Third Round Pick Strategy

The third round is now upon us. we have Milwaukee against Toronto, and Golden State against.... Portland! I'm sure many of you, like me, have used some Portland players already. We had Game 2 on a day where only Denver and Portland played and Denver was up convincingly 1-0, so it made sense to grab a Blazer (I took McCollum). And facing elimination in Game 6, I got Damian Lillard picked. I'm certain I am not alone. Fortunately, on Google Drive, I got Jokic picked too when they were down 2-1, so not all was lost. The good news is that these errors shouldn't hurt you too bad moving forwards. Golden State, even if banged up, should make quick work on the Blazers. Additionally, almost everyone in this game picked Blazers so it's not like you are the only one scrambling here in the third round.

Tonight, we have Game 1 between Golden State and Portland. Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins are not close to returning yet. This means your best move is to start with a Golden State player that will see increased usage with both these guys out. In Game 5 against Houston, Andre Iguodala got 38 minutes and put up 22 PRA. He would be a solid play. Klay Thompson will assume a much larger scoring role for Golden State with Durant out, so he would also make a solid play. Draymond Green will be asked to take on a larger offensive role and could return to the triple double stat lines he used to routinely get in the pre-Durant era. My pick tonight goes to Draymond.


Comments

  1. Good analysis, totally agree. I also think the Warriors should win easily, especially in game1 after that hard game7 for the Blazers. I can even see a blowout here. Taking that into consideration, and also given the fact that he has been playing better lately, I am taking Kevon Looney today. Risky, but I expect a good score from him. And saving my best guns just in case the eastern finals get complicated and we need to use the best players there. So we may need a few Warriors in the Finals

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  2. I'm busted this year having avoided Harden and Jokic. People are taking Portland too lightly. Collins has upped his game, Turner was clutch in game 7 and Lillard and McCollum can match the splash brothers. If Hood can play, Blazers are deeper by a lot.

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    1. Perhaps. However, based on what I know about NBA dynasties, I would expect nothing less than the Warriors prevailing. We get these darling teams every year that we think can be the one, and every year we learn that no, the Portland's of the NBA are not the one to topple the dynasty. Even without Durant, this is still Golden State. I'll let Portland prove me wrong. I hope I'm wrong. I don't really like Golden State.

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  3. Andre Iguodala is tonight's invisible man, he's got 5 at the half including 0 points make that 0 shot attempts! I took Green on GD but Iguodala on FP.

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    1. Almost chose Iggy (due to KD absence).

      Picked Aminu

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    2. Lol sucks to be me. Iggy had 2 more 🤮

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    3. Saved some Blazers role players for home games. That’s where some will play better.

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  4. So what do tou guys think of the NBA draft lottery?

    Here’s my take..

    I think it was fixed. Here’s why...

    This new format is meant to discourage tanking, and the league office is determined to do that by (1) giving the Suns the finger and (2) preventing the Knicks from getting 1st pick, effectively putting those two out there as an example on why teams should not tank to get good draft picks.

    Also (3) giving Memphis (6% chance) and (4) NewOrleans top4 picks as an example that you can still not tank yet get a good pick.

    Lakers getting a top4 pick, it’s the league wanting to put LeBron back to the playoffs with a reinforcement from the pick (or as trade bait for another big fish)

    Also that top prospect Dion I think they want to give to a small market to level the playing field. Not to big markets like NY or LA

    I can understand why they had to fix it to reinforce the new NBA under Silver... but it’s still fixed

    There, I said it

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    1. As Knicks fan it's a non stop joy over the last years xD I had some hope to turn it around next season (who wouldn't dream of having Zion, Kyrie and KD), and it will probably be Rozier, Morris and Knox. Anyway, I will keep enjoying to watch great players no matter of the team

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  5. Hey Jason,

    I looked over the players I selected and I made a mistake last night. I picked Kantor on Portland BUT I already picked him on May 1st (Por vs Denver). Please change my 29 points for Kanter to a big fat "0"!

    Sorry about that everyone. I will be more careful going forward.

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    1. Thanks for the heads up. I usually catch that sort of thing when updating the team tabs, but it's much easier to get a heads up, so it's very appreciated to have it posted so we know! Happens.

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  6. Easy save pick today with Niko Mirotic before Brogdon takes his minutes away (if not already late). And let's see what happens. I have the Raptors as my favourite, but it will be a close series.

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  7. I'm rolling with Andre Iguodala tonight. Gotta pick him while the minutes are up.

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  8. I am picking Klay, not because of the minutes, but the much bigger usage rate without KD

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  9. Well calling Andre Iguodala the invisible man in G1 was apparently NOTHING compared to tonight; he has 1 PAR (1 assist) at the half having played 15 minutes ONE! The legendary Timofey Mozgov ZERO had a slight excuse of (unexpectedly) low minutes, but this maybe the worst PAR with 15+ minutes he's even even worse then Danny Green's 4 if he doesn't come to life in the 2nd half. Speaking of life is he even alive or is the boxscore randomly counting minutes?!

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  10. 64 points from the Bucks in the 1st half, guess how many Eric Bledsoe has? NONE! Three straight games of house building because my picks forget how to SHOOT THE DAM BALL!

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    1. Looks like he turned that on got 8 points 20 PAR overall and BEAT Middleton!

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  11. Got 21 FP from Lowry G2. Forgot that guy needs to heat up per round. Next up..

    Kawhi G3 East

    And Curry G3 West

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  12. Definitely not my year in the Playoffs game. Siakam just disappeared with foul trouble. I spent all my luck in the regular season. Today Mo Harkless, tomorrow Kawhi for me

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  13. Green was the blast of the night with 45 (GD)/48 (FP) DARN I used him in G1 (GD) and 2 (FP) he had respectable/good games but tonight was a steal!

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