This article is part of our NBA Mock Draft series.
We recently conducted a mock draft with the fantasy basketball experts at RotoWire. The 12-owner draft was based on standard head-to-head, nine-category scoring (FG%, FT%, points, three-pointers, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and turnovers).
Round One
Expect LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kevin Love to be the top three players off the board in the majority of drafts, as was the case here. I agree with Justin's selection of LeBron with the top pick, but I'm guessing Ed wasn't too broken up about getting Durant at two. After that, it gets a lot more interesting. Westbrook is money in the bank every year, and I'm expecting him to be even better this year after the invaluable experience of playing with Team USA this summer. Dirk Nowitzki was expected to go in the first round, though I would've opted for someone younger with more upside and less health-related
| Round 1 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R1 P1 | James, LeBron | SF | MIA | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
| R1 P2 | Durant, Kevin | SF | OKC | Ed Kensik |
| R1 P3 | Love, Kevin | PF | MIN | Shannon McKeown |
| R1 P4 | Westbrook, Russell | PG | OKC | James Anderson |
| R1 P5 | Paul, Chris | PG | LAC | Mike Barner |
| R1 P6 | Smith, Josh | SF | ATL | Kyle McKeown |
| R1 P7 | Nowitzki, Dirk | PF | DAL | Jeff Stotts |
| R1 P8 | Wade, Dwyane | PG | MIA | Peter Schoenke |
| R1 P9 | Jefferson, Al | PF | UTA | Eric Caturia |
| R1 P10 | Bryant, Kobe | SG | LAL | Jacob Guth |
| R1 P11 | Anthony, Carmelo | SF | NY | Andre Snellings |
| R1 P12 | Gasol, Marc | C | MEM | Chris Morgan |
Round One
Expect LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kevin Love to be the top three players off the board in the majority of drafts, as was the case here. I agree with Justin's selection of LeBron with the top pick, but I'm guessing Ed wasn't too broken up about getting Durant at two. After that, it gets a lot more interesting. Westbrook is money in the bank every year, and I'm expecting him to be even better this year after the invaluable experience of playing with Team USA this summer. Dirk Nowitzki was expected to go in the first round, though I would've opted for someone younger with more upside and less health-related
We recently conducted a mock draft with the fantasy basketball experts at RotoWire. The 12-owner draft was based on standard head-to-head, nine-category scoring (FG%, FT%, points, three-pointers, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and turnovers).
Round One
Expect LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kevin Love to be the top three players off the board in the majority of drafts, as was the case here. I agree with Justin's selection of LeBron with the top pick, but I'm guessing Ed wasn't too broken up about getting Durant at two. After that, it gets a lot more interesting. Westbrook is money in the bank every year, and I'm expecting him to be even better this year after the invaluable experience of playing with Team USA this summer. Dirk Nowitzki was expected to go in the first round, though I would've opted for someone younger with more upside and less health-related questions. Bryant probably shouldn't go in the first round ahead of guys like Greg Monroe, James Harden or Deron Williams, but there's no guarantee that Jacob could get Bryant with his second-round pick, and there's nothing wrong with guaranteeing that you get the guy you want in the first round. It was also interesting to see Al Jefferson and Marc Gasol as the first two centers off the board. Center is definitely a position this year where you'll find a lot of disagreement among experts on where guys should be ranked.
Round Two
Getting Williams with the 15th overall pick might have been the steal of the draft for Jacob. I was considering D-Will 11 picks earlier. The Monroe and Pau Gasol picks are also excellent for where they went in this round. Personally, I'm taking Monroe over Jefferson and Marc Gasol, who both went in the first round. Gortat goes off the board, before guys like Andrew Bynum and Al Horford, based on his breakout season last year with the Suns, but it will be interesting to see if his numbers remain the same in the post-Steve Nash era. With shooting guard as week as it is this year, getting Harden in the middle of the second round in a 12-team league could pay off big time for Peter. Curry coming off the board in the second round was surprising, just because of the question marks surrounding the health of his ankles, but if he has a healthy season, he could win plenty of leagues for his owners. I went with back-to-back point guards this year, simply because there are plenty of great opportunities to get rebounds and blocks later in drafts, and I'm betting on this being the year where Irving establishes himself as a top-15 player in the NBA.
