Your fantasy draft - and you've got pick #4

No mincing words here - the 2008 MVP is up for picking. Kobe Bean Bryant. Now you have to be prepared once you pick him. Sure, get ready for pick #17. But more importantly, you have to be ready for the stream of jokes, live or online, with some form of "Tell me how my ass tastes" involved. It very well could be the most popular permutated team name once it gets around nba.com and Yahoo censors. I say you've gotta go pre-emptive and shave Gary on your head. "My pick, and it tastes like victory, is Kobe Bryant." "I don't know about Shaq's ass, but y'all can kiss mine after I win this year, I'm picking Kobe." You've got a few months, think of something. Anyway, corresponding Brady Bunch episode - Peter gets the part of Benedict Arnold in the school play. What the hell was up with this junior high? It was a part in the play - Peter was not actually a traitor, give the voice-cracking f*cker a break. It's like hating Matt Damon as a person and in future roles because he tried to screw over Brendan Fraser in "School Ties". And did this part seem overly large? I know BA played a part in the Revoluitonary War, but hello? General Washington. Continental Congress. Ben Franklin. Thomas Jefferson. These are your money players. Did we really need Benedict's death scene? C'mon, get realz.

Kobe stats

PPG - 28.3
3PG - 1.8
RPG - 6.3
APG - 5.4
SPG - 1.8
BPG - 0.5
TOPG - 3.1
FGAPG - 20.6
FG% - 45.9%
FTAPG - 9.0
FT% - 83.9%

Now if you're in a non-TO league, you have to give consideration to Kobe as a #1 or #2 overall pick. But that 3.1 in a TO league is a serious number. With the ball in his hands so much, he's going to hand it over a pantload. Same deal with LeBron (we'll get to him soon enough). You could go the strategy of picking the high TO guys, but ones that can pump you up in other categories, e.g., Steve Nash, Josh Smith, Allen Iverson, then further down to Hedo Turkoglu, Gerald Wallace, Dwight Howard, and if your draft has 23 rounds, Eddy Curry.

Get your red flags out - he's going to be spent after a long playoffs, surgery, Olympic ball. All, true, so you'll have to keep an eye on him post-Olympics. Anything wrong, and you'll have to bump him up. But let's assume Kobe is Kobe. Who do you get at #17 to work with him? I think the key for Kobe is that he gets to the line a lot and makes a great amount of them. Kobe's 84% is much more valuable than Nash's 91%. I like a guy, preferrably a big, who can enhance the FT's, because this will help in points and FT%, a couple of great cats to lock up. The boldest strategy is to go with someone who is a good bet to play half the year, Yao Ming. You have to do some serious homework on him to see if he is ready come November. If you nab him at 17, I think you have to go with someone Center-eligible at 24. Now you're talking about not getting a guard until pick 37. Or go guard at 24, then center eligible at 37. Someone will take Yao in the early rounds; either you are a Yao guy or not. Personally, I'm not, but what are you going to do? With the potential breakdown factor of Kobe and Yao, be prepared to be a waiver wire wizard this year. And get ready to pick up whatever Timberwolf forward not named Jefferson starts getting major burn.

At #17, I'm looking at a second scoring threat to go with Kobe. You'll need someone who can score on those weeks LAL has 2 games. Iverson tickles my fancy; say goodbye to turnovers, but you could be watching ESPN's Friday night West Coast game and have them both go for 40 - now wouldn't that be freakin' sweet, Mr. Griffin? Baron Davis would be a nifty little Staples Center duo, n'est pas? And if any of the scoring bigs happen to fall, like Bosh, Boozer, or Duncan (notice Pau Gasol is not on this list), you'd have to go for one of those. And is this the spot where Nash should land? As good a spot as any. I'm thinking that he's a guy that doesn't give you the full 82 games, but the West is so tight, he'll have to but his back out there every night.

