Fantasy Basketball: The numberFire Hoops Writers' Draft 2018-19
Round 8
| Pick | Overall | Player | Team | Position | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 85 | Jabari Parker | CHI | SF/PF | Dale Redman |
| 2 | 86 | Serge Ibaka | TOR | PF/C | Shae Cronin |
| 3 | 87 | Dwight Howard | WAS | PF/C | Jay Kim |
| 4 | 88 | Nicolas Batum | CHA | SG/SF | Austan Kas |
| 5 | 89 | Thaddeus Young | IND | SF/PF | Jordan Sharp |
| 6 | 90 | Jaylen Brown | BOS | SG/SF | Michael Rondello |
| 7 | 91 | JJ Redick | PHI | SG | Tom Whalen |
| 8 | 92 | Evan Fournier | ORL | SG/SF | Alex McDonald |
| 9 | 93 | Darren Collison | IND | PG/SG | Sam Hauss |
| 10 | 94 | Kyle Kuzma | LAL | SF/PF | Brett Oswalt |
| 11 | 95 | Brook Lopez | MIL | C | Russell Peddle |
| 12 | 96 | Harrison Barnes | DAL | SF/PF | Ian Goldsmith |
Dwight Howard rarely lives up to his lofty ADP, since his low free throw percentage at such a high volume tends to be fantasy Kryptonite. Throw in the fact that he's going on 33 and joining his fourth new team in as many years (five if you include his couple days as a Brooklyn Net before getting bought out to join the Washington Wizards), and you can see why he headlines our bust list this year.
Lots of people are sleeping on Darren Collison this season, but not Sam Hauss. Collison has finished in the top-100 in nine-category leagues in each of his last four seasons, including a 45th-ranked finish last year (his first with the Indiana Pacers). Tyreke Evans might eat into the guard minutes a bit this time around as the Pacers' new sixth man, but our projections still put Collison at 59th in a moderate 28.7 minutes per contest.
There are a lot of mouths to feed in Boston, so Jaylen Brown might have a hard time living up to his 99.3 ADP as the team's fifth option. Even with all the injuries the Celtics sustained last year, Brown only managed to come in 157th in nine-category leagues. He's a fine young basketball player, but there's a very good chance that he's a bust this year. Our 159th-ranked projection reflects that.
Similarly, Kyle Kuzma is lined up to be a potential bust this year. He impressed as a rookie, but it'll be hard to grow on his 115th-ranked finish in nine-category leagues in year one now that there are lot more people hungry for the ball in LA in year two. We're projecting the sophomore all the way down at 142nd in our rankings, so he's not very likely to hit his 73.7 ADP.
My pick: I'm a sucker for Brook Lopez. He doesn't get you the rebounds you want from your center position, but the combination of points, threes, blocks, and sterling percentages was hard to pass up with the 95th pick. His year on the Lakers was a bust, but he's only a year removed from five straight seasons in the top-40 in nine-category leagues. I like his bounce-back potential this year, as do our projections, where he's ranked 73rd.