Round Three Justin was able to get Pau Gasol and Bynum back-to-back on the snake, giving him a pretty ridiculous frontline with LeBron already on the side. Don't expect Bynum to fall this far in most drafts. Paul George getting drafted ahead of guys like Joe Johnson and Rudy Gay seems like a stretch, especially when the latter two will get significantly more minutes than George. Kyle looks to have blocks all but locked up with Josh Smith and now Ibaka on his team. I was deciding between Horford and rookie Anthony Davis with this pick, and opted for Horford with the hope that Davis would be there in the fourth round.
Round Four
There is a distinct drop off from the third to the fourth round when it comes to sure things this year in fantasy basketball drafts. Half of the players to go off the board in this round are either guys with injury histories (Bargnani, Gordon, Gallinari) or guys who lack a track record of more than a year in their current roles (Anderson, Davis, Dragic, Batum, Thompson). But, that's not to say these aren't mostly astute picks. Peter grabbed Davis before I could, so I was forced to reach a little on Batum with the 45th overall pick. Rondo went off the board in the fourth and Dwight Howard went off the board a round earlier because of their horrible free-throw shooting percentages, but Jacob and Eric clearly thought they offered too much in the other seven categories to slip any further.
Round Five
There was a run of centers in the fifth round, starting with Ed's Nene pick, which led to McGee, Chandler, Stoudemire, Pekovic, and Hibbert all flying off the board. With Horford already on my team, I grabbed my third point guard in Holiday, with hopes of locking up assists and steals. After grabbing Rondo in the fourth round, Eric grabbed Griffin in the fifth, essentially punting free-throw percentage, but getting one of the league's best rebounders in Griffin and last year's assists leader in Rondo.
Round Six
Kevin Martin comes off the board a little too early here, based on the direction of the Rockets' franchise and the way he finished last season, especially when Matthews goes to Ed seven picks later. Kyle adds Wallace to a team that already has Josh Smith, pairing two of the better across the board stat stuffers at the forward positions. Shannon was able to get Bogut at a steep discount in the sixth round, and if he remains healthy, he could have as good of a season as any of the big men who went a round earlier.
Round Seven
Mike getting Parker after Walker and Lin to start off this round seems like good value. Parker is the type of guy who will go in the middle rounds of a draft and won't garner much attention, but will be extremely consistent and won't hurt your field-goal percentage like Lin and Walker will. He should once again be the only Spurs player to get more than 30 minutes per game. I got Humphries to help shore up rebounding after ignoring the category early in the draft.
Round Eight
We had back-to-back Hornets guards go here with Jacob grabbing the young gun, Rivers, and Eric grabbing the incumbent, Vasquez. Rivers going ahead of fellow rookie guard Damian Lillard is pretty surprising since Lillard has a firm hold on a starting job in Portland. Steady power forwards with limited upside like West and Scola go here along with similarly predictable centers in Okafor, Jordan, and Kaman. I grabbed Davis assuming he will get plenty of minutes and at the very least help with rebounds. Shannon then takes Knight with the next pick, a guy I would much rather have ended up with, but I already had so many point guards that need trumped ability.
Round Nine
Turner has possibly the most upside of anyone left in the draft, and Shannon gets him with the 99th overall pick. Rose is the last of the injured star point guards to go after Wall and Rubio, which makes sense with his injury being a bit more severe. Felton is falling big time in drafts, but he's in better shape this season, and a change of scenery should make him a steal with the 101st pick.
Round 10
Kidd-Gilchrist goes off the board right around where expected, and Lillard slips further than he should have, with Shannon once again grabbing a high-upside guy late in the draft. Lillard could very well have a better year than any of the veteran point guards to go ahead of him in this round. Valanciunas is one of the only starting centers left, so I felt compelled to grab him here.