So here's my list of options to go in the 2nd round if you picked Kobe:
1a) Chris Bosh
1b) Tim Duncan
1c) Carlos Boozer
1d) Yao Ming
2) Allen Iverson
3) Baron Davis
4) Paul Pierce (well aren't you just too cute)

For round 3, I'm going with another scorer. If someone's left in the above list, nail it, but add to your list Kevin Martin and Vince Carter. I'd throw Jason Richardson in there, but that drunken mess of a Bobcat roster has me freaked out seven ways to Sunday. Round 4, I want another scorer; I'd say Melo, but he won't last to #37 as he is going to be overvalued by somebody. Target Iguodala and Joe Johnson. You already have a high turnover team, might as well bring them all on. And Dwight Howard would be nice here. In this spot. Not earlier. And if you have with Kobe another high volume/high percentage FT guy like Kevin Martin or Allen Iverson.

With Kobe on your roster, I say make him the foundation for a scoring juggernaut, at least with the top four or five on your roster. That means goodbye TO's and blocks. Also, it means none of these guys as high picks - Camby, Kirilenko, Kidd, Odom, Rasheed (but you could do Duncan or Yao). You'll need a PG, so I'm looking at Mo Williams somewhere around round 5 or 6. Your 5, 6, and 7 picks are where you're going to flesh things out on the roster. Put these guys with your scorers and you might have something: Rondo, Bogut, Chandler, Gooden. And if you really like the points, take Kevin Durant in round 6 - not half bad in the 2nd half of 08.

Anyway, picking Kobe means you have to seriously counteract a deficiency in one of your top players - turnovers. In your non-TO leagues, that's out the window; I might move him up to #2. I say with Kobe, load up on scorers, get ready to trade in December to round out the roster, and stay hot on the free agent market for rebounds and blocks guys. Now go have some Nutella. Now, if you have pick #5, you may want to employ this same strategy, say if you picked ...

Your fantasy draft - and you've got pick #3

Here's the part of the draft where things get muy interesante, muchachos y muchachas. You've got pick number 3 (corresponding Brady Bunch episode emotion - Greg meets Don Drysdale; very cool moment, but don't get all uppity and start thinking your shizznit don't stink). Right now, you can pick someone and think to yourself, did I make the right pick? Do I take Kobe and his 28 points per game and high percentage and volume free throws, even though he's going to take 20 shots and turn it over a bunch? (In your non-turnover leagues, I'm seriously thinking about taking Kobe at #3.) Do I take LeBron and his 30 ppg and chance for a triple-double every night but take hits with turnovers and free throws? (I would be looking at LeBron if I'm picking in the middle of the draft - say picks 5 or 6 in the first round, because you will definitely need the right guys to counteract his deficiencies and you don't want to be 18 picks between players and watch all the right guys fall off the board.) You could make a case for Dirk, too (who will be an excellent pick in the latter half of the first round). Or you could go with the guy who has been at the top of the draft for years and may have his first ring by this time now:

Kevin Garnett

PPG - 18.8
3PG - 0.0
RPG - 9.2
APG - 3.4
SPG - 1.4
BPG - 1.3
TOPG - 1.9
FGAPG - 13.9
FG% - 53.9%
FTAPG - 4.7
FT% - 80.1%

The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, now NBA champeen. The guy you wanted at #1 for years. Now you've got him at three and you will also get one of the top #18 fantasy players in the league (perhaps higher if you've got a couple of idiots in your league). He's getting up there in age, but still not too bad. You have to watch out for injuries because he plays so balls to the wall. And if you've had him any of the last few years, you have to worry about him come (fantasy) playoff time - with the T'wolves, it was season ending "injuries". With the Celtics, it is clinching a high seed then rest in late March/early April.

Okay, you've got KG, what's next for picks 18 and 22? Well, looking at KG's numbers, you can see that he is no longer a 20 and 10 guy. With his age and the way the Celtics are set up, you can see him getting 20 and 10 in some games (say a Game 6 of an NBA Finals), but not averaging a 20 and 10. I think he would be great to pair up with someone who can do that, like a Carlos Boozer or an Al Jefferson or a David West. Then, you're left taking the best guard available at 22.

