt caps his value, and I would rather see him go around 22-25. And yes Hovav, Donovan on 24th was not your proudest fantasy moment. 

Zilber:

Solid round. I see the logic in every pick here. As Hovav mentioned, Mitchell's pick was a bit premature but nothing to get crazy about. I Don’t love Steve’s pick of Morant at 23 because punting 2 categories in roto league with a snake draft is really hard, but if you are punting ft% and turnovers, then Morant is a solid pick there. If you’re not punting both categories then Morant at second round is a loss of value. I projected Ja for 30 ppg this year and he is still only ranked 40th on my list. His game doesn't translate to fantasy so well and he is a bit injury prone because of his game style. 

Round 3

  1. Kawhi Leonard (Hovav)
  2. Robert Williams (Steve)
  3. Bradley Beal (Omer. L)
  4. Paul George (Tamir)
  5. Domantas Sabonis (Dan. B)
  6. Bam Adebayo (Dan. C)
  7. Nikola Vucevic (Yonatan)
  8. Jrue Holiday (Sergio)
  9. Pascal Siakam (Dikman)
  10. Kristaps Porzingis (Josh)
  11. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Zilber)
  12. Darius Garland (Kyle)

Hovav:

Kawhi is one of the most frustrating players to own in the last few seasons but he is also a fantasy stud (especially 9 cat) when he is on the court. So even with my very careful projection for his number of games – 56 – he still ranked 12th in my weighted value ranking. Therefore I had to take him at 25 even though I don’t feel great about that.

Shai is one of the interesting players this year, while Zilber insists that the Thunder won't shut him down this time, Dikman claims the opposite, and we’ll have to see who was right at the end of the season. Overall, it was a very predictable and solid  round.

Dikman: 

So Hovav completes a pair of picks that I don’t like with Kawhi at 25,and it looks like he is just feeling guilty for getting Jokic, and tries to reimburse us somehow. The news about Kawhi is extremely disturbing to me, and personally I’m not touching this mess unless I see some pre-season action out of him. Other than that it was super solid and I love Beal this year if I can get him towards the 30th, like Levin did here. 

Zilber:

 Another solid round without any big surprises. I’m happy with my pick, SGA, which is ranked 29th in my projections. I gave him 67 games so even if  the Thunder will rest him in the last few weeks of the season he can easily play that much.

In the Kawai debate i'm taking hovav’s side, Kawai should have first round per game value, and even if he will play only 50 games this year it's worth taking him at 25. 

Other than that, the only player here that isn’t ranked in my projections as a 3rd rounder is Sabonis, but I can totally understand his choice in the 3rd round even without knowing that Dan punted 3pt. 

Round 4

  1. Deandre Ayton (Kyle)
  2. Myles Turner (Zilber)
  3. Zion Williamson (Josh)
  4. Scottie Barnes (Dikman)
  5. Chris Paul (Sergio)
  6. Terry Rozier (Yonatan)
  7. Cade Cunningham (Dan. C)
  8. DeMar DeRozan (Dan. B)
  9. Jarrett Allen (Tamir)
  10. Evan Mobley (Omer. L)
  11. Desmond Bane (Steve)
  12. Zach LaVine (Hovav)

Hovav:

The "Sophomores round". Cade and Mobley seem like very strong picks in this round while Barnes went a bit too high for my liking, but he can definitely prove me wrong. Chris Paul in 41st is the fourth guard in four rounds for Sergio, however, it is a great pick in my opinion (ranked 25th for me and I’m not too worried for a decline to this guy). 

Desmond Bane at the 47th pick is perhaps the biggest steal of the draft in my opinion, I really find it hard to understand why his ADP is so low. He hasn't reached his prime yet and is getting better every year. In addition, Jaren Jackson will miss at least the first two months of the year and his 25% USG should go somewhere. Most importantly, Bane only played 29.8 minutes last year and still finished 36th per game. This year without a worthy backup like Melton he should get at least 1.5 minutes more so I ranked him 28th on my board.

