2019-20 Fantasy Basketball: Industry Best Ball Draft

Draft season is rapidly approaching with Fantrax getting ready to launch its Best Ball Cash Leagues. We invited a number of fantasy basketball professionals to take part in an Industry Best Ball draft, with interesting results. Managers drafted a total of 20 players, comprised of eight guards, eight forwards, and four centers. It is a points league, based on the NBA points scoring format. In this head-to-head league, Fantrax automatically selects the 10 best players from each team. These 10 players are limited to four guards, four forwards, and two centers.

What?! You didn’t host last year’s fantasy basketball league on Fantrax? Inconceivable!! Check out all the features of Fantrax Fantasy Basketball Commissioner and we’re pretty sure you’ll come around to our way of thinking.

Managers were then asked to discuss their two favorite picks with the feedback compiled below. The results of the best ball draft can be found at the bottom of the page, with the draft order as follows:

1. Kyle McKeown (Basketball Monster)
2. Brendan Woodward (Fantrax)
3. Alex Rikleen (Rotowire)
4. Adam King (Fantrax)
5. Mike Apotria (Hoop-Ball)
6. Greg Ehrenberg (Basketball Monster)
7. Matt Smith (Basketball Monster)
8. Scott Bogman (In This League)
9. Tim Wagner (Fantrax)
10. Alex Barutha (Rotowire)
11. Jordan Schultz (Hashtag Basketball)
12. Josh Lloyd (Basketball Monster)

Best Ball Draft Analysis – What were your two favorite picks?

Matt Smith (Basketball Monster)

Terry Rozier at pick 79 – Rozier should have a breakout season in Charlotte. In Head-to-Head and Rotisserie leagues his terrible field goal percentage will be a major negative. However, in this points leagues with the scoring system we have, he can miss as many shots as he likes and it won’t hurt his output. Rozier’s counting stats will be huge which should result in him being a top 50 player in this format.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at pick 90 – Gilgeous-Alexander is in for a huge uptick in minutes in OKC. He will likely start at shooting guard while also playing backup point guard behind Chris Paul. When Paul misses games Gilgeous-Alexander’s usage and production are going to go through the roof. He could easily finish inside the top 50 in all fantasy formats, so getting him in round eight in any league is a massive steal.

Kyle McKeown (Basketball Monster)

Trae Young at pick 25 – I was able to grab Trae Young with the 25th pick to open the third round. Young is expected to play close to 35 mpg this season, and that’s going to help him likely secure second-round value in standard points leagues. Considering I still needed to draft my first guard-eligible player, it felt like a steal getting Young there.

Chris Paul at pick 49 – My other favorite pick was Chris Paul to kick off the fifth round. Paul projects to offer second-round per-game value this season if he remains with Thunder. Here, he is expected to play a larger role than he did in Houston. Paul comes with injury risk and concern that he’ll regress due to age, but the opportunity to put up great counting stats for points leagues is going to be there.

Alex Barutha (Rotowire)

Kent Bazemore at pick 154 – Prior to suffering an ankle injury last season in late December, Bazemore was a staple of the Hawks’ rotation. Through his first 35 appearances, he averaged 28.5 fantasy points in 27.4 minutes. It would surprise me if he saw fewer minutes than that on the Blazers considering how thin the team is on the wing. Getting any player that could legitimately average close to 30 fantasy points past pick 150 is a steal.

Goran Dragic at pick 130 – While the Heat adding Jimmy Butler will likely result in decreased usage for Dragic, the latter is arguably the only true point guard on the team. Dragic didn’t play well last season, but he was coming off knee surgery that sidelined him from mid-December through late February. Even still, Dragic still managed to contribute 28.8 fantasy points per game across his 22 starts. He should still be able to produce at that level with Jimmy Butler in town. I’m very happy to get him at pick 130.

Mike Apotria (Hoop-Ball)

Jaren Jackson Jr. at pick 68 – At one point during the fourth round I was a little upset with myself. Centers were flying off of the board and two of my top options available were Jonas Valanciunas and Hassan Whiteside. Generally, I would choose Jonas any day of the week, but I knew Jackson was still on the board. I did not want to have both members of the Memphis frontcourt as they could ultimately eat into each other’s value slightly. So I went Whiteside hoping I could get Jackson a little later and it worked. I believe Jackson is due for some pretty amazing things this season. While he is better in roto leagues this was still a steal in the sixth round.

