One post tagged with "s5_pick3"

A lot of fuss goes into making your first pick of the seaons and many managers decided on a team direction solely on their first couple picks. This week i'd like to take a look at the top 10 picks by yahoo ADP and see where they stand compared to previous seasons. Lets see if any of these leopards have managed to changed their spots

Nikola Jokic

• Joker Dropped from the consensus first overalll with fears that at 31 time could start catching up with him. After a slowish start Nikola has only given us 3 double doubles on 8 games played. We are seeing a pretty large dip in free through value but this is counteracted by an increase in both steals and blocks. While the scoring had been slightly lower than expected we can see it trending in the right direction with 25ppg on increasing this past week. It looks like the 2 seasons of 2 triple a game Jokic has ended with him only hitting a single per game.

Victor Wembanyama

• The most interesting development wiht Wemby has been the increase in shot volume we are seeing a full 3.5 extra shot attempts per game. This has producted an increase in nightly scoring with the bean frencher averaging 29 per night. Combined with his 3.9 blocks per game, top 5 rebounding and a year over year decrease in turnovers Wembanyama has been a healthy contender for the number one draft spot.

Luka Doncic

• Luka Typically fit best on a high volume tean as his poor shooting, free throws and turnovers meant counting stats had to be your team foundation. Luka has started this season on fire, setting new career highs in triples, points and turnovers. But he's shooting 87% from the line this year on 11 attempts per game, after failing to break 80% for the past 5 years hes gone from a FT liability to a lock. While we don't expect him to finish the season averaging 6 3s, 40 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, the hot start is sure to have managers happy as he currently holds the scoring lead by 62 points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

• This is probably the first year Shai had reliable been available after Luka. Shai's game is centered around extremely high percentages providing effecient scoring and top tier steals. This year we are seeing much higher 3 point volume, hitting 39%. This has caused an expected dip in his field goal as he was mainly a rim runner prior to this season. More concerning is the departure of his steal numbers which have dropped to just 1 per game. Shai is trending upwards so as you'll see later I don't think its time to panic.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

• Antetokounmpo has been the foundation of punt Free throw starts and that is not changing this year, going 56/90 for a .622 ft%. Last year was a bit of a down year and we are seeing a bit of a bounceback from the Greek Freak, with a solid increase in minutes per game and rebounds so far this season. I don't expect to see a great assists year either as it a lot of the finishing talent on Miami was expended in the acquisition of the Milwaukee power forward

Cade Cunningham

• Cade has been just on the fringe of top 10 value for the last 2 years. He typically struggles with turnovers and his rebounding and 3 point shooting are both middling. That being said he shoots very well for a point guard going for 46% on 18 attempts. Cade actually has been incredibly consistent in replicating his performance last year just with a small dip in assists that seems due to a 3 game stretch where he only secured 7-4-7 dimes respectively.

Jayson Tatum

• After apprearing briefly at the end of last season after an Achilles tear, there has been a drag on Tatums shooting as he's a full 3% below pre-injury. However Jayson has done a massive transformation on his fantasy profile. Adding 2 whole assists and doubling his effecient free throw shooting from 5-10 attempts per game, which has counteracted the shooting effects on his total point output. The drop in rebounding will also be felt but he is blocking a bit more to make up for it.

Anthony Edwards

• Prior to dipping out for 8 weeks for knee surgery, Ant was setting career highs in 3s, steals and points while being slightly offset by a decreasing ft% on moderate volume. Hitting 4.5 triples on a bum leg leaves up excited for what he can do once he returns. He he can maintain 2 steals a game this will easily be his best season to date.

Cooper Flagg

• Defineatly the biggest year over year improvment in ADP was Cooper Flagg, very rarely does a player crack top 50 in fantasy ranking during their rookie season where he finished top 40. This year we are getting more. More points, more assists, more steals, more freethrows and more turnovers. Even with his modest 3 point production he's clearly earning his draft ranking, with a nicely rounded skill set

Jalen Johnson

• Johnson did his work last season on 35 minutes per game, this season he's down 2 minutes per game impacting both his scoring and rebounding. The signs of 3 point shooting he hinted at last season is at a 3 year low and it seems the young talent is taking the ball out of Johnsons hands resulting a 2 fewer shot attepts per game.

Well 4th in average pick but 3rd in pickles we have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. While we lamented his loss of steals, he has been ripping 3s and assits this week averaging 3.8 and 7.3 per game respectively while averaging 35 points and getting even busier from behind the line with an average of 10 attmepts per game last week. So we are glad to welcome back Shai to the fold as bread and butter pick of the week.