KD gives me a perfect base in basically every category to build my team around now I just need to not screw up the rest of the draft.

I originally was targeting Gasol with the 7th pick and figured he'd still be there...and if not, I'd have a pretty good player still available. I love Paul George but just don't quite feel he's going to bring top 7 value. I wavered though and thought I'd maybe make the first surprise pick by taking D. Rose, thinking him fully healthy and maybe even better than pre-injury. Then when he had to sit out a preseason game b/c of soreness in his bad knee....I decided it was just too big a gamble for round 1 and I didn't want to bet my whole fantasy season on his health. I hoped he might make it back to me at 18. When he torched the Pacers for 32 points in their 2nd preseason meeting, I knew the chances of him making it back to me at #18 were remote...and I almost offered to trade Gasol for the right to pick D. Rose. Still, Gasol is multicategorically solid - esp. in assists for a big- and with there being some talk of picking up the pace there in Memphis, I thought he would be a safe pick in round 1 with even just a little upside this year while knocking out a C eligible player at the same time.

So what's changed? It sounds like Love is fully recovered and on course for a monstrous bounce back season. You only have to go back to 2011-12 to see what kind of an impact he can have, 26 ppg, 13+ Rb's, and oh, by the way, 1.9 treys. Love doesn't block shots like your normal big, and his FG% is not up to PF/C standards, but he knocks down FT's at a better than 80% clip. If he stays healthy, I think he offers top 5 value .

So George was an easy decision. I think he's good value here, and provides a solid base in points, 3s, steals and FT%. Plus, there's a pretty decent chance for him to outperform this position if he can take the Pacers on his shoulders, as expected.

As I looked at my options at 10, I felt getting a quality SF was the right way to go here. I didn't see any chance that he would be there at 15 and Anthony simply made for a good safe pick. That was important because I was thinking I may gamble a little with my second pick. Ultimately my second round pick thoughts changed the way picks 11-14 played out.

I wanted my first two picks to be a big and a PG. For the bigs, my short list (in no particular order) was M. Gasol, Ibaka, Horford, and Anthony Davis. For PGs, it’s probably Deron Williams, Derrick Rose or John Wall. With Gasol gone already, I decided to go for the block potential of Ibaka, combined with a decent FT% and even a few treys. He doesn’t rebound as" well as someone like Horford, but I thought I’d be better able to fill in boards than blocks later on."

Davis is ver"y strong almost in all stat categories, the FT%, which could be critical in this position is acceptable too. I hope this year he will avoid the injuries, and could play 30-35 minutes per game, I am expecting above 20 points, close to 10 rebounds and 2 steals and blocks average. I dont know what will be the situations with R.Anderson, maybe they could be at the same time on the court more time.

I finally decided that since the three rankings that I’m looking at all have Williams ranked slightly ahead of Rose, who am I to quibble? With a stronger team this year, Williams may not be called upon to score as much as last year, but that may also help his assists. He should provide solid top-tier PG stats.

Honestly I never expected to have a shot at D Willy or D Rose on the way back and considered both of them as an option at 10. Had Williams not had his ankle issue and negative press right now, he would have been my 10th pick. As it turned out When Rose fell to me at 15 I was shocked, especially after the fact that he put a monster game the night before. If healthy, I think he can easily be a top 3 guard.

So, the next port of call was a big man, and Al seems a good fit. With pathetic talent on show in the Bobcats frontcourt, and on their squad in general, i'm expecting Al to have to carry a major scoring load. I'll be honest, i'm looking for 20-10 with 50% FG and 75% FT. Twin that with improved block totals of hopefully nearer 2 than 1.5, and this pick will be "fine". It doesn't excite me in the slightest, but it does feel like the right move here.

The only thing missing is a lack of steals for a PG, but my sources in Portland tell me he's been working to improve his "D"

With JJ Hickson leaving Portland, Aldridge should get over 10 rbs a game to go along with his regular 20+ points. I will need to pick up sone extra blocks later in the draft.

I went with Wade because I couldn't resist his potential, but am already starting to have second thoughts. The nightmare scenario of him missing half the season beca"use of his bad knee makes me think I should have picked Nowitzki.

