Last call for good C1’s and PG1’s!

Team L: Peja Stojakovic (Iverson, Bosh, Marbury)
Team K: Kirk Hinrich (Allen, Duncan, G. Wallace)
Team J: Marcus Camby (Pierce, Nash, R. Wallace)
Team I: Richard Jefferson (Ming, Paul, Lewis)
Team H: Dwight Howard (Arenas, Kirilenko, Artest)
Team G: Raymond Felton (Brand, V. Carter, Diaw)
Team F: Jason Terry (Wade, J. O’Neal, Miller)
Team E: Mehmet Okur (Nowitzki, McGrady, Redd)
Team D: Carlos Boozer (Garnett, Kidd, Anthony)
Team C: Chris Webber (Stoudemire, Bryant, Bibby)
Team B: Josh Smith (Marion, Joe Johnson, J. Richardson)
Team A: Zydrunas Ilgauskas (LeBron, Billups, Odom)

The fourth and fifth rounds are my favorite rounds.  You can spread your wings a little.  Got a mid-level sleeper?  Go for it.  Wanna load up with a second center or point guard?  Here’s a great spot to do it and create a real advantage for your team.  Need a little balance for your team?  You can probably take care of that here, too.  The first three rounds you HAVE to play it conservatively.  Here in the fourth you can take your risks, whether it’s banking on a young guy to make a leap like Raymond Felton, or rolling the dice on Chris Webber.  You can also find your position-fillers, like Kirk Hinrich or Zydraunas Ilgauskas, that aren’t reaches but fill those scarcity positions nicely.

There’s another tier drop here, and it is right between Howard and Felton, although you may want to put Camby in that lower tier.  Speaking of which, poor Team J.  They had Ming go right before they picked at 9, then Bosh and Duncan went right before them at 15.  Now they’re stuck having to choose between Camby, Okur and Boozer as their C1 at pick 39, which is just not a pretty position to be in.  Especially with two clearly safer bets in Jefferson and Howard on the board.  They can’t wait until their next pick, 58 overall, to grab their top center!  The pickings at that point could be awfully slim – maybe Shaq, maybe Chris Kaman … it’s just not pretty.  But you can’t blame them for any of their earlier picks – Pierce was a great selection at 9, and the only competition for Nash at 15 was Chris Paul or Andrei Kirilenko, neither of whom are centers.  Sometimes you’re just out of luck, and that means you’re going to get stuck with having to reach for a position.  And who knows?  Maybe Camby will play 65 or 70 games this year, and will be a steal this late.

My favorite teams so far?  L (2 top point guards and possibly the best center this year), and B (if J-Rich is healthy).  Least favorite? Team C.  Pairing Webber with Amare is dangerous, and even Kobe has missed at least 14 games in 5 of the last 8 seasons.

Tomorrow: Round 5.