One of my favorite columns to write every year is on punting. Last year I just focused on one category, blocks, and talked a lot about the overall strategy of punting. Basically, it goes like this - if you’re going to punt a category, every asset you have in that category is wasted value. For example, if you’re going to punt rebounds, any guy that is a good rebounder at his position is being wasted on your team. For a more detailed explanation you can go back and check last year’s column. This year, I want to talk about some guys to target depending on what you’re punting, and the nuances that go with punting that category. Ready? OK:
FG%
Percentages are possibly the easiest categories to punt, because players are all over the board and a poor shooter isn’t neceessarily poor in other catgories. You’ll want to load up on jump-shooting centers like Mehmet Okur, and Jermaine O’Neal is an absolute must here, a poor-shooting big who is nonetheless dominant in other big categories like boards and blocks. Generally poor-percentage bigs aren’t big in blocks (like Brad Miller, for example), so O’Neal is a great guy to have here.
FT%
Free throw are also popular to punt because some players are just SO AWFUL here that they’re poison to any team that isn’t punting. There are some obvious ones here - Shaq, Ben Wallace, etc., but the tougher part is finding some PG’s who are poor from the stripe. The token poor-FT% PG, Baron Davis, is a major question mark, so you may have to settle for a Jamaal Tinsley or Rafer Alston here. You’re also going to want to go after LeBron, the best high-assists low-FT% guy in the league right now.
Points
No question, points is the toughest category to punt. I mean, who are your studs? Jason Kidd is the only Top-15 player on the APR who’s a negative contributer in points, so he’s a must. Marcus Camby is another … but let’s face it, punting points is just not a way to win a league.
Rebounds
Logic dictates that if you’re going to punt boards, you’re going to have problems in the other big-man categories, blocks and FG%. So in addition to grabbing poor-boarding bigs like Mark Blount and Eddy Curry, you’re going to want to track down a couple of swingmen who are good shooters and good blockers, like Gerald Wallace or Andrei Kirilenko.
Assists
Obviously the tough thing here is picking up the right PG, and generally you’re going to want to grab one of those fake point guards like Leandro Barbosa or Ben Gordon, scorers who qualify at PG. You’re also going to run into issues with FT% and Steals, so Dirk Nowitzki and his phenomenal FT% is a must, as are pure shooters like Matt Carroll and Kyle Korver to pick up the slack from the line. Ron Artest is a nice guy to have here to help with steals, as well.
Steals
Just like punting assists is problematic for steals, punting steals is problematic for assists. Steve Nash is a must-have here - of the top 20 assist men in the league, only Nash doesn’t contribute positively in steals. Sam Cassell, with his newfound minutes with the Clippers, is also a helpful guy here.
Blocks
The main concern here is going to be rebounds, but there are a couple of guys who fit the bill, namely Carlos Boozer, Zack Randolph, and David Lee. Andrew Bogut and Eddy Curry are some other nice big men to have here. Help in FG% can be found from guards like Tony Parker and Steve Nash.