My second C and another 20/10 contributor with steals for a bonus.

So I'm buying the Kemba hype. He improved dramatically in his 2nd season, improving his ppg average to 17.7, assists to 5.7, and 2 steals per game. He also knocked down 1.3 treys per game. His FT % is solid and I expect and improvement in his FG %

I did consider Cousins here also, but for the sake of my own sanity, declined.

Lee ended up getting the nod. For starters he has flex between PF/C which i like since i have neither position yet. For a big man he does a lot of things really well shooting over .50 and almost .8 from the ft line. He is also a legit 20/10 guy. Putting him with Anthony and Rose in my first three makes the team really strong in scoring and FT percentage early.

Gay is a stat-stuffer, whose biggest weakness last year was his FG%, which dipped to a career low 41.6%. Off-season LASIK surgery might have corrected that.

Vucevic was a surprise for me to find him at the end of third round, bacause his rank in Yahoo is 25th. Earlier I didn't think with Nikola in my team, but I decided along him finally. Last year, he had a huge amount of rebounds, and his FT% not so bad.

Now in Dallas in a completely new backcourt combo, it’s a little hard to know exactly how things will work out. And frankly, his steals & treys – along with scoring – should solidify his value at this stage. I hope.

Millsap, Jennings and Westbrook also were briefly considered but Parker was just to solid and comfortable to pass on for one of the other three. Plus it never hurts to have a couple solid guards to anchor a team around.

It's not often you get to draft a very safe pick that has a lot of potential to also vastly outperform his draft slot. So it feels good. My only other consideration here was Duncan, but i just couldn't face selecting him, then probably being without him 50% of the time when crunch time rolls around.

TD helps almost everywhere, and won't hurt anyplace. Duncan's consistency will be an asset to my team.

If he can replicate the final month from last year in 2013-2014, I'll be thrilled

I'm willing to take the risk. It's pick #59, for crying out loud, and Kobe is perennial 1st round material. I'm relying on the Mamba for one last Laker miracle.

After reviewing the next group of SG'S , Iggy was the most interesting. In golden state, Iggy will be playing with two good shooters in curry and Thompson. His drive and dish capabilities paired with these guys should make his assist totals go up and he has always had the ability to accumulate steals. The reason he was down a notch was his poor FT shooting. I will most likely use my next pick 6.03, on another SG'S that I liked as much as Iggy if he is still there.

I am big Parsons fan, he can produce in every categoy and he is one of the best shooter from the 3 point line. Houston is a very good team, with Howard they will be in the playoffs. It's a good question, Howard's arrival how will affect th"e performance of the players."

Lin ranked #34 overall last year on the ESPN player rater. Admittedly, he’s got a different cast of characters this year that could change his numbers - and perhaps playing time – but that’s still a pretty good baseline to work from for pick #62. In the last two seasons, I’ve had trouble amassing assists, and this draft seems to be aggressively seeking PGs. Since I only have one true PG so far, I want to get another when the reach is reasonable.

To Butler, I am hoping he can score 12-14 a game, grab 5-6 boards and get 1.5 steals and 3's. He is SG/SF and he now has to perform so I don't look back at this moment in the draft with regret any more than I already do.

I'm a believer. I better be right, as i had a tough time passing on Oladipo, who Dave R, naturally, scooped up right after me.

Those numbers kind of remind me of Kirilenko in days gone bye. Maybe a reach at this point, but one that could pay big dividends.

I looked at Lowry briefly but decided against his .400 FG %. He didn't offer enough to make up for that. I thought Gmoney made some nice picks in the fifth and sixth round as I was considering Iguodala for this pick until Gmoney took him. I also really liked Butler for this draft but I thought he would be around longer.

Lowry now has a clear path to be the starting PG in Toronto. Should be good for 7 assists, 12 points and some 3s and steals. FT% is poor but the rest of my team can carry this.

Maybe I can find a true PG or some blocks with the next pick.

If healthy, I think I can expect around 13 points, 8 boards, 1.5 blocks, a few assists per game. Oh yeah, he can hit 3's as a C.