Round 11
People start taking flyers on power forwards and centers with a little upside in Thompson, Vucevic, Davis, and Hickson. Rookies Barnes, Beal, and Waiters all go within five picks of each other. Some of us had contrasting styles in this round, with some opting for the upside the rookies offer and others going for the consistency expected out of guys like Marion, Parsons, and Allen. There's nothing wrong with either approach, it just comes down to personal preference.
Round 12 At this point everyone is just trying to fill out positions of need and/or take a big swing on high-upside guys. Troubled yet talented players like Odom and Beasley, who are each in new situations, make great flyers this late in a draft.
Round 13
Ridnour jumps out as great value this late in a draft. He falls under the same category as Tony Parker. There's nothing exciting about drafting him, but he produces every year, and he should be a strong contributor early in the season with Ricky Rubio out.
| Round 1 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R1 P1 | James, LeBron | SF | MIA | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
| R1 P2 | Durant, Kevin | SF | OKC | Ed Kensik |
| R1 P3 | Love, Kevin | PF | MIN | Shannon McKeown |
| R1 P4 | Westbrook, Russell | PG | OKC | James Anderson |
| R1 P5 | Paul, Chris | PG | LAC | Mike Barner |
| R1 P6 | Smith, Josh | SF | ATL | Kyle McKeown |
| R1 P7 | Nowitzki, Dirk | PF | DAL | Jeff Stotts |
| R1 P8 | Wade, Dwyane | PG | MIA | Peter Schoenke |
| R1 P9 | Jefferson, Al | PF | UTA | Eric Caturia |
| R1 P10 | Bryant, Kobe | SG | LAL | Jacob Guth |
| R1 P11 | Anthony, Carmelo | SF | NY | Andre Snellings |
| R1 P12 | Gasol, Marc | C | MEM | Chris Morgan |
Round One
Expect LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kevin Love to be the top three players off the board in the majority of drafts, as was the case here. I agree with Justin's selection of LeBron with the top pick, but I'm guessing Ed wasn't too broken up about getting Durant at two. After that, it gets a lot more interesting. Westbrook is money in the bank every year, and I'm expecting him to be even better this year after the invaluable experience of playing with Team USA this summer. Dirk Nowitzki was expected to go in the first round, though I would've opted for someone younger with more upside and less health-related questions. Bryant probably shouldn't go in the first round ahead of guys like Greg Monroe, James Harden or Deron Williams, but there's no guarantee that Jacob could get Bryant with his second-round pick, and there's nothing wrong with guaranteeing that you get the guy you want in the first round. It was also interesting to see Al Jefferson and Marc Gasol as the first two centers off the board. Center is definitely a position this year where you'll find a lot of disagreement among experts on where guys should be ranked.
| Round 2 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R2 P1 | Aldridge, LaMarcus | PF | POR | Chris Morgan |
| R2 P2 | Monroe, Greg | C | DET | Andre Snellings |
| R2 P3 | Williams, Deron | PG | BRO | Jacob Guth |
| R2 P4 | Gortat, Marcin | C | PHO | Eric Caturia |
| R2 P5 | Harden, James | SG | OKC | @PeterSchoenke |
| R2 P6 | Millsap, Paul | PF | UTA | Jeff Stotts |
| R2 P7 | Curry, Stephen | PG | GS | Kyle McKeown |
| R2 P8 | Granger, Danny | SF | IND | Mike Barner |
| R2 P9 | Irving, Kyrie | PG | CLE | James Anderson |
| R2 P10 | Cousins, DeMarcus | PF | SAC | Shannon McKeown |
| R2 P11 | Jennings, Brandon | PG | MIL | Ed Kensik |
| R2 P12 | Gasol, Pau | PF | LAL | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
Round Two
Getting Williams with the 15th overall pick might have been the steal of the draft for Jacob. I was considering D-Will 11 picks earlier. The Monroe and Pau Gasol picks are also excellent for where they went in this round. Personally, I'm taking Monroe over Jefferson and Marc Gasol, who both went in the first round. Gortat goes off the board, before guys like Andrew Bynum and Al Horford, based on his breakout season last year with the Suns, but it will be interesting to see if his numbers remain the same in the post-Steve Nash era. With shooting guard as week as it is this year, getting Harden in the middle of the second round in a 12-team league could pay off big time for Peter. Curry coming off the board in the second round was surprising, just because of the question marks surrounding the health of his ankles, but if he has a healthy season, he could win plenty of leagues for his owners. I went with back-to-back point guards this year, simply because there are plenty of great opportunities to get rebounds and blocks later in drafts, and I'm betting on this being the year where Irving establishes himself as a top-15 player in the NBA.