Marc Gasol at pick 125 – I mentioned centers were flying off of the board, but one hung around longer than he should have. Gasol saw his numbers and minutes dip drastically once he was traded to the Raptors. However, as soon as the playoffs began he averaged 30.6 minutes. With Kawhi Leonard gone there is going to be a ton of usage to go around. The obvious options to get some extra shots would be Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam. That being said, Gasol should get a decent share as well. Not to mention, if things start to head south for the boys up north, Gasol would make for a valuable trade chip. From there, he would likely start for any team in need of a center. I am by no means expecting the same numbers that were put up in Memphis, but they will surely be better than the ones he put up during the regular season with Toronto.

Jordan Schultz (Hashtag Basketball)

DeAndre Ayton at pick 35 – I was honestly shocked that Ayton was available this late in a points league best ball draft. I’m expecting a bump in points, rebounds, blocks, and steals for the big man’s sophomore season. He’s a perfect upside complement to Embiid and Kawhi that could turn into a legitimate fantasy star in this scoring setting as soon as this year.
Marcus Smart at pick 110 – I love Smart’s ability to rack up defensive numbers from the guard position, especially in a points league. With the Celtics swapping out Kyrie for Kemba I don’t see a superstar leap in the mix for Smart, but he’s a great depth guard option who’s defense gives him the potential to go off for 40 fantasy points on any given night.

Adam King (Fantrax)

Derrick Favors at pick 76 – Favors played only 23 minutes per game last season, ending as the 73rd ranked player in this format. He is back in his preferred position as the starting center and should see an increase in playing time. Favors last played in excess of 30 minutes per game in the 2015/16 season. He was the 34th ranked player in this format during that time. Granted, he is four years removed from that season, but he is also still on 28 years old. Hitting that mark once again may be asking a lot, however, the top-50 is certainly an attainable goal.

Derrick White at pick 141 – White finds himself in an interesting situation this season. DeJounte Murray is set to return to the court after missing 2018/19 with a knee injury. In Murray’s absence, White was able to establish himself as the starting point guard. He is an excellent defender and certainly has the ability to average at least one steal and one block per game. The issue is the lack of his ability to score from the perimeter with consistency. Murray and DeMar Derozan also struggle with this aspect making time on the floor together hard to fathom. That being said, I do think White and Murray could share the floor at some point given their ability to defend at an elite level. The return of Murray caps White’s upside but I maintain he can carve out a sizeable role.

Brendan Woodward (Fantrax)

Scott Bogman (In This League)

Clint Capela at pick 32 – My favorite pick in this draft was Clint Capela in the third round (32 overall). Last season Capela was 28th in Fantasy Points Per Game in this scoring format. The #1 most assisted play last season was Harden to Capela and the #2 most assisted play was Westbrook to his big man Steven Adams. Capela is already much higher in points due to the fact that we don’t need to worry about his FT%. 19-20 should be his best season yet!

Kyle Lowry at pick 45 – My second favorite pick is probably Kyle Lowry in the fifth (45 overall). He was a top-40 scorer last season with Kawhi Leonard on the team. Now that Kawhi Leonard and his 30% Usage Rate (16th highest in the league) are gone, I think Lowry can add even more in this format. Lowry had his lowest scoring average (14.1 PPG, 16.6 since the 10-11 season) since joining the Raptors in 12-13. He will have to step up with an entire season of no Leonard or DeMar DeRozan. His two highest Fantasy scoring seasons have been when he averaged the most points. I believe he can get back over 40 FPPG which would have him in the top 26 players last season.

Industry Best Ball Draft Results

Adam is your go-to man for anything fantasy basketball related. Follow him on twitter @adamking91 or hit us up @fantrax or @fantraxnba

Here are Adam’s positional rankings to get you ready for opening tip-off: Point Guard Rankings and Tiers | Shooting Guard Rankings and Tiers | Small Forward Rankings and Tiers  | Power Forward Rankings and Tiers | Center Rankings and Tiers

No matter which format you play, FantraxHQ has the fantasy basketball rankings you need: Head-to-Head Rankings | Points League Rankings | Roto League Rankings | Category Rankings

Fantrax was one of the fastest-growing fantasy sites of 2018 and we’re not slowing down any time soon! With multi-team trades, designated commissioner/league managers, and drag/drop easy click methods, Fantrax is sure to excite the serious fantasy sports fan – sign up now for a free year at Fantrax.com.