With KG's shooting percentages so high, I think you can make a gamble with a scoring guard/SF who may not have the highest FG%. That puts AI, Boom-Dizzle, and Rashard Lewis into the mix. 18 is too high for Vince Carter; I don't want Paul Pierce - here is a case where 2 top teammates can hurt you, too much volatility, and you'll be pissed the night it is Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo's turn. I'm on a wait and see with Gilber Arenas. If he's ready to go November 1, he could be your man. I think Manu Ginobli is interesting here if completely healthy - the Spurs may be falling back to the pack soon, but I think they will be raging against the dying of the light and Manu and Duncan will be pressing to stay relevant. So if Duncan falls to 18, you've got to grab him.

Anyway, may suggestion if you get KG at #3 your picks in rounds 2 and 3 - one of the top big men left: Duncan, Boozer, Jefferson, or West; then a scoring PG/SG/SF. I think you'll need 2 scorers out of these picks; you don't want to have to pick up Ben Gordon later. Of course, if you really wanted a scorer, you could pick the guy I have at #4 .....

Your fantasy draft - and you've got pick #2

I've made my pick at #1 - Chris Paul. If you're coming after me, you've got your pick of everyone else, so enjoy. As Mr. Roarke said, "Smiles, everyone!" While not Numero Uno, still, #2 is pretty good. Unless you have your sights set on one and only one player and that guy is gone, you are sitting pretty sweet. (Corresponding Brady Bunch episode emotion: potato sack races in the backyard. Everybody is having a grand old time on the Astroturf, save one - Jan Brady; here you have the pick of the litter, save one, and I have just compared Chris Paul to Jan Brady. In the end, all nine in the cast are jumping in sacks at the end. That's how I like to think of my fantasy team, nine guys in potato sacks on Astroturf.)

Go ahead, pick Dan Gadzuric if you want. Might I suggest a slightly better option, for the man who likes beef:

Amare Stoudemire

Here are his '07-'08 numbers:

PPG - 25.2
3PG - 0.1
RPG - 9.1
APG - 1.5
SPG - 0.8
BPG - 2.1
TO - 2.2
FG% - 59.0%
FT% - 80.5%

Man, Amare was tight last year, especially after Phoenix was de-Matricized (28.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg). Pardon me for not noticing sooner, but when did STAT become a money free throw shooter? He's around the rim all game, so he's going to get to the line, roughly 9-10 times a game. Let's see how he does with Diesel all year. That engine is sure to break down over the course of the year. Expect pace to go down slightly next year without D'Antoni, but I don't see Terry Porter completely revamping the offensive system for a Van Gundy-like slowdown game.

Okay, you've got STAT, now it's time to see who will be there at 19 and 22 (assuming you're in a 10 team league). Well, you'll eventually need help with threes. You couldn't go too wrong with either Rashard Lewis (a hair too high, n'est pas?) or Kevin Martin (there's a lot of questions marks on the Kings). Paul Pierce is a possibility as well. If you're going big, one of these guys may be left - Brand, Duncan, Boozer, Camby. If I have Stoudemire, here is where I seriously give thought to the Camby/Josh Smith quinella. But is locking down blocks worth it when you will have to make up for points and percentages and assists somewhere else? I think you'll have to bank on 1 of a few players being available at 39 - Monta Ellis, Jose Calderon (now with 100% less TJ Ford), or in a bit of a reach, Tony Parker. Again, if Josh Smith somehow gets SG eligibility again on Yahoo, that can become a big help in those leagues.

Anyway, someone good is going to be available at 19 - the question is, do you want a complement to Amare, or a multiplier? I say, get the best big available at 19, especially if the person who picked #1 took Paul. You've got to assume that person is going big at least once at 20/21. A top notch guard will still be there at 22.