Dikman:

 While Josh is an honored guest and a living fantasy legend, that doesn’t give him a pass from me saying “who the #$%$ is picking Zion in the 4th round for a non FT% punt team??” Considering his durability issues, I think that Zion is barely a legit pick in the 4th round even if you do punt your free throws, and he does so much damage to your FT% that his name should be marked in bright red colors for everyone who values this category. I can relate to the notion that Young+Kyrie can somehow balance Zion out, but usually those combinations end up with wasting so much value just to finish with 4-5 points in this category, and often you will find yourself desperately trying to move Zion in November, or just giving up on the free throws percentage category entirely half way through the season. 

Zilber: 

Although I think Bane at 47 is a good pick, I’m not as high on him as Hovav. Don’t see him continue to shoot over 43 3pt% for the 3rd straight year, and it should drop a bit. 

Except for Zion I like most of the picks here. Rozier went here in pick 42 which makes sense, but notice that his ADP at yahoo is 59, and it's crazy because he is a player that was ranked 38 and 30 per game in the last 2 years. I can understand why not picking him 30th, since some of his high value is driven by his low turnovers, which is a category that is easier to improve as the draft progresses, but 59 is really too late, and if you can get him past pick 50, you should grab him. As for my own pick, I think that Myles Turner is a bit risky this year, playing for a club that will do his best losing, but he was the first name left in my projections. As we know, he does have a second round upside, so at the 38th pick he is worth the risk in my opinion.

Round 5

  1. Mikal Bridges (Hovav)
  2. Christian Wood (Steve)
  3. Jonas Valanciunas (Omer. L)
  4. John Collins (Tamir)
  5. Khris Middleton (Dan. B)
  6. Jaylen Brown (Dan. C)
  7. CJ McCollum (Yonatan)
  8. Jakob Poeltl (Sergio)
  9. Brandon Ingram (Dikman)
  10. De'Aaron Fox (Josh)
  11. OG Anunoby (Zilber)
  12. Alperen Sengun (Kyle)

Hovav:

I was torn between Mikal and Middleton in this round, but in the end I went with Mikal because I'm a little worried about the reporting that Khris is still recovering from his injury, and might not be ready for the season opener. 

Kyle, after four picks that I really liked, goes here for a very brave reach on Sengun at 60th place, even though the Turkish has not yet proven to be good at fantasy. He was ranked 381(!!) last season on a per 36 basis and he needs to improve a lot to become servisable. He’s also a walking foul hazard, so that might limit his minutes to 30 per game or even lower. If everything goes well and he can stay on the court 32 mpg and improve his percentage and the AST/TO ratio, it might turn out to be a good pick afterall, but that’s a lot to ask for.

Dikman: 

Round 5 is usually the place for boring, solid veterans, with no exception here. Collins, Brown, McCollum, Middleton & Ingram will probably go a bit underdrafted in many leagues due to boredom, so I suggest you keep an eye on these names. Although with Ingram I’m more concerned about durability issues, and honestly he is not a player that I would target in most circumstances, so I’m not crazy about my own pick here. 

I don’t like any of the 4 big men that were picked here: Wood is a perfect fit for Doc’s team, but is also a player that doesn’t have a clear role in Dallas’s defense-first team, and could easily become a 22-24 mins per game player which will cap his value towards 70-80. Jonas is a tad-too-early pick in a crowded Pelicans starting five, and is just a bizarre choice for an ft% punt team that has already picked Giannis, Gobert & Mobley in previous rounds. Poeltl, chosen by Sergio, is practically impossible to contain from FT% perspective, and for me is untouchable for non-punt teams. As for Sengun I will have to agree with Hovav and say that the Turkish’s floor is just too low at this point, at least for my taste. 

Zilber:

So all of us agree about Sengun. I think that the best case scenario for him is to finish 60th, therefore I think he got picked too early. 

It would be interesting to see if Fox will finally have a year that justifies his pick. He was never ranked higher than 70 per game and still, his ADP is always so high. Josh picked him at 58, and I can understand because scoring and assists gets harder to find every round that passes, but on a per game basis, he never had been even close to finishing that high. And what's even more interesting is that his ADP is much higher (47). I know that a big part of the reason is that he’s a ft% punt player but even though, every year the expectations are much higher than what we get from him. 

