25/26 Main League Draft Results and Strategy Discussion
I had my first draft of the year last night (October 8th). I had the #2 pick in a 12-team nine-category league with a third-round reversal (3RR).
I opted for SGA over Wemby. In nine-cat, I prefer SGA slightly because I find him easier to build around. I’d rather pick up extra points, assists, steals, FG% impact, and FT% impact early than threes, rebounds, and blocks. I also liked my options at the end of 2 better for my SGA strategies than for my Wemby strategies. I knew there would be someone I like with SGA at the end of 2. I wasn’t sure there would be someone I really like with Wemby there (and I ended up being correct about that).
I went into the draft with the plan of punting either assists or threes. Assists was my first choice. When I was planning out my draft strategy, it felt like that was a safer option in a 3RR. I was more confident I could get my top targets in that setup. I also like punt assists this year because it takes a big chunk out of so many of the first-round picks. It makes Jokic a little less scary and makes me a big favorite against the teams led by the punt FG% guards.
My strategy when I punt assists is to go after the percentages aggressively. In that build, it is very possible to end the draft in a top position in both percentages. If you can manage that, your team will be almost impossible to top in nine-category leagues. Since you’ll be winning turnovers every week when you punt assists, any team that can’t take a percentage off you is going to be in trouble. They’d have to beat you 5-1 in the remaining counting categories to get the win. That’s going to be very tough to do, especially during weeks when you have a scheduling advantage.
Here is how the draft went:
R1) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2)
R2) Chet Holmgren (23) – Chet was my third choice in the second round, but also the guy I knew I was probably going to take. Mobley and J Dub were my top two options, but both were likely to be gone by my pick. Chet’s not a great pick from a category scarcity standpoint in round two, but he does fit punt dimes very well. He’s pretty likely to be a first-round asset in the nine-cat version of the build. He’s also a nice fit for punt assists because he does better work in threes and FT% than most strong blocks sources. Punt assists needs to place extra focus on both categories. If Chet was gone, I was going to grab Giddey and punt threes.
R3) Jaren Jackson Jr. (35) – JJJ was the top pick for me in this range. He’s a great pick from a category scarcity standpoint (especially in punt assists) because he gives you so much in the guard categories. He is basically a guard who gets blocks. He’s another player who is likely to be a first-round player in punt assists. I’m not too worried about the early-season absence. In fact, I’m happy about it because it drove down his price. I also liked JJJ here because it took a major target off the board for the punt FG% teams.
R4) Austin Reaves (38) – Reaves is a third-round player, so I had no issue taking him at 38. I’m not sure why he’s ranked in the fifth on Yahoo. He crushed it after the Luka trade last year and is a great pick from a category scarcity standpoint. I love the FT% impact that brings. Today’s LeBron news is obviously a very positive development for Reaves.
R5) O.G. Anunoby (59) – O.G. being available was a nice surprise. He’s ranked lower than this on Yahoo and his ADP is currently 65, but in a league with guys that all grew up around Toronto, I wasn’t sure he’d be there. I didn’t have him in my draft plan because I figured he’d be gone. He’s coming off an early-round finish in punt assists, and his steals give me more flexibility in R7 and R8. If I didn’t get steals here, I would have to go after Thompson or Camara hard. Ausar probably won’t be there at the end of R7 (he wasn’t), and while Camara is fine in R8, I would prefer to get points there. Anunoby won’t play as much as he did last year, but if the offensive improvement sticks, he’s going to be a stud again in punt assists. Kawhi almost dropped to me. I would have rolled the dice if he had.
R6) Deandre Ayton (62) – I was deciding between Ayton and Poeltl here. I opted for Ayton because my team needed points and FT% more than steals and blocks. I like Poeltl more this year, but Ayton felt like a better fit for this team. Through six rounds, I was feeling really good. I got five of the guys I was targeting and one guy who was a better option than my original plan.
