Blood, Sweat and Tiers

Just like Nash, KG, Kobe, and Cash, I’ve been putting in work. And after months of projecting stats, calculating values, and moving players around non-stop, I can finally give you a glimpse of my “Blood, Sweat and Tiers.”

RotoEvil’s NBA Fantasy Draft Guide will contain Positional Tiers for both 8-cat and 9-cat leagues. Each document will include over 200 players broken down into 12 separate tiers, color-coded and ready for easy printing.

If you use these in conjunction with my RotoEvil Ratings (to be explained in my next article), you will have a very successful draft. But since these documents may be the most valuable draft day tools around, I can only give you a free sample. To see the rest, you’ll have to buy the guide.

I think it’s safe to assume that most people’s Top 8 PG’s are, in alphabetical order: Allen Iverson, Baron Davis, Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Jose Calderon, and Steve Nash. But what about the NEXT 8 guys? I will give you mine, as well my Top 8 centers. Let’s start with 8-cat leagues, and then see how adding turnovers changes things…

8-Cat Tiers

Top Tier Centers:

Without a doubt, Amare Stoudemire is head and shoulders above everyone else. He’s a scoring machine, his shooting %’s are phenomenal, and his knee problems appear to be a thing of the past. My 2nd tier consists of Yao, Bosh, and Camby (I’m listing Brand as a power forward). In the past 3 seasons, Yao has missed 86 games, Camby has missed 41 games, and Bosh has missed 40 games, so all of them are injury risks.

I’m projecting slight decreases in almost every category for Pau, but he’s still good enough to be at the top of Tier 3. I have Duncan ranked just below him, but he could be more valuable if he can improve from the free throw line. Speaking of free throw woes, I have Dwight Howard ranked as my #7 center in 8-cat leagues, just ahead of Al Jefferson and a couple of unnamed Tier 4 centers.

Next Tier Point Guards:

Even after his latest surgery, I’ve seen some people rank Gilbert Arenas ahead of Andre Miller (who’s missed just 5 games in his 9-year career) and Devin Harris (an emerging young talent). That’s a mistake. Gilbert says that he’ll be back in December, and realistically, I’m guessing that his targeted return date is December 25th at Cleveland (you think he wants to miss a Christmas day battle with LeBron?). But still, that’s the Wizards’ 27th game of the season, and he could easily miss 10 more games if doctors and management don’t think he’s ready (and after giving him $111 million this past summer, they’ll probably be very cautious). In 8-cat leagues, Arenas is still a Top 12 PG because of his ability to carry teams in 3 categories, but he’s a very risky pick.

If you miss out on the top tier PG’s, Mo Williams & Mike Bibby are decent consolation prizes. Neither guy will dish out a ton of assists due to LeBron & Joe Johnson being around, but both guys should be solid. I would rank TJ Ford ahead of Bibby if his injury history wasn’t so scary, but instead he’s at the top of my 5th Tier. Both Charlotte and Chicago brought in new head coaches and drafted rookie guards over the summer, but Felton & Hinrich will still be asked to lead their teams and are capable of being Top 60 fantasy players. However, if Ben Gordon re-signs with the Bulls, I will probably drop Kirk to the bottom of Tier 6 or even Tier 7.

9-Cat Tiers

Top Tier Center changes:

As the focal point of Houston’s offense, Yao commits a lot of turnovers, dropping him to Tier 3 in 9-cat leagues. Meanwhile, two Lakers jump into Tier 2 to take his place. Al Jefferson does a good job of taking care of the rock as well, so he climbs into Tier 3. Notice who’s missing? Dwight Howard commits a lot of turnovers, dropping him out of my Top 10 centers in 9-cat leagues.

Next Tier Point Guard changes:

Playing in Cleveland with LeBron is going to cut down on Mo Williams’ turnovers, moving him into Tier 4 just ahead of Harris in 9-cat leagues. Arenas coughs the ball up a lot, which is why he’s a much better 8-cat player. Meanwhile, Hinrich & Rondo do a very good job of taking care of the ball, so they get bumped up in 9-cat leagues. Tony Parker also slides into my “next 8″ rankings, making him a solid #2 PG.

*Up Next: my exclusive RotoEvil Ratings

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