From my draft standpoint, I didn't really want to pick Anunoby. He is so injury prone that it's really frustrating to hold him, and I knew that I needed to add assists, but my philosophy in drafts is to get as much value as I can as long as I know it's an active league and it's not hard to trade in. For this reason, since I didn’t see a player on the board that can help me in that area I went again with the most value on the board, and I believe it was OG. 

Round 6

  1. Jalen Green (Kyle)
  2. Michael Porter Jr. (Zilber)
  3. Draymond Green (Josh)
  4. Brandon Clarke (Dikman)
  5. Lauri Markkanen (Sergio)
  6. Wendell Carter Jr. (Yonatan)
  7. Keldon Johnson (Dan. C)
  8. Jusuf Nurkic (Dan. B)
  9. Jordan Poole (Tamir)
  10. Tyrese Maxey (Omer. L)
  11. Paolo Banchero (Steve)
  12. Clint Capela (Hovav)

Hovav:

Kyle continues with another sophomore player from Houston. I think Green is a better pick than Sengun but it’s still too high for him. Steve also goes in this round for a young man with Upside, the No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero. I really like Banchero as a prospect but in my opinion he is not a good option for his rookie season. Personally, I went in this round with Capela to try and improve my blocks and fg% categories, although I'm a bit concerned about the role he will serve this season, as Okongwu keeps sneaking behind him. 

The most interesting guy this round is the EuroBasket hero Lauri Markkanen. The Finnish will have a large role on the Jazz this season, but we need to be a little cushion because he is still an injury prone guy and he plays for a tanking team. Eventually, I projected him for 64 games and 31 mpg with 23 USG% (3.5 more than last year) which puts him 62nd on my weighted value rank, but I will probably prefer to draft him a little lower than that since he is also a clear trade candidate.

Dikman:

Some nice, solid picks in this round, with Keldon,Draymond & Capela, but also a couple of gambles which I’m not too crazy about. My least favorite is actually my own pick with Brandon Clarke, which was a panic move on my end after my queue got wiped. I do like Clarke with his friendly fantasy game, and if he somehow securs the starting spot instead of the injured JJJ and gets 28+ minutes a game, he can easily become a top 60 player, but that’s too many ‘if’s to grab him that early. 

Zilber:

 My favorite pick in this round is my own. Yes, Porter has some serious back issues but as far as I know, his injury is one that you come back 100% from without any lingering issues that bother through the season. If Porter manages to stay relatively healthy he should get back to his old self, and we are talking about a player that was almost a 2nd rounder two seasons ago. Most of the projections put him much lower than this, but I think the upside here is really worth the risk. 

Beside Porter, I really like all of the picks in this round except Paolo. I think that he will have a solid rookie season that won’t translate well enough to fantasy stats. Last year he shot at 72.9 ft% and only 47.8 fg% which is pretty low for a big man. His defensive stats are not great. 1.1 steals for a big man is good, but it was in 33 minutes and playing college ball, so I think his steals and blocks numbers (0.9 per game) will fall. In addition, he is a pretty good passer, but turns the ball over too much (2.4 turnovers per game). So yes, he will score, rebound, pass the ball and will make some treys, but that won't be enough to be a mid round player. 

Round 7

  1. Devin Vassell (Hovav)
  2. Jalen Brunson (Steve)
  3. Ben Simmons (Omer. L)
  4. Tobias Harris (Tamir)
  5. Jamal Murray (Dan. B)
  6. Klay Thompson (Dan. C)
  7. PJ Washington (Yonatan)
  8. Franz Wagner (Sergio)
  9. Marcus Smart (Dikman)
  10. Jalen Smith (Josh)
  11. Herbert Jones (Zilber)
  12. Jabari Smith Jr (Kyle)

Hovav:

In this round, I also jumped on the hype train and took Devin Vassell, who showed last season that he can provide some good value when given the opportunity. Vassel should have a much bigger role this season as the 27% USG of Dejounte going to atlanta and he is a primary candidate to claim some of it. He also should get a boost in minutes as a starter (he played just 27.3 per game last year), and finally if he can get more to the line and improve his playmaking a little bit then he could easily finish inside the top 60. I also really like the pick of Jamal Murray at 77. In my opinion he should recover well from his ACL injury after almost 18 months without any basketball activities. In this round, Sergio decided to pick yet another hero of the EuroBasket – Franz Wagner, after taking Markkanen in the previous round, and I believe that Wagner can be a top 60 guy, assuming he gets more minutes in the crowded Orlando front court.

