On October 25, I had the opportunity to participate in a Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Industry Insider expert fantasy hoops league. Sounds sooo exclusive, right? Ha. Anyway, for those of you in auction leagues, you can work off this auction as a semi-guide for player values in a 12 team league. Of course, every auction is like a snow flake and player values can be altered drastically based on when they are nominated for bid, number of teams in the league, number of roster spots, etc., but you’ll get the idea.

Ok, here are the details of the league:

ESPN
12 teams
$200 budget
13 players (10 active and 3 bench players)
Active positions: PG, SG, G, PF, SF, F, C, U, U, U.
Standard 8 categories with no TOV.

Participants:

Hector Roman – hecmanhoops
Perry Missner – Rotowire
Ian Riley – RotoExperts
Mark Kaplan – All Things Fantasy
Jesse Sakstrup – Hardball Times
William Bragg – Draft Sharks
Tom Carpenter – ESPN
Mead Loop – Journalist/Professor
Madalan Weisberg – Bleacher Report
Adam Ronis/Eigel Tennes – RotoExperts
Elliot Wolbrom – Member of FSWA
Shane D – Member of FSWA

My team:

2. Kevin Durant – $87 – I made the decision that I wanted him or Lebron being that we were only drafting 13 players each and I had enough confidence that I’d be able to grab quality guys late to fill out the roster for cheap. Let’s see if it worked!

40. Goran Dragic – $25 – I waited patiently for 38 nominations before I bought another player to level the money a bit.

42. Brandon Jennings – $24 – I got caught price enforcing but happily took him at that price.

66. Brook Lopez – $20 – Was looking to fill my C spot. Added solid points/blocks/FT and a potentially great afro here.

86. Kevin Martin – $11 – At this point in the auction the prices started to downward trend and this is where I began to look for solid values. I filled my SG requirement and added solid points, threes and FT here. Pre-trade to Oklahoma City, of course.

88. Nene Hilario – $9 – You can see that I badly needed boards and blocks so I picked up Nene to help.

91. Anderson Varejao – $9 – As with Nene, this was a need based pick for boards and blocks. If he stays healthy he should be close to double-double. He better stay healthy!

100. Rodney Stuckey – $3 – Just looking for solid value and guard depth here.

105. Jameer Nelson – $3 – With only Jennings and Dragic at this juncture, I clearly needed to add some assists and Jameer fit the bill for the price tag.

107. Greivis Vasquez – $3 – Again, another value pick. Stuckey, Nelson and Vasquez all came up within 7 players of each other and I liked all of them at their price so I grabbed them.

110. Michael Beasley – $4 – At this point in the auction, I realized I only had KD at SF so Beasley fit the bill nicely for this team. If you read my Top 25 Small Forwards, you know I like him.

127. Chris Kaman – $1 – With only $3 beans left, I found myself a bit shorter on funds than I would have liked but I got a bit lucky.  As I figured, there were still quality players out there in the end game and Kaman slipped through the cracks with his injury. Phew.

132. J.J. Hickson – $2 – If you told me I’d land Kaman and J.J. Hickson for a combined $3 at the end of this auction I would have told you I had a better shot at winning the lottery but that’s how it went down. Hey, every auction is a snow flake!

Team analysis and strategy round up:

Will the team play? I think it should. With a deep player pool to work with, I spent early and built the team around Durant/Dragic/Jennings and Brook Lopez. I then patiently filled out the rest of the team with need based players. Nene, Kaman, Hickson and Varejao for boards and blocks. K-Mart, Stuckey, Nelson and Vasquez should help in the threes and/or assists department. In general my points and FT should be solid but my FG possibly suspect. For the most part, these players compliment my core 4 but who knows, let’s see how it plays out.

6 Chris Paul, LAC PG $80
27 Greg Monroe, Det C $27
34 Steve Nash, LAL PG $23
53 Jeremy Lin, Hou PG $9
58 Anthony Davis, Nor PF $19
72 Andrew Bogut*, GS C $5
77 Jason Terry, Bos SG $6
93 Glen Davis, Orl PF $3
95 Kawhi Leonard, SA SF $4
97 Luis Scola, Pho PF $7
104 Nikola Pekovic, Min C $8
109 David West, Ind PF $3
120 Bradley Beal, Wsh SG $6

1 Kyrie Irving, Cle PG $56
10 Kevin Love*, Min PF $53
24 Nicolas Batum, Por SF $22
36 Kyle Lowry, Tor PG $17
59 Tyson Chandler, NY C $8
65 Arron Afflalo, Orl SG $12
69 Damian Lillard, Por PG $13
85 Evan Turner, Phi SG $7
98 Darren Collison, Dal PG $3
112 DeMar DeRozan, Tor SG $2
121 Nikola Vucevic, Orl PF $1
131 Derrick Rose*, Chi PG $5
138 Harrison Barnes, GS SF $1

4 LeBron James, Mia SF $87
16 LaMarcus Aldridge, Por PF $50
39 Joe Johnson, Bkn SG $20
47 Chris Bosh, Mia PF $16
62 Marcus Thornton, Sac SG $11
63 Ray Allen, Mia SG $5
83 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Cha SF $3
99 Mario Chalmers, Mia PG $3
122 J.R. Smith, NY SG $1
139 Antawn Jamison, LAL PF $1
144 Richard Hamilton, Chi SG $1
148 Carl Landry, GS PF $1
152 Aaron Brooks, Sac PG $1