R7) Shaedon Sharpe (83) – Sharpe is the type of player that I usually stay away from. I think he’s probably making a jump this year, but in punt assists, I don’t love players who don’t help in steals or the percentages. I picked him for two reasons. The first is that there just aren’t many quality high-scoring perimeter options in this range. I liked Pritchard here early in draft season, but now that he’s been moved up, he’s not an option. The second reason is my late-round targets. Most of the players I was planning to go after late are drags on points. If I took a player like Camara, who is projected to finish 40+ spots ahead of Sharpe in punt dimes, but is low scoring, I’m probably going to run into issues with points.
R8) Onyeka Okongwu (86) – I love Okongwu at his current price. Given who is ahead of him, it’s just a matter of time before he’s giving us early-round numbers in most builds. I also think he has a good shot at playing 27 when the Hawks are healthy. KP is going to play about 30, so we only need to see a KP/Okongwu lineup for nine minutes a night. With the Hawks not having a fourth quality frontcourt option, I think we’ll get that. Okongwu is an especially nice fit for punt assists since he can hit from deep and does more in steals and FT% than most bigs.
R9) Tobias Harris (107) – I’ll take Tobias at 107 every time. He’s boring, but he should be going as low as he is. In 24/25, in nine-cat punt assists, he was a top-50 player. He’s very durable, too. Easy pick.
R10) Isaiah Jackson (110) – I would prefer to get Jackson a round later, but when there are 20 picks between your 10th and 11th pick, you have to reach for the guys you like, especially when you run a fantasy site that the majority of the league subscribes to. If Jackson hasn’t lost a step due to his Achilles, he’s going to be a mid-round guy in builds punting a guard category or two. I was also looking at Tari Eason here.
R11) Ty Jerome (131) – I like Jerome late for his ability to produce a line that usually cannot be found in the final rounds. Most guards this late are specialists; Jerome is not. He can help in nearly every category. He’s another pick I made with the percentages in mind. Being behind one of the most injury-prone players in the league is also a plus.
R12) Adem Bona (134) – Bona has a good shot at getting 40+ starts this year. On nights when he’s part of the starting five, he’ll probably be a mid-round player in punt assists. At this price, there’s little downside to taking the Sixer and plenty of upside. If Embiid surprises, it’s not a big deal.
R13) Mitchell Robinson (155) – My team’s final projections would look a lot rosier if I went with a points and threes option here. However, in the 13th round, we shouldn’t be chasing fit. We should be chasing upside, and Mitch Rob has plenty. He’s looked great in preseason and he’ll probably get a bunch of starts this year. If he plays even 25 MPG, he could be a mid-round player. Grabbing an extra big late also allows me to keep picking up blocks while I wait for JJJ to get back.
After the draft, I slid JJJ into an IL spot and picked up Nesmith (another nice late-round punt assists target). Points and threes look like they’ll be close in Week 1, so he’s a good option for this team.
I’m very happy with how this draft went. I finished the draft projected to be at the top of the standings in blocks, FG%, and turnovers. I was also projected to be second in FT% (and was first before the Mitch Rob pick), third in steals, and fourth in rebounds. And that’s with Bona projected to be a backup. My points were a little below average, and my threes were poor, but neither category is in trouble. The weaknesses in those categories would be an issue if they were due to my core guys, but they’re not. They’re due to going with Bona and Robinson in the final two rounds. After round 11, I was in the top half of the league in points and around average in threes. With some minor tweaks, I can put myself in a good spot in both areas.
Another option is leaning into the double-punt with threes. If I do that, all of my bigs are going to be at least borderline early-round players. I’m going to wait and see how things shake out with my late-round guys before I make that decision. If my late-round bigs hit, I may opt to move one or two for help in the guard categories. Bringing back threes is tempting because it will boost my points and FT% along the way.
Punt Threes Sample Team
I think my main competition will come from a punt threes team that was picking seventh. I want to highlight that team here because it is a great example of punt threes done right from a tough draft position. This is what the team looks like:
It’s not a flashy team, but it’s also a team that is average or better in every category except threes. If this team can boost its percentages a little bit during the season, this is a group that is going to be very tough to top. Giddey won’t always be there in three, but if you replace him with Jamal Murray, you get a very similar result. You lose some dimes and boards (the boards you don’t need) and pick up some extra points and FT%.