Dikman:

I absolutely love Jalen Smith this late at the draft. He’s tailor-made for fantasy, and with a secured spot on the starting five he can easily become a top 50 player this year. So why didn’t I pick him with my own pick just before Josh snagged him you ask? because I’m an idiot. Hi mom, hope you are proud of your idiot son who preferred reaching for Brandon Clarke in the 64 pick and passed on Jalen Smith in 81. 

Tobias Harris is also an interesting player this year. Yeah, I know that writing both “Interesting” and “Tobias Harris” in the same sentence can get your internet to shut down, but eventually Tobi was a super solid top 50 player for many years before having that horrible 21-22 year, in which he actually managed to finish 59 despite looking like the odd-man-out in Philly's system. While I wouldn’t necessarily bet on him to bounce back to his 28th rank from 20-21, he is still a super-high floor guy, and with a 76 pick, I think Tamir got him at even lower than his floor price. 

Zilber:

I’m not sure what to think about my pick here. Picking Herb Jones at 83th place is decent, and I needed the steals, but I knew that I had to get some more assists soon. I chose Herb thinking that I’ll pick another point guard next round, that is 2 picks away from me. 

I’m a bit more suspicious than most fantasy players when it comes to rookies, so I wouldn’t  have picked Jabari just yet, as Kyle did on the 84 pick, but I could be easily wrong here. At some point he will be a heck of a fantasy player. 

Other picks I liked are Ben Simmons at the 7th round, who is great for a ft% team, Vassal has top 50 upside, and I agree with Hovav about Murrey. I also like Klay at 78. He will probably sit in B2B games, but is per game contribution should compensate for the missing games. I also agree about Toby being a solid high floor pick. 

The only other player I'm wondering about is Brunson. The Knicks are probably the worst fantasy team in the league without even one mid round fantasy player, and I’m not sure their style of play fits Brunson. He is ranked 98th in my draft projections and in that spot I would have taken Murray, Smart, Dilo and probably Lowry too over him. 

Round 8

  1. Josh Giddey (Kyle)
  2. Keegan Murray (Zilber)
  3. Julius Randle (Josh)
  4. Jerami Grant (Dikman)
  5. Isaiah Jackson (Sergio)
  6. Al Horford (Yonatan)
  7. Tyler Herro (Dan. C)
  8. Mitchell Robinson (Dan. B)
  9. Kyle Lowry (Tamir)
  10. D'Angelo Russell (Omer. L)
  11. Isaiah Stewart (Steve)
  12. Malcolm Brogdon (Hovav)

Hovav:

At this point in the draft I needed a PG to improve the assists and it seems Kyle Lowry or D'Angelo Russell will stay on the board for me, but no, they were taken right before the turn so I had to settle for Malcolm Brogdon. Keegan Murray seems to me to be the best rookie for this season and the 86th spot definitely suits him.

Jerami Grant with the 88th pick is one of the best values in this draft in my opinion, I think he will be excellent as a second option in Portland. I can understand the concern that Grant may take a major step back on offense because of Dame and Simons, but for me even with the drop of USG (I project him for 22%, 3.7% less than last year) he can make up for this in other areas, he will probably get more minutes (just 31.9 last season) and he can easily improve his efficiency (46.5% 2 pts last year compare to 50.6 in his career). In conclusion, I think he will keep his per game value about the same as last year.

Dikman:

Josh Giddey is an interesting pick here. Giddey had a good rookie year, and seems to be a very intriguing, popcorn-heavy player that should take a major step forward in his sophomore year. I know that he’s far from being a classic fantasy stud with his lack of steals, threes, and miserable efficiency, but he is also the type of player that will be a perfect fit for some teams in the 2nd half of the season, and could bring back some excellent trade value down the road. 

I’m also curious about Isaiah Stewart this year. He did burn me good last year, when I spent my 57th pick to get him in my most important league (needless to say it wasn’t a good year for my team). But at 95, perhaps Doc has a chance of catching Beef Stew’s breakout season at a reasonable price. 