3 Kobe Bryant, LAL SG $53
5 Dwight Howard, LAL C $47
15 Dirk Nowitzki*, Dal PF $28
21 Rudy Gay, Mem SF $37
38 Paul Pierce, Bos SF $23
71 Manu Ginobili, SA SG $4
103 Spencer Hawes, Phi C $2
123 James Johnson, Sac SF $1
133 Andre Drummond, Det PF $1
140 Byron Mullens, Cha PF $1
145 DeJuan Blair, SA C $1
149 Tyler Hansbrough, Ind PF $1
153 D.J. Augustin, Ind PG $1

23 Rajon Rondo, Bos PG $40
28 Marc Gasol, Mem C $38
37 Ryan Anderson, Nor PF $22
46 Danny Granger, Ind SF $19
54 Tyreke Evans, Sac PG $13
60 Kenneth Faried, Den PF $9
73 Mo Williams, Uta PG $6
76 Luol Deng, Chi SF $10
79 Carlos Boozer, Chi PF $10
81 Brandon Knight, Det PG $4
84 Gordon Hayward, Uta SG $10
89 O.J. Mayo, Dal SG $7
101 Jeff Green, Bos SF $3

9 Josh Smith, Atl PF $63
12 Tim Duncan, SA PF $13
14 Deron Williams, Bkn PG $71
26 Paul Millsap, Uta PF $29
41 Kevin Garnett, Bos PF $14
94 Elton Brand, Dal PF $2
113 Samuel Dalembert, Mil C $1
114 Tony Allen, Mem SG $2
124 Jason Kidd, NY PG $1
134 Alonzo Gee, Cle SF $1
141 Shawn Marion, Dal SF $1
146 Al Harrington*, Orl PF $1
150 Kevin Seraphin*, Wsh C $1

11 Al Jefferson, Uta C $52
13 Andrew Bynum, Phi C $56
17 Pau Gasol, LAL PF $52
25 Eric Gordon, Nor SG $19
50 Danilo Gallinari, Den SF $13
125 Dion Waiters, Cle SG $1
135 Luke Ridnour, Min PG $1
142 Trevor Ariza, Wsh SF $1
147 Jamal Crawford, LAC SG $1
151 Andre Miller, Den PG $1
154 Thomas Robinson, Sac PF $1
155 Brandon Bass, Bos PF $1
156 Amir Johnson, Tor PF $1

22 Blake Griffin, LAC PF $32
32 Tony Parker, SA PG $17
33 David Lee, GS PF $23
43 Monta Ellis, Mil PG $26
44 Mike Conley, Mem PG $17
49 Paul George, Ind SG $15
52 Joakim Noah, Chi C $16
56 Andre Iguodala, Den SF $20
70 Raymond Felton, NY PG $6
80 Zach Randolph, Mem PF $15
90 Lou Williams, Atl PG $11
126 Gustavo Ayon*, Orl PF $1
136 Ramon Sessions, Cha PG $1

7 Dwyane Wade, Mia SG $73
31 Serge Ibaka, OKC C $35
51 John Wall*, Wsh PG $16
57 Jrue Holiday, Phi PG $15
61 Ben Gordon, Cha SG $4
67 Amare Stoudemire*, NY PF $11
74 JaVale McGee, Den C $9
75 Kris Humphries, Bkn PF $8
78 Isaiah Thomas, Sac PG $7
82 Klay Thompson, GS SG $13
106 Andrei Kirilenko, Min SF $5
117 Jonas Valanciunas, Tor C $3
128 Steve Novak, NY PF $1

18 Carmelo Anthony, NY SF $46
19 Ty Lawson, Den PG $44
20 James Harden, Hou SG $37
29 Jeff Teague, Atl PG $9
55 Roy Hibbert, Ind C $17
64 Ersan Ilyasova, Mil SF $18
68 Andrea Bargnani, Tor PF $18
96 Thaddeus Young, Phi SF $3
102 George Hill, Ind PG $3
111 DeAndre Jordan, LAC C $2
129 Jose Calderon, Tor PG $1
137 Brandon Roy, Min SG $1
143 Courtney Lee, Bos SG $1

8 Russell Westbrook, OKC PG $65
30 DeMarcus Cousins, Sac PF $40
35 Al Horford, Atl C $32
45 Stephen Curry*, GS PG $19
48 Marcin Gortat, Pho C $18
87 Wesley Matthews, Por SG $8
92 Gerald Wallace, Bkn SF $9
108 Chauncey Billups*, LAC PG $1
115 Kemba Walker, Cha PG $2
116 Ricky Rubio*, Min PG $2
118 Derrick Favors, Uta PF $2
119 Jared Dudley, Pho SF $1
130 Omer Asik, Hou C $1

Final thought regarding this auction is don’t be afraid to spend an extra few bucks on the guys you want when the player pool is deep. Even thought this was a 12 team league, there were plenty of solid values at the end of the auction. I knew the total number of players being auctioned and compared that to my cheat sheets and so I had a reasonable expectation of who might be available to me in the end game. Now take this information and win! You’re so clever.