| Round 3 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R3 P1 | Bynum, Andrew | C | PHI | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
| R3 P2 | George, Paul | SG | IND | Ed Kensik |
| R3 P3 | Lawson, Ty | PG | DEN | Shannon McKeown |
| R3 P4 | Horford, Al | PF | ATL | James Anderson |
| R3 P5 | Lee, David | PF | GS | Mike Barner |
| R3 P6 | Ibaka, Serge | PF | OKC | Kyle McKeown |
| R3 P7 | Conley, Mike | PG | MEM | Jeff Stotts |
| R3 P8 | Garnett, Kevin | PF | BOS | @PeterSchoenke |
| R3 P9 | Ilyasova, Ersan | SF | MIL | Eric Caturia |
| R3 P10 | Howard, Dwight | C | LAL | Jacob Guth |
| R3 P11 | Bosh, Chris | PF | MIA | Andre Snellings |
| R3 P12 | Johnson, Joe | SG | BRO | Chris Morgan |
Round Three Justin was able to get Pau Gasol and Bynum back-to-back on the snake, giving him a pretty ridiculous frontline with LeBron already on the side. Don't expect Bynum to fall this far in most drafts. Paul George getting drafted ahead of guys like Joe Johnson and Rudy Gay seems like a stretch, especially when the latter two will get significantly more minutes than George. Kyle looks to have blocks all but locked up with Josh Smith and now Ibaka on his team. I was deciding between Horford and rookie Anthony Davis with this pick, and opted for Horford with the hope that Davis would be there in the fourth round.
| Round 4 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R4 P1 | Anderson, Ryan | PF | NO | Chris Morgan |
| R4 P2 | Evans, Tyreke | PG | SAC | Andre Snellings |
| R4 P3 | Gay, Rudy | SF | MEM | Jacob Guth |
| R4 P4 | Rondo, Rajon | PG | BOS | Eric Caturia |
| R4 P5 | Davis, Anthony | PF | NO | @PeterSchoenke |
| R4 P6 | Bargnani, Andrea | PF | TOR | Jeff Stotts |
| R4 P7 | Dragic, Goran | PG | PHO | Kyle McKeown |
| R4 P8 | Gordon, Eric | SG | NO | Mike Barner |
| R4 P9 | Batum, Nicolas | SG | POR | James Anderson |
| R4 P10 | Thompson, Klay | SG | GS | Shannon McKeown |
| R4 P11 | Gallinari, Danilo | SF | DEN | Ed Kensik |
| R4 P1260% | Nash, Steve | PG | LAL | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
Round Four
There is a distinct drop off from the third to the fourth round when it comes to sure things this year in fantasy basketball drafts. Half of the players to go off the board in this round are either guys with injury histories (Bargnani, Gordon, Gallinari) or guys who lack a track record of more than a year in their current roles (Anderson, Davis, Dragic, Batum, Thompson). But, that's not to say these aren't mostly astute picks. Peter grabbed Davis before I could, so I was forced to reach a little on Batum with the 45th overall pick. Rondo went off the board in the fourth and Dwight Howard went off the board a round earlier because of their horrible free-throw shooting percentages, but Jacob and Eric clearly thought they offered too much in the other seven categories to slip any further.
