As we approach the halfway point of the regular season let's take a look at your steals of the draft. To qualify a player must have been drafted by you and currently still on your roster. I'm generally considering players at the round they were drafted and their current round value (RV). It turns out the 8th round was a goldmine this year for value. Half the teams here found their draft hero in the 8th round. the 11/12th round also provided some decent value too.
1. Nikola Dimin' - Lauri Markannen (Drafted 8th Rnd, Current 2nd RV): This is an easy one as Lauri is have a resurgence with his new Utah home. He's averaging 22 pts, 2.7 threes, 8.3 rebs, 2.2 ast, on 53% fg and 84% ft. Most of these stats are well above career averages. Nikola Dimin' has to be loving this production at such a discount in the 8th round. Markannen seems capable of sustaining these level throughout the season, I'm sure there will be some ups and downs like any player, but the opportunities should continue to present themselves.
2. In-Season Sabbatical - De'Anthony Melton (Drafted 8th Rnd, Current 4th RV): The USC product has found some major success with his role in Philadelphia this season so far. He's currently getting fed almost 30 minutes per game and making the most of them. Averaging 12 pts, 2.4 threes, 4.5 rebs, 3.4 ast, 2.1 stl, 0.5 blk, on 43% fg and 62% ft and 1.6 TO. If we look at just the last month of play Melton is averaging almost 15 points with his minutes in the 34 minute range. ISS will hope for more production from the guard while Maxey is still out. (sorry no gif of Melton exists with him in a sixers uniform)
3. RimmyTinTin - Al Horford (Drafted 8th Rnd, Current 5th RV): There actually wasn't much variation between your drafted players and their current value, most are playing about where they were drafted - I guess that's the type of efficiency you get from an auto draft haha. I could have made an argument for Porzingis drafted at 5th round and playing at 2nd, but Horford being drafted later gave him the edge for me. Horford is providing 10.5 pts, 2.2 threes, 6.3 rebs, 2.7 ast, 1 blk on 57% fg and 0.8 TO. Horford is getting fed a healthy 30 minutes per game which is great for the old man. Even with the return of Time Lord, Horford should continue to carve out meaningful minutes for the Celtics.
4. Hard Wood Herros - Tyler Herro (Drafted 7th Rnd, Current 3rd RV): The name fits the team nicely as Tyler Herro as been a hero this year. The kid is putting up 21 pts, 3.3 threes, 6.3 reb, 4.2 ast, 0.9 stl, 0.5 blk on 46% fg and 90% ft. Getting a legitimate 35 minutes per, Herro is fully involved in the Heat offense, especially with so many Heat players missing games, there's always opportunities for the young University of Kentucky product. A special shout out to Kelly Oubre Jr. drafted in the 13th round and playing at the 5th round, but with the return of Hayward it's yet to be seen how this will affect his value.
5. Bent a Dick Mathurbating - Jaren Jackson Jr. (Drafted 11th Rnd, Current 2nd RV): Another easy one to determine. JJJ would typically be a top 50 pick if he's healthy, but starting the year coming back from more devastating injuries, JJJ slipped all the way to the 11th round. Now that he's back and playing again, he's showing why he was such an exciting player to play alongside Ja Morant. The former Big Ten Defensive Player of the year is putting up 17 pts, 1.8 threes, 6.3 reb, 0.5 ast, 0.8 stl, and 3.1 blks on 50% fg and 76% ft. JJJ's value largely comes from his extraordinary block ability, almost 5 standard deviations above the league average. Ridiculous. It'd be nice to see him distribute a little more, but who's complaining. Enjoy the 11th round low risk, and high reward draft pick.