Zilber:

And there it is, my first big mistake. I knew I’m in desperate need for assists and that in this round I have to pick a point guard, and there were two great options, Dilo and Lowry, but my mind was distracted and I noticed  it’s my turn about 15 seconds before my time ran out, so I just took my top ranked player which was Keegan Murrey. Now don’t get me wrong, as an 8th round pick, I absolutely love Keegan. I think that now, when Chet is out for the season, Murray will be the highest ranked rookie this year. He is the most NBA ready and his college numbers are so damn impressive. 1.3 steals, 1.9 blocks, 1.9 treys, low turnovers, high fg%. I don’t think he can repeat those numbers in his first year in the NBA, but he can do enough to be a top 90 guy. But again, from a strategic standpoint, my pick was bad as it ignored my team’s needs. 

The most intriguing player in this round is Isaiah Jackson. Last year in the last two months he had 2.2 blocks per game, in only 21.2 minutes. If he plays over 22-23 minutes a night he will be a blocking beast and the only thing that will cap his value is his sub par ft% (68.2% last season). But the minutes there aren’t guaranteed. He will fight Goga Bitadze for the backup center spot, but if at some point the Pacers will trade Turner, not a far fetched scenario for a tanking team, then Jackson will be ranked much higher than the 8th round. 

Round 9

  1. Cameron Johnson (Hovav)
  2.  Tre Jones (Steve)
  3.  Anfernee Simons (Omer. L)
  4. Gary Trent Jr. (Tamir)
  5. Collin Sexton (Dan. B)
  6. Bobby Portis (Dan. C)
  7. Lonzo Ball (Yonatan)
  8. Buddy Hield (Sergio)
  9. Nicolas Claxton (Dikman)
  10. Jarred Vanderbilt (Josh)
  11. Gordon Hayward (Zilber)
  12. Kevin Porter Jr. (Kyle)

Hovav:

If Cam Johnson wins the starting position in Phoenix then I get a nice steal here in 96th place. Reports that Lonzo would not start the season pushed him down to 103rd place where Yonathan decided to bet on him. 

Collin Sexton is a player that will be interesting to follow this year but I don't think he's capable of making a Top 100 without good defensive stats (1.1 steals and 0.1 blocks per 36 in 2021) and with few assists and threes (just 4.5 and 1.7 accordingly per 36)

Dikman:

The best picks of this round in my opinion are 100-101, with Dan B grabbing Sexton at a very good price, and Tamir manages to steal the poor, neglected, last year’s top 50 player, 23 years old Gary Trent. It seems like the anti-hype train refuses to stop, as Trent deteriorates to the shady, three-digit areas of the snake draft. Look, I see that his last year looks a bit flucky, and that his 1.8 steals per game seems like a mirage. There’s also a good chance that he will come off the bench and lose some minutes on the way, but this is Toronto – the place where no one seems to stay healthy for more than a week, and I’m sure that even with a 6th man role, he can still get plenty of minutes and touches that could keep him relevant in the 70-80 range. 

Zilber:

So it's round 9, my team is really not balanced, I need some points, and I’m on the verge of punting assists. Tre Jones and Anfernee Simons were the only names I felt comfortable picking here for an assists boost, but they were not available already. Luckily, Gordon Hayward was. I think Hayward is really undervalued this season. He is really injury prone and he took a step back in production last season, but he was still a per game top 75 player, and now without Bridges someone needs to fill the offensive void. I didn’t even consider him for my previous pick at 86, but picking him 107th is fine by me, and he gives me a small boost in scoring and some assists, as I need. 

As for the others, I think Dikman is spot on about Trent, and he should easily be a top 100 player. I'm less enthusiastic about Sexton, who needs to prove he brings more to the table than just scoring. Also, Lonzo at 103 is totally worth the risk. 

Round 10

  1. Saddiq Bey (Kyle)
  2. Onyeka Okongwu (Zilber)
  3. Andrew Wiggins (Josh)
  4. Josh Hart (Dikman)
  5. Ivica Zubac (Sergio)
  6. Monte Morris (Yonatan)
  7. Kyle Kuzma (Dan. C)
  8. Mo Bamba (Dan. B)
  9. Jaren Jackson Jr. (Tamir)
  10. Robert Covington (Omer. L)
  11. Darius Bazley (Steve)
  12. Matisse Thybulle (Hovav)

Hovav:

I really like Okongwu in this spot, a player with a high upside and a relatively high floor as well (are we sure he is not better than Capela already?). He was ranked 134th per game in just 20.7 mpg last year, so all he needs is to get a timeshare and he is already in the top 100. Add to that the possibility that he will dislodge Capela from the starting job or if Capela misses time, and Top 60 doesn't sound far-fetched. 