| Round 5 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R5 P1 | Ellis, Monta | PG | MIL | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
| R5 P2 | Hilario, Nene | C | WAS | Ed Kensik |
| R5 P3 | McGee, JaVale | PF | DEN | Shannon McKeown |
| R5 P4 | Holiday, Jrue | PG | PHI | James Anderson |
| R5 P5 | Chandler, Tyson | C | NY | Mike Barner |
| R5 P6 | Stoudemire, Amare | PF | NY | Kyle McKeown |
| R5 P7 | Iguodala, Andre | SG | DEN | Jeff Stotts |
| R5 P8 | Pekovic, Nikola | C | MIN | @PeterSchoenke |
| R5 P9 | Griffin, Blake | PF | LAC | Eric Caturia |
| R5 P10 | Thornton, Marcus | SG | SAC | Jacob Guth |
| R5 P11 | Hibbert, Roy | C | IND | Andre Snellings |
| R5 P12 | Williams, Mo | PG | UTA | Chris Morgan |
Round Five
There was a run of centers in the fifth round, starting with Ed's Nene pick, which led to McGee, Chandler, Stoudemire, Pekovic, and Hibbert all flying off the board. With Horford already on my team, I grabbed my third point guard in Holiday, with hopes of locking up assists and steals. After grabbing Rondo in the fourth round, Eric grabbed Griffin in the fifth, essentially punting free-throw percentage, but getting one of the league's best rebounders in Griffin and last year's assists leader in Rondo.
| Round 6 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R6 P1 | Lowry, Kyle | PG | TOR | Chris Morgan |
| R6 P2 | Ginobili, Manu | SG | SAN | Andre Snellings |
| R6 P3 | Noah, Joakim | PF | CHI | Jacob Guth |
| R6 P4 | Martin, Kevin | SG | HOU | Eric Caturia |
| R6 P5 | Faried, Kenneth | PF | DEN | @PeterSchoenke |
| R6 P6 | Wall, John | PG | WAS | Jeff Stotts |
| R6 P7 | Wallace, Gerald | SF | BRO | Kyle McKeown |
| R6 P8 | Lopez, Brook | C | BRO | Mike Barner |
| R6 P9 | Deng, Luol | SF | CHI | James Anderson |
| R6 P10 | Bogut, Andrew | C | GS | Shannon McKeown |
| R6 P11 | Matthews, Wesley | SG | POR | Ed Kensik |
| R6 P12 | Pierce, Paul | SG | BOS | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
Round Six
Kevin Martin comes off the board a little too early here, based on the direction of the Rockets' franchise and the way he finished last season, especially when Matthews goes to Ed seven picks later. Kyle adds Wallace to a team that already has Josh Smith, pairing two of the better across the board stat stuffers at the forward positions. Shannon was able to get Bogut at a steep discount in the sixth round, and if he remains healthy, he could have as good of a season as any of the big men who went a round earlier.
| Round 7 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R7 P1 | Walker, Kemba | PG | CHR | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
| R7 P2 | Boozer, Carlos | PF | CHI | Ed Kensik |
| R7 P3 | Lin, Jeremy | PG | HOU | Shannon McKeown |
| R7 P4 | Humphries, Kris | PF | BRO | James Anderson |
| R7 P5 | Parker, Tony | PG | SAN | Mike Barner |
| R7 P6 | Randolph, Zach | PF | MEM | Kyle McKeown |
| R7 P7 | Billups, Chauncey | PG | LAC | Jeff Stotts |
| R7 P8 | Dalembert, Samuel | C | MIL | @PeterSchoenke |
| R7 P9 | Afflalo, Arron | SG | ORL | Eric Caturia |
| R7 P10 | Hawes, Spencer | C | PHI | Jacob Guth |
| R7 P11 | Rubio, Ricky | PG | MIN | Andre Snellings |
| R7 P12 | Duncan, Tim | PF | SAN | Chris Morgan |
Round Seven
Mike getting Parker after Walker and Lin to start off this round seems like good value. Parker is the type of guy who will go in the middle rounds of a draft and won't garner much attention, but will be extremely consistent and won't hurt your field-goal percentage like Lin and Walker will. He should once again be the only Spurs player to get more than 30 minutes per game. I got Humphries to help shore up rebounding after ignoring the category early in the draft.