6. Consider the Knicks - Nic Claxton (Drafted 11th Rnd, Current 4th RV): The Clax Daddy has been killing it in Brooklyn this year on the boards and defense. He's taken a big step from last year and doing his best to support KD and Kyrie. The young center is producing 12 pts, 8.7 rebs, 1.2 ast, 0.7 stl, 2.3 blks, on 74% fg, but a miserable 44% ft. Similar to JJJ, Claxton derives most of his value from rebounds, blocks, and fg%. He's become a nice anchor on the commish's squad, only hurting in ft%, but Shai does fine balancing that out. Special shout out to Randle being exactly who I thought he was. Reached for him in the 6th and playing like a 6th rounder (4th rv in last month so good for him, he's hustling for that knicks 6 game winning streak)
7. The Two-Time - Anfernee Simons (Drafted 8th Rnd, Current Value 4th RV): So I have to break my rule on the The Two-Time, practically your whole team you drafted is playing at about where you drafted them. So, although you didn't draft Simons (the brilliant commish did) he's currently your best draft value player. Simons is putting up 23 points, 4 threes, 3 reb, 4.3 ast, 0.8 stl, 45% fg, and 90% ft. Anfernee thrives when Lillard is out of the lineup alongside Jerami Grant. But even with Lillard around, Simons is still plenty productive. He's part of the Portland core and that's not changing any time soon. Simons will continue to put up numbers, especially on those days when Lillard isn't around.
8. Ballmer's Big Ballers - Andrew Wiggins (Drafted 8th Rnd, Current 3rd RV): The University of Kansas product is having another successful campaign in Golden State. He's averaging 19 points, 3 threes, 5.1 reb, 2.2 ast, 1.4 stl, 0.8 blk, 51% fg, 63% ft. The Warriors will need him more than ever with Curry going down. He's currently averaging almost 33 minutes per game, I'd expect that to bump up a little, maybe a slight drop in efficiency, but overall great value for the where he was drafted.
9. Jaspreet's Optimal Team - Brook Lopez (Drafted 12th Rnd, Current 2nd RV): The Memorial High School product (Fresno, CA) has really reinvented his game by adding a 3 point shot. The Standford Stud is putting up 14 pts, 2.1 threes, 5.9 reb, 1.1 ast, 0.5 stl, 2.8 blks, 48% fg, and 82% ft, 1.2 TO. Lopez has great overall numbers and doesn't hurt you anywhere, his value is buoyed by his blocks, but adding the three pointers really makes him such a stud with the great efficiency. He's outperforming his draft position by about 10 rounds, incredibly slept on in the draft. Nice pick! Special shout out to O.G. Anunoby (drafted 6th rnd, and current 2nd rv)
10. You're Killian Me Smalls - Buddy Hield (Drafted 8th Rnd, Current 6th RV): Because of a large volume trade, there wasn't a ton of originally drafted players of value left. Hield is producing slightly better than where he was drafted with 17.5 pts, 3.6 threes, 4.7 reb, 2.6 ast, 1 stl, 44% fg and 85.7% ft. Hield is getting solid minutes with 32 minutes per game, so he should be fine moving forward with opportunities. But this time won't really be relying too much on Hield anyway. Hopefully he can keep pulling his weight and providing solid mid-round value.
11. Injuries R. Gay - Josh Hart (Drafted 10th Rnd, Current 7th RV): Not really a sexy choice, but he is one of a few players on the team outperforming their draft position. Most of the players on this team are playing at about their drafted position or slightly below. But it's a good late round pick providing some nice mid-round value. Hart is putting up 9.5 pts, 8.4 reb, 3.8 ast, 1.4 stls, 50% fg and 73% ft and 1.6 TO. Hart is getting a solid 33 minutes per game in Portland is a great compliment piece to the Blazer's Big Three.
12. A Slice Called Quest - Nobody: So, this team is very interesting and I have to break it down differently. Anthony Davis is the only player playing at his drafted level or better, which is first round so not much to write about there. Sorry about the injury that blows. So despite the entire team playing below their drafted value, A Slice Called Quest retains 4th place. By significantly dominating fg%, reb, blks, and turnovers, he remains in the middle of the pack. Steals remain an elusive category for him to dominate, the Swedish baller may need to make a move or just have a healthy Chris Paul.