I also like Saddiq Bey and Josh Hart in this round, both will have a starting job and therefore enough minutes to produce. I went for Thybulle here hoping to improve my weak defensive categories, although I think his minutes will drop a bit this season due to the arrival of Melton and House.

Dikman:

Basically Hovav stole my line, so instead I’ll talk about Kuzma and Bamba, which now sounds to me like the name of a tier Z superheroes TV show which Marvel wisely chose to pass on (“Kuzma and Bambaaaaa!!!”). Somehow, Kuzma had a pretty good season last year, finishing inside the top 100, bringing some pretty rounded, full fantasy lines. While there’s a decent chance that Porzingis destroys him entirely, there’s also a chance that they learn to co-exist somehow, and if you are punting steals or FT%, Kuzma can even make a case for a top 100 pick.

As for Bamba – the Magic did pretty much everything they can to humiliate the guy (I mean, they actually took away his Jersey’s number and gave it to Banchero), but still, his per game numbers are just too good to be ignored. He can get backup minutes on both the 4 and the 5, and his competitors are Okeke who might be the worst shooter in league’s history, and Jonathan Isaac, who I’m not even convinced walks among us anymore. 

Zilber: 

Even though I still had an assist and scoring problem I Couldn't resist taking Okongwu. As Hovav wrote, there isn't a clear cut answer to the question who is a better player right now, Okongwu or capela. I think that there’s a real possibility that at some point okongwu will take over as the starting center for the hawks. 

Another pick I like is triple J. The 10th round is a great spot to gamble on his return, and even if he’ll get stuck on the bench or the IR spot, even 30 games from him worth more then the value of the 10th pick. 

Round 11

  1. Bogdan Bogdanovic (Hovav)
  2. Aleksej Pokusevski (Steve)
  3. Bones Hyland (Omer. L)
  4. Norman Powell (Tamir)
  5. Brook Lopez (Dan. B)
  6. Isaiah Hartenstein (Dan. C)
  7. Mike Conley (Yonatan)
  8. Dorian Finney-Smith (Sergio)
  9. Patrick Williams (Dikman)
  10. Chris Duarte (Josh)
  11. Patrick Beverley (Zilber)
  12. Markelle Fultz (Kyle)

Round 12

  1. Jaden McDaniels (Kyle)
  2. Kelly Oubre Jr. (Zilber)
  3. Jalen Suggs (Josh)
  4. JaVale McGee (Dikman)
  5. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Sergio)
  6. Harrison Barnes (Yonatan)
  7. Walker Kessler (Dan. C)
  8. John Wall (Dan. B)
  9. Caleb Martin (Tamir)
  10. Russell Westbrook (Omer. L)
  11. Caris LeVert (Steve)
  12. De'Anthony Melton (Hovav)

Round 13

  1. Derrick White (Hovav)
  2. Aaron Gordon (Steve)
  3. RJ Barrett (Omer. L)
  4. Jaden Ivey (Tamir)
  5. Jonathan Isaac (Dan. B)
  6. Daniel Gafford  (Dan. C)
  7. Dillon Brooks (Yonatan)
  8. Benedict Mathurin (Sergio)
  9. Victor Oladipo (Dikman)
  10. Lugentz Dort (Josh)
  11. Bruce Brown (Zilber)
  12. Spencer Dinwiddie (Kyle)

Hovav:

At this stage of the draft, managers usually tend to go with high-upside picks, but I think you can also find solid picks at the end. An example of this is Norman Powell who probably won't see enough minutes to be in the top 80 like last year but on days when Kawhi or George won't play (and there will be a lot of them) he will be a great option.

Kelly Oubre is also a solid pick to me as he could enjoy more shots and minutes this year given the situation of Miles Bridges who probably won't see a court anytime soon. Other selections of this kind that I liked are DFS and KCP, although they are gray players without too much of an upside but they will both have a starting job and get a lot of minutes so their floor is very high and in the worst case they will make good end of the roster players.