| Round 8 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R8 P1 | Kirilenko, Andrei | SF | MIN | Chris Morgan |
| R8 P2 | Teague, Jeff | PG | ATL | Andre Snellings |
| R8 P3 | Rivers, Austin | PG | NO | Jacob Guth |
| R8 P4 | Vasquez, Greivis | PG | NO | Eric Caturia |
| R8 P5 | West, David | PF | IND | @PeterSchoenke |
| R8 P6 | Okafor, Emeka | C | WAS | Jeff Stotts |
| R8 P7 | Hayward, Gordon | SG | UTA | Kyle McKeown |
| R8 P8 | Jordan, DeAndre | PF | LAC | Mike Barner |
| R8 P9 | Davis, Glen | PF | ORL | James Anderson |
| R8 P10 | Knight, Brandon | PG | DET | Shannon McKeown |
| R8 P11 | Kaman, Chris | C | DAL | Ed Kensik |
| R8 P12 | Scola, Luis | PF | PHO | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
Round Eight
We had back-to-back Hornets guards go here with Jacob grabbing the young gun, Rivers, and Eric grabbing the incumbent, Vasquez. Rivers going ahead of fellow rookie guard Damian Lillard is pretty surprising since Lillard has a firm hold on a starting job in Portland. Steady power forwards with limited upside like West and Scola go here along with similarly predictable centers in Okafor, Jordan, and Kaman. I grabbed Davis assuming he will get plenty of minutes and at the very least help with rebounds. Shannon then takes Knight with the next pick, a guy I would much rather have ended up with, but I already had so many point guards that need trumped ability.
| Round 9 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R9 P1 | Varejao, Anderson | PF | CLE | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
| R9 P2 | Brand, Elton | PF | DAL | Ed Kensik |
| R9 P3 | Turner, Evan | SG | PHI | Shannon McKeown |
| R9 P4 | Rose, Derrick | PG | CHI | James Anderson |
| R9 P5 | Felton, Raymond | PG | NY | Mike Barner |
| R9 P6 | Smith, J.R. | SG | NY | Kyle McKeown |
| R9 P7 | Young, Thaddeus | SF | PHI | Jeff Stotts |
| R9 P8 | Leonard, Kawhi | SF | SAN | @PeterSchoenke |
| R9 P9 | Terry, Jason | PG | BOS | Eric Caturia |
| R9 P10 | Mayo, O.J. | SG | DAL | Jacob Guth |
| R9 P11 | Williams, Derrick | SF | MIN | Andre Snellings |
| R9 P12 | Stuckey, Rodney | PG | DET | Chris Morgan |
Round Nine
Turner has possibly the most upside of anyone left in the draft, and Shannon gets him with the 99th overall pick. Rose is the last of the injured star point guards to go after Wall and Rubio, which makes sense with his injury being a bit more severe. Felton is falling big time in drafts, but he's in better shape this season, and a change of scenery should make him a steal with the 101st pick.
| Round 10 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R10 P1 | Asik, Omer | C | HOU | Chris Morgan |
| R10 P2 | Kidd-Gilchrist, Michael | SF | CHR | Andre Snellings |
| R10 P3 | Favors, Derrick | PF | UTA | Jacob Guth |
| R10 P4 | Biyombo, Bismack | PF | CHR | Eric Caturia |
| R10 P5 | Williams, Louis | PG | ATL | @PeterSchoenke |
| R10 P6 | Collison, Darren | PG | DAL | Jeff Stotts |
| R10 P7 | Hill, George | PG | IND | Kyle McKeown |
| R10 P8 | Crawford, Jamal | PG | LAC | Mike Barner |
| R10 P9 | Valanciunas, Jonas | C | TOR | James Anderson |
| R10 P10 | Lillard, Damian | PG | POR | Shannon McKeown |
| R10 P11 | Allen, Tony | SG | MEM | Ed Kensik |
| R10 P12 | DeRozan, DeMar | SG | TOR | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
Round 10
Kidd-Gilchrist goes off the board right around where expected, and Lillard slips further than he should have, with Shannon once again grabbing a high-upside guy late in the draft. Lillard could very well have a better year than any of the veteran point guards to go ahead of him in this round. Valanciunas is one of the only starting centers left, so I felt compelled to grab him here.
