NBA Fantasy Rankings 2019-2020 (top 10 picks)

Here is my list for the first ten picks in the NBA Fantasy Draft Next season. Please let me know what you think, picks 11-20 coming soon…

1	Giannis Antetokounmpo	This might be the easiest choice of the first round. Very rarely do we see MVP’s regress substantially after they win the award. Giannis will also have a chip on his shoulder after losing 4 straight to the Toronto Raptors in the playoffs.
2	Steph Curry	Steph is expected to have a big season next year (especially while his splash brother is on the shelf) Many people have taken Steph out of their top 5 current NBA players. He will be the highest paid player in 2019-2020 seasons, expect him to show his value.
3	Nikolai Jokic	The Joker is the best passing big man in the NBA currently, and probably in history. His ability to affect the game at such an effective rate is rare. He is still young and is a part of great system under Mike Malone.
4	Anthony Davis	AD has been riddled with injuries throughout his career. But he has never played with LBJ. There will be a lot of finishing around the basket for him, and he will also be picking up defensive stats.
5	Karl Anthony Towns	Another big in the top half of the first round. We expect KAT to have a monster season, after only missing 5 games in the past 2 seasons it might be a stretch to pick him this early, but based on the past, is a risk worthy of taking.
6	Joel Embiid	Joel Embiid will have a lot more freedom and shots on the offensive end, but the addition of Al Horford will harm some of his defensive stats. It may be too much of a risk to leave him outside the top 6, after his greatness last season.
7	Bradley Beal	Beal and the Wizards have performed well without the services of John Wall. Expect Beal to put up All Star numbers while trying to prove a point to the NBA, this should be BB’s team.
8	Damian Lillard	Lillard averaged around 25/7/5 on some OK shooting percentages. He seems like he is always seeking more respect, and is never put into the conversation with Westbrook, Curry or Kyrie. This season should be one for the Blazers to start strong, while other top teams in the West had heavy movement. This would be a safe pick.
9	James Harden	James Harden will have one of the biggest challenges this season. A true “all time great” needs to prove that they can be effective in any circumstance. Houston sold off several picks and Chris Paul to get Russ, and it is up to Harden to learn how to win with him, again.
10	LeBron James	This is the lowest ranked we have seen Lebron in a very long time. This is also the first time he would be ranked lower than one of his own teammates. Lebron’s season is going to go 1 of 2 ways, either he will be MVP candidate or, dare I say it, he is going to regress; there is no in between.

NBAEastern Conference: It’s Wiiiiide Open

Demarre Carol of the Toronto Raptors is the biggest name to move inter-conference out East. In a recent interview he stated that “the Eastern Conference is wide open, and there is no clear cut champion.” For the past 5 seasons Lebron James has been in the Eastern Conference Finals. His last appearance was probably his hardest, as 3 of his most important teammates were absent. Im talking about Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao, and Kevin Love. It’s my belief that with these three pieces, the Cavaliers will be less efficient, until they build a strong chemistry. The finals is not a proving ground. This means that respect and tactics must already be there. Adjustments and learning happen before the finals, not during. The team with the most preparedness will win. That’s it.

 

I think there are going to be some huge surprises this year in the NBA. We are about at the 1/4 mark. And there have been a lot of surprises. Let’s go through 4 groups/ tiers of teams that are in the Eastern conference. They are split into 4 groups. The Beasts of the East, The Playoff Contenders, The Playoff Outliers, and The Bottom Feeders.

The Beasts of the East

These are the teams everyone was expecting to be good (but not great). The Cavs, the Bulls, and the Heat. All of these teams have a +.600 winning percentage. Their rosters have not changed a whole lot since last season. Right now they are healthy. These three teams can go head to head with any team in the league, and have a good chance of winning. Right now they are the favourites to win at least one play-off round, maybe even two.

The Playoff Contenders

These guys are tricky. They have solid rosters, but many changes over the offseason means they might be able to perform as a unit down the stretch. The teams in this tier include: Pacers, Hornets, Raptors and Hawks. I think the biggest surprise is the Charlotte team. They had some hey additions including Batum and Jeremy Lin. They have a deep roster and look like they are ready for the play-offs. All these teams had key losses, as well as key additions to their roster. It all depends on how coaching  makes adjustments down the stretch. For example, Indiana changed their offensive philosophy. After loosing Hibbert and West, they picked up Monta Ellis, and joined the small-ball side.