But i still only have 1 point guard, and i'm getting pretty worried about that situation. Stick to your guns, Swish. Best player available...best player available...best player available...

After a lot of scou"ring, I settled on Faried, who provides rebounding support with a smattering of hustle stats. One pundit noted that last season he was 1 of just 12 players to average 1+ steal and 1+ block per game, with most of those 12players being fantasy stars. ""Ranked #75 on the ESPN player rater last season, and room to advance at age 23. Not an exciting pick, but one that provides a decent fit with some potential for upside."

Chandler is a sold double-double producer who shoots a high FG%, and blocks about 1 per game. FT% is not great, but not a significant drag (70%-ish). Biggest downside risk is health, as he’s now 31 and missed 15-20 games in each of the last two seasons. Even with the downtime, he ranked #86 on the ESPN player rater last year in total stats, so when he is playing, he must be prodicuing good per-game value for this pick.

Gortat went higher in the draft in the past but injuries have hurt his production. When healthy I am hoping he can give me about 12 pts, 9 boards a game and block about 90 shots for the season.

I cannot ignore Evan Turner at this point. Despite being a disappointment since being drafted, he tooked some decent strides last year, and i'm pinning my hopes on his improved physique, aggressiveness and point-blank dearth of talent in Philly to amount to something of significance. And i'm comforted a wee bit by the fact i'll be getting 4+ assists out of him.

Felton's weakness is FG%, which means" he will fit right in with the rest of my team.

I also considered Varejao here but I felt the injury risk was just too high, esp. with him being quoted that he's only about “70%” healthy going into the season. Woo Hoo. Team Naptown is a 2 PG team.

That's solid, and I'm hopeful.

Plus i knew everyone would want him soon!

With both Gay and DeRozan on my roster this year, I guess I’m hoping the Raptors run and gun this year!

Carter-Williams will have a fantastic season, he will show there is life after Holiday. I needed a third PG, who will spent a lot of time on the court and dishies the ball well. His abilities are very good, I will have only "little" problems with him percentages.

At least if i'm going down in flames, i'll do it in style. Mamba Bynum style.

Burke is considered one of the front runners for ROY, with projections of 16 ppp, 3+ boards, 6.5 assists, 1.4 steals and nearly 2 threes a game. Those are numbers I'd be thrilled with, for say 65 games or so.

Hustle stats are what I was looking for here, MKG should grab 8 boards, and 1 block and steal per game. Not off the chart numbers but a reasonable return in round 11

He missed most of the preseason with a quad contusion, but did play 20 minutes last night, so I assume he’s good to go. Should be a good source of treys and scoring, with a great FT% and a FG% that is OK for a guy who hoists a lot of 3s.

I thought about Hickson as an option, especially since I already have Faried. Interesting that Hickson was the next one to drop.

Plus I couldn't allow Florian to grab all the seasoned vets.

Nothing sexy about this pick, Carter should give me this year just about what he did last year"

I don’t know what to expect from Bradley, other than that he’ll start at PG for Boston until Rondo returns. I don’t know what to expect from Boston, except that they’ll struggle to win games. I don’t know when Rondo will return. Early reports are sometime in December, but he says he doesn’t want to return until he’s ready to go full out. Remember Derrick Rose? I do – because he languished on my bench for the entire season last year. I think I’ll take the gamble in the other direction this year.

Still bummed about missing out on Lamb – even though I know there’s a good chance that Lamb will be of little value.

Well, I say I pulled the trigger; it took me almost an hour of reloading Draftime before I managed to get the player search page to load and make the selection. My wife wasn't best pleased about that, so this selection better be worth it!

This could be a wasted pick, but time will tell

Not sure what the upside is here other than 10 points and a 3 per game, but in round 15 what can you expect. I would have taken Plumlee after the Gortat trade was announced but as usual Coldwater jumped on that news. I gave consideration to Faverani here, but he's no lock to start, and I doubt his stats will be much different than my guy.

But more than that, i'll be happy to see a couple of highlight reel dunks from him before he is inevitably dispatched from my squad after his first dud.

Maybe he becomes waiver fodder, maybe Zach gets traded, or, keep in mind he is just one year removed from only playing 28 games.