| Round 11 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R11 P1 | Thompson, Tristan | PF | CLE | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
| R11 P2 | Lopez, Robin | C | NO | Ed Kensik |
| R11 P3 | Vucevic, Nikola | PF | ORL | Shannon McKeown |
| R11 P4 | Barnes, Harrison | SF | GS | James Anderson |
| R11 P5 | Davis, Ed | PF | TOR | Mike Barner |
| R11 P6 | Hickson, J.J. | PF | POR | Kyle McKeown |
| R11 P7 | Beal, Bradley | SG | WAS | Jeff Stotts |
| R11 P8 | Waiters, Dion | SG | CLE | @PeterSchoenke |
| R11 P9 | Marion, Shawn | SF | DAL | Eric Caturia |
| R11 P10 | Parsons, Chandler | SF | HOU | Jacob Guth |
| R11 P11 | Allen, Ray | SG | MIA | Andre Snellings |
| R11 P12 | Morrow, Anthony | SG | ATL | Chris Morgan |
Round 11
People start taking flyers on power forwards and centers with a little upside in Thompson, Vucevic, Davis, and Hickson. Rookies Barnes, Beal, and Waiters all go within five picks of each other. Some of us had contrasting styles in this round, with some opting for the upside the rookies offer and others going for the consistency expected out of guys like Marion, Parsons, and Allen. There's nothing wrong with either approach, it just comes down to personal preference.
| Round 12 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R12 P1 | Odom, Lamar | SF | LAC | Chris Morgan |
| R12 P2 | Miller, Andre | PG | DEN | Andre Snellings |
| R12 P3 | Williams, Marvin | SF | UTA | Jacob Guth |
| R12 P4 | Beasley, Michael | SF | PHO | Eric Caturia |
| R12 P5 | Gee, Alonzo | SG | CLE | @PeterSchoenke |
| R12 P6 | Mullens, Byron | C | CHR | Jeff Stotts |
| R12 P7 | Turkoglu, Hedo | SF | ORL | Kyle McKeown |
| R12 P8 | Gibson, Taj | PF | CHI | Mike Barner |
| R12 P9 | Bass, Brandon | PF | BOS | James Anderson |
| R12 P10 | Thomas, Isaiah | PG | SAC | Shannon McKeown |
| R12 P11 | Green, Danny | SG | SAN | Ed Kensik |
| R12 P12 | Seraphin, Kevin | PF | WAS | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
Round 12 At this point everyone is just trying to fill out positions of need and/or take a big swing on high-upside guys. Troubled yet talented players like Odom and Beasley, who are each in new situations, make great flyers this late in a draft.
| Round 13 | Player | Pos | Team | Writer |
| R13 P1 | Jamison, Antawn | PF | LAL | Justin Mertes-Mistretta |
| R13 P2 | Robinson, Thomas | PF | SAC | Ed Kensik |
| R13 P3 | Chandler, Wilson | SF | DEN | Shannon McKeown |
| R13 P4 | Brooks, Marshon | SG | BRK | James Anderson |
| R13 P5 | Hinrich, Kirk | PG | CHI | Mike Barner |
| R13 P6 | Roy, Brandon | SG | MIN | Kyle McKeown |
| R13 P7 | Henderson, Gerald | SG | CHR | Jeff Stotts |
| R13 P8 | Calderon, Jose | PG | TOR | @PeterSchoenke |
| R13 P9 | Ridnour, Luke | PG | MIN | Eric Caturia |
| R13 P10 | Novak, Steve | SF | NY | Jacob Guth |
| R13 P11 | Richardson, Jason | SG | PHI | Andre Snellings |
| R13 P12 | Dudley, Jared | SG | PHO | Chris Morgan |
Round 13
Ridnour jumps out as great value this late in a draft. He falls under the same category as Tony Parker. There's nothing exciting about drafting him, but he produces every year, and he should be a strong contributor early in the season with Ricky Rubio out.
James Anderson also writes RotoWire's weekly Category Strategy article. He can be found on Twitter @RealJRAnderson.