Play-Off Outliers

This group of 5 teams is very interesting. They have the potential and talent to make it to the playoffs, but experience and chemistry are their biggest issues at this point. These teams include: Magic, Celts, Wizards, Pistons, and Knicks. These teams are fairly young, and are on the good side of a rebuild. The only surprise here is the Wizards. They went from a deep play-off run last year, to struggles this year. They lost one of their leaders in Paul Pierce, and essentially replaced his minutes with Otto Porter. I can see these teams being very good in 2-3 seasons if they continue to develop young talent. The Knicks’ have good young core of Grant, Porzingas, and Galloway. I expect them to take the final play-off spot.

Bottom Feeders

These guys are almost definitely headed to the lottery in 2016. The Bucks and Nets are looking like teams who need a couple weeks off. They do not have clear leaders. They have talented rosters but they are not playing to their level. The Sixers are most likely getting Ben Simmons in July.

This brought me to my last point: average age. This is a list of the current NBA Eastern Conference and their average age.

 

Love to Lebron’s Kingdom, who wins?

 

A few weeks ago a significant trade occurred between two teams in opposite conferences. The Cleveland Cavaliers sent the past two number 1 draft picks, as well as a first-rounder in 2015 for the services of Kevin Love, from the Minnesota Timberwolves. I consider this trade as one of the more significant ones in recent history because it has the potential for many ripple effects that can change the entire NBA. Personally I think Minnesota is the winner in this deal, receiving Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennet, and a 1st rounder in 2015. Kevin Love did not prove himself as being worthy or capable of building a team around. The trade gives Wiggins a chance to develop as a #1 option on a young and fast team. He does not have to live in the shadow of anyone, and can bring success to a team that has not experienced it in a while. 

On the other hand I think receiving Kevin Love has negatively impacted the Cavaliers organization. Their team has been thrown into championship conversation, which is insane. Let’s compare the 2010 Heat to 2014 Cavs. They both had 2 all-star caliber role players in Wade/ Bosh and Irving/ Love. But their is a huge difference when it comes to one aspect of the pairs’ game. Defense. Let’s be frank. Irving and Love are dynamic offensive players, but they have lackluster D. Wade is an extremely good shot-blocking guard.  And Chris Bosh can guard any big in the NBA. Defense wins championships. And the 2014 Heat have a better chance of winning it all than the Cavs.

The last thing I wanted to touch on is the landscape of the conferences in the NBA. The young talent is now going to the West, while the East is loading up on stars. For example, this offseason brought stars such as Pau Gasol, and Kevin Love to the Eastern Conferences. Just something to watch as the season progresses.

Stay Tuned for more from the illestrator.

Raptorsnation, Justified or Over-Hyped?

Competitive sports has different meanings to different people. For me, sport is a exceptional way for people to learn life skills, and understand their own limitations. As far as I can remember, I have been a Raptors fan. The game, the players, and the crowd has always been intriguing to me. From the days of TMAC, Antonio Davis, Mo Pete, and let’ not forget the greatest ever player to wear the uniform, Air Canada Carter. 

The season the Raptors eclipsed for 48 wins, the most ever in Raptors History. They also achieved the Atlantic Division Championship. All the while they were supposedly tanking for a stocked 2014 draft class. THe purpose of this blog is to talk about the level of respect that comes with being a great team. Many teams have a good season, and even good playoff runs, but that does not mean respect. 

The history of the league shows that the teams who are good on a constant basis will be remembered. Some of these dynasties include the 60′ Celtics, the 80’s Lakers and the 90’s Bulls. These teams were not only made to win, but to dominate every competitor. 

This brings me to my last and final point, concerning the Toronto Raptors.They have  team who definitely over-achieved last year. But  last year is the past, and motivation to do better is on most of the players’ and staff’s mind. The general manager before Masai was Bryan Colangelo. And he came into a environment that was pretty bad. He tried to fix it, but after one step forward, he took two leaps back. The next chapter has already begun.

Motivation Challenge

Present day marketing is constantly trying to appeal to the emotional side of people. Without leaving a memorable feeling for a viewer, a commercial will most likely fail to do its job. FOr this post I searched motivational sports videos on YouTube. I found one that is exceptionally produced. It is called “Best Basketball Skills Training Motivational (Be Blind) – I’m Possible Training (Sail-Awolnation)” by ImPossibleTraining. The video really touches the inspirational side of me.In most cases, people in general have fears. These fears can sometimes come from being too scared to do what they want to do, or what they feel is right.

This might sound really deep for a sports video, but there are metaphors a lot of unconventional places. The video has opened my eyes to a different viewpoint of accomplishing goals. Check it out!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VueEh2hvNIE

“Best Basketball Skills Training Motivational (Be Blind) – I’m Possible Training (Sail-Awolnation).” YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 16 July 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYrmKlAR0g0&gt;.

