The Champ and the Chump

So imagine you're the commissioner of a newly formed fantasy basketball keeper league and you wind up with LeBron James as your first round pick. Do you keep the pick knowing that any championship won with him in the lead role will always be defined as a "anyone could have done that" type accomplishment or do you trade the franchise player to another team to see if you can "win a championship on your own" so to speak?

Well, I went with the latter. Does this mean that I think ATTIC's championship is a complete sham? Not at all. I think he had an excellent draft. He ended up with some great value picks by drafting Yao Ming in the 5th round, Jason Kidd in the 6th, and Rashard Lewis in the 8th. People shied away from Yao because of health concerns and owners were leery of taking on Lewis and Kidd's hefty contracts but ATTIC took a chance. He could have taken any one of those guys in the 2nd-4th rounds and that would have been well within the correct place to draft them, but to get them as late as he did was probably the biggest key to his success, more so than just trading for LeBron. His one reach (Derrick Rose in the 4th round) even turned out to be a stud. And his last pick of the draft, Wilson Chandler, averaged 14.4 pts, 5.4 rebs, 2.1 assts, and nearly one block and steal per game, all while draining 103 three-pointers and shooting 80% from the line. Compare that to his 3rd round pick, Rudy Gay, who averaged 18.9 pts, 5.5 rebs, 1.7 assists, 1.24 stls, and 0.75 blocks. Rudy hit 85 three pointers and shot 77% from the line. Looking at the numbers, it doesn't appear as though these players deserved to be drafted nearly 10 rounds apart. Just another great find for ATTIC.

But even with the LeBron trade, a healthy Yao (which wasn't supposed to happen for the duration of an entire season), and a near perfect draft, ATTIC still might not have won the championship if not for these two factors:

1) The David Lee trade

2) The collapse of the Zephyrs

Adding David Lee to the roster in mid season without having to give up any players in return paid huge dividends, especially for a team who's front line was filled with perimeter oriented forwards like LeBron, Lewis, and Chandler. Lee's 55% shooting from the field really gave a boost to ATTIC's overall field goal percentage which was sitting at 46.8-47.0% for most of the season. ATTIC finished the year with a 47.4 FG% which resulted in an extra 2-3 points in the standings, all of which were needed. And I forgot to mention that Lee's 11.7 rebounds per game were 3rd best in the NBA, a stat that helped propel ATTIC from the middle of the pack in rebounding to top 3 status.

I didn't realize it at the time, but the Zephyrs were to the Cousy's Cagers franchise as Cal Naughton Jr. was to the success of Ricky Bobby. Not that the Zephyrs were destined to finish in 2nd place, but when the Zephyrs were in the mix, the standings were a lot more compact at the top. And when the Zephyrs started to free fall in the standings due to all the injuries, it seemed to benefit ATTIC more than the Cagers. Those two teams must have been neck and neck in a lot of the same categories because 61-63 points was enough for 1st place for most of the year, and all of a sudden it took 65-66 points to stay in first and the Cagers just didn't have the firepower.

So kudos to ATTIC for winning the inaugural season's crown and for assembling a roster that will be loathed for all of 2009-2010 by all the other owners in the league. The target is now placed squarely on your back with Yao, LeBron, Wade, and Rose leading the way. And if that wasn't enough to impress, young Blake Griffin will be in the fold sooner than later.

See you next year!

-The Commish