On the upside end we find Walker Kessler (of course) who has a rare block rate but in my opinion at the beginning of the season he will not play enough to be worth holding. 

I went with De'Anthony Melton in round 12 and Derek White in 13. White in my opinion will gain some minutes due to Gallinari's injury and if he comes back to himself in terms of shooting he can definitely sneak into the top 100, Melton depends mainly on how many minutes he gets, if he manages to get to the 25 range he will be a steal.

Dikman: 

In these rounds of the draft, my strategy is boom-or-bust. There’s no point in drafting borderline players who should range between 110-130, since you can usually do better by working the waiver wire, so as opposed to Hovav I actually hate picking KCP and DFS here. In the start of the season there are usually so many good picks, and you need to have your roster spots available, with players that are easy to drop. The players you should focus on are the high-variance ones, players with unclear rotation status, youngsters who may or may not made a jump in their offseason, and rookies on weak teams. This way, if it goes well you have a top 100 potential player in your hand, and if not, you can easily drop them for the next waiver wire adventure. In my case I chose Pat Williams who may or may not find his usage in the Bulls starting 5, JaVale who could be a starting center with 20+ mins, or just vanish in the Mavs crowded rotation, and Oladipo, who can be pretty good if he secures a starting spot, and will be easy to drop otherwise. 

Zilber:

Usually my strategy for the last round is somewhat of a mix between Hovav’s and Dikman’s strategies. I don't believe you should try to pick the upside pick at any cost. In most cases rookies from bad teams aren't worth the pick so if I have a solid 100-120 pick that helps me with the categories I’m weak at, I’ll take him. Oubre & Beverley are good examples for such players, even if their names may sound less appealing than some hot new sexy rookie that will find himself on the waiver wire 4 days into the season. 

My best picks of every round of the last three have to be: 11th round Bogdan – Maybe this year he’ll hit up early and not after the all star break. 12th round Caleb Martin, who has a real chance to start as power forward for the shorthanded Heat. Caleb’s game is very fantasy oriented, with some nice defensive stats and pretty good Ast/TO ratio. 13th is Daniel Gafford. If you have the patience to wait for Porzingis to get injured (it shouldn't take too much time provbably), you will have an opening center worth rostering.  

Final thoughts and recap of the draft:

Hovav:

I really enjoyed this mock draft, with some very high level fantasy mindes, and I think it was also useful to see in which area certain players were selected.

As far as the teams are concerned, I think Tamir and Zilber have built the strongest teams in terms of Value but both are not balanced enough, Levin has built an excellent punt ft% team (despite Jonas) and there is no doubt that Steve has the most interesting team, even if it is not impressive in the projections.

As far as my team is concerned, I think there's a good base there to compete for a championship (hey, I have Jokic) but it's certainly not balanced enough (very weak blocks and rebounds) and unfortunately it's just a mock so you I can't make trades.

Hope everyone has a good covid-less season!

Dikman: 

This was fun, and more importantly, I think that compared to most mock drafts that I read, it is a very solid and reliable one,and people can actually learn something from it. My favorite team is Tamir’s, and I also like Kyle’s. There is however one mistake that keeps repeating in most mock drafts that I see, and happened also here. When it comes to playing inRoto format, I Strongly believe that trying to balance out bad free throw shooters is just wrong in most cases. Once you have a couple of good punt teams, the average FT% of the other 10 teams in your league will rise to  ~81%, which is almost impossible to compete with once you have a player like Zion, Poeltl or Gobert on your roster. This is usually the area in which most value is being lost in Roto, and I strongly suggest avoiding these combinations. 

Zilber:

I had a blast, and I Thank all the people from around the globe that found the time to join. I agree with Dikman about the quality of the draft. If that was a real draft of a real league I think it was enyones game at this point. From my point of view, as Hovav mentioned, I have a high value team, but really not a balanced one. My draft philosophy is that in most leagues (except not active ones or leagues without trades) it's better to have a lot of value then to have your categories balanced. And I'm loaded with blocks, which are always pretty easy to trade. I really like Hovav’s team and Yonatan's fg% punt team.  

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