Female Superstars Coming out of Canada

I know this blog was supposed to be about basketball. However, I wanted to broaden the subjects that I covered, especially since the majority of basketball news is not generated during summer.

Keeping up summer trends, I wanted to touch on the Wimbledon Tournament happening in London, England. Through watching this tournament I got to see some facts about Canadian Athletes. Our two youngest, most promising, tennis stars made a large splash in England. Milos Raonic, a 23 year old, who grew up in Thornhill Ontario, surprised many by making it all the way to the semi-final. Though his story is huge for Canadian tennis, there is an even bigger story.

Eugenie Bouchard, a 20 year old Quebec native has shocked the world. She made the final, but lost valiantly to a tough opponent. But she knocked out several worthy tennis stars on her way to 2nd place.

This brings me to my point, that ties to the title of the post. It seems like female athletes in Canada fair much better against international competition, compared to  their male counterparts.

Seeing how there is global trend of soccer fans, let’s look at the history of Canada in FIFA. As of June 2014 the Men’s National team was ranked 110th. They have seen a large decline since 2007, when they were ranked 55th. The women on the other hand are ranked 7th in the world, on a steady improvement over the past 5 years.

Just to prove this is not a coincidence, I also checked out the FIBA rankings.The Canadian women are ranked 9th compared to the men, ranked  25th. Comment with thoughts.

Jennifer, Quinn. “Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard bowed but not broken.” The Toronto Star 5 July 2014, sec. Sports: n. pag. Print.7

http://www.fiba.com

http://www.fifa.com

Canadian Basketball Prospects

It’s no secret. Basketball stars are emerging out of Canada, and fast. Canadian ballers have been in and out of the NBA and other high profile basketball leagues for many decades. Very few have been considered great. Greatness in Canadian basketball can only be illustrated by one name, Steve Nash.  But a group of young men have surfaced, who might be able to follow in his footsteps.

Let’s look at the past three NBA drafts.

2011 was a big year for international players, 5 out of the first 7 picks were players that were born outside the United States. (Enes Kanter: Turkey, Tristan Thompson: Canada, Jonas Valanciunas: Lithuania, Jan Vesley: Czech Republic, Bismack Byombo: DR Congo) 

Let’s talk a little about the Canadians in the draft, firstly Tristan Thompson, out of Brampton, Ontario. He was considered to be over-hyped on draft-day. Thompson showed that even though he is undersized, he can be a double-double machine. At the time he was the highest ever drafted Canadian, at 4th overall. Drafted 29th was Corey Joseph of Ajax. Being selected by the San Antonio Spurs speaks volumes of his basketball IQ, skill, and character. After winning it all last week, the Spurs are arguably the best basketball team of the past 15 years.

On to 2012…

Two very talented Canadian bigs were selected in the draft. Andrew Nicholson of Mississauga drafted 19th overall by the Orlando Magic. And Robert Sacre from North Vancouver, taken 60th overall by the LA Lakers. Though these might not be the highest profile names, both these players spent all four years in college, adding to their overall value as professional players.

June 27th 2013

I think this was the date that made basketball fans realize what was happening within the Canadian borders. This day was the first time  2 Canadians were drafted in the lottery (first 14 picks). Anthony Bennett’s name was called for 1st overall, surprising most basketball pundits.  Kelly Olynyk was selected 13th by the Dallas Mavericks (later traded to the Boston Celtics). These two are very young and have high expectations, and ceilings. Bennett was considered one of the most diverse forwards in the class, after spending one year at UNLV. He has yet to make a big impact, but has shown flashes of promise.  Olynyk has a complex offensive arsenal for a center, and has even drawn comparison to Dirk Nowitzki.

This all culminates to the 2014 draft, being held on Thursday June 26th. This time three Canadians are projected to be lottery picks on many mock drafts. Tune in to find out. I will drop another post on what I think is the reason behind this recent surge of talent.

Thanks for reading,

92dt

Quick Quote

Sport is a preserver of health. -Hippocrates

• “2011 NBA Draft Results Round 1”. ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
• “2011 NBA Draft Results Round 2”. ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
• “2012 NBA Draft Results Round 1”. ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
• “2012 NBA Draft Results Round 2”. ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
• “2013 NBA Draft Results Round 1”. ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
• “2013 NBA Draft Results Round 2″. ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 22, 2014.

What happened i…

What happened in the past is just that, the past. Champion or not.

-Steve Nash