30-team draft, pick-by-pick

The 30-team league known as '30-Deep' is in the process of drafting. It’s pretty simple, really. You have 30 fantasy hoops experts drafting a team of eight starters – PG, SG, SF, PF, C, G, F, Flex and we play head-to-head with nine scoring categories, and each category win counts for one point. This is possibly/probably the deepest fantasy hoops league in existence and when you add in the fact that people are dialed in and know what they’re doing, it’s really, really tough to win.

Things get really dicey around Rounds 5 and 6, and the scary part is that you’re still drafting players for your starting lineup in Rounds 7 and 8. And the CBS positional settings make it even tougher, as a guy like Atlanta starting small forward DeMarre Carroll only qualifies at power forward, for now.

Here are the results for the first seven rounds with some brief analysis. Hopefully this gives those of you in deeper leagues an idea where the deep sleepers you’re looking at might be drafted. Enjoy.

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Editor's Note: Rotoworld's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $15,000 Fantasy Basketball league on October, 30th. It's $10 to join and first prize is $2,000. Starts October 30th at 7pm ET. Here's the link.

I already have a team entered in that FanDuel league and can't wait to see how it does. And if you haven't checked out the Rotoworld NBA Draft Guide, well, it's time!

Round 1

1. LeBron James – Joe Kaiser ESPN

2. Kevin Durant – Matt Buser Basketball Monster

3. Stephen Curry – Matt Stroup Rotoworld

4. James Harden – Ryan Knaus Rotoworld

5. Dwight Howard – Dan Dobish RotoExperts

6. Chris Paul – Eric Mack SI

7. Kevin Love – David Klyce HoopsKlyce

8. Paul George – Frankie Lloyd Baller Mind Frame

9. Kyrie Irving – Dylan Gold Anonymous

10. Derrick Rose – Tracy Fay

11. Marc Gasol – Nick Raducanu FantasyTrade411

12. John Wall – Matt Satten

13. Anthony Davis – Eric Andrews FSA WDCB 90.9

14. Carmelo Anthony – Brian Flood SI

15. Josh Smith – Scott White CBSSports

16. Al Horford – Jeff Andriesse

17. Deron Williams – Tom Lorenzo

18. Damian Lillard – Dennis Velasco Baller Mind Frame

19. Nicolas Batum – Hector Castro

20. LaMarcus Aldridge – Dave Gawron eXpertLeagues.com

21. Ricky Rubio – Tom Carpenter ESPN

22. Al Jefferson – Mike Gallagher Rotoworld

23. Serge Ibaka – Tommy Beer Hoopsworld

24. DeMarcus Cousins – Ethan Norof Bleacher Report

25. Kawhi Leonard – Aaron Bruski Rotoworld

26. Mike Conley – Benny Aziz New York Cosmos

27. Monta Ellis – Rick Kamla NBA TV

28. Paul Millsap – Steve Alexander Rotoworld

29. Kemba Walker – Brandon Klyce HoopsKlyce

30. Ty Lawson – Jamey Eisenberg CBSSports

There’s not much to say here, other than I was happy to get Paul Millsap this late, but would have taken Monta Ellis had Rick Kamla not pimped me. I get the feeling that everyone’s favorite late first-round pick this year is Anthony Davis, and Eric Andrews was lucky enough to still see him sitting there at 13. I am higher than Al Jefferson, a lot higher, than Aaron Bruski is, but he did fall to 22 in this one. I also think DeMarcus Cousins is a steal this year.

Round 2

31. Pau Gasol

32. Derrick Favors

33. Roy Hibbert

34. Jrue Holiday

35. Larry Sanders

36. Russell Westbrook

37. Andre Drummond

38. Dirk Nowitzki

39. Eric Bledsoe

40. Dwyane Wade

41. Brandon Jennings

42. Brook Lopez

43. Blake Griffin

44. Nikola Vucevic

45. Jeff Teague

46. Goran Dragic

47. David Lee

48. Andre Iguodala

49. Tim Duncan

50. Greg Monroe

51. Kobe Bryant

52. Jonas Valanciunas

53. JaVale McGee

54. Jeff Green

55. Tony Parker

56. Evan Turner

57. Chris Bosh

58. Rudy Gay

59. Bradley Beal

60. Joakim Noah

I went with Roy Hibbert, locking up my PF and C early. I will pay later though, as small forward and point guard seem to be the thinnest positions this year. Having an injured player in this league is deadly. I backed up a championship by taking Kevin Love early last year, and you can probably imagine how that turned out. Therefore I’m a little worried for the owners of Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, Brandon Jennings, Kobe Bryant and Joakim Noah, but someone has to own those studs. And yes, Eric Bledsoe is a 2^nd rounder in this league.

Round 3

61. Klay Thompson

62. Ersan Ilyasova

63. Tobias Harris

64. Kyle Lowry

65. Thaddeus Young

66. Ryan Anderson

67. George Hill

68. Greivis Vasquez

69. Chandler Parsons

70. DeAndre Jordan

71. Rajon Rondo

72. Gordon Hayward

73. O.J. Mayo

74. Victor Oladipo

75. Enes Kanter

76. Amir Johnson

77. Tyreke Evans

78. Joe Johnson

79. Paul Pierce

80. Zach Randolph

81. Danny Green

82. Kyle Korver

83. Luol Deng

84. Jose Calderon

85. Kevin Martin

86. Kenneth Faried

87. Carlos Boozer

88. Jimmy Butler

89. Jeremy Lin

90. Nikola Pekovic

I snagged Jimmy Butler here, who qualifies at both SG and SF, which is a key for me. Point guard is already super thin, as someone is going to be starting Rajon Rondo. Zach Randolph looks like a steal at 80, while Victor Oladipo and all that upside went at 74. Kenneth Faried has a hamstring issue and you can add Kyle Lowry to the injury report (finger). I have a soft spot for Jeremy Lin, even though I didn't get him. I picked him up off waivers just before "Linsanity" happened and he helped me win this league two years ago.

Round 4

91. DeMar DeRozan

92. Robin Lopez

93. Brandon Knight

94. David West

95. Patrick Beverley

96. Reggie Jackson

97. Wesley Matthews

98. J.R. Smith

99. Spencer Hawes

100. Wilson Chandler

101. Raymond Felton

102. Isaiah Thomas

103. Tyson Chandler

104. Marcin Gortat

105. Gerald Henderson

106. Eric Gordon

107. Tristan Thompson

108. Anderson Varejao

109. Michael Carter-Williams

110. Jameer Nelson

111. Shawn Marion

112. Moe Harkless

113. Dion Waiters

114. Tiago Splitter

115. Mo Williams

116. Cody Zeller

117. Kevin Garnett

118. Ben McLemore

119. Marcus Thornton

120. John Henson

Starting point guards are officially gone and it looks like Eric Mack will be starting Mo Williams. I took a leap on Brandon Knight, who qualifies at both PG and SG here. More gambles include J.R. Smith, Eric Gordon, Anderson Varejao and Kevin Garnett, who may not play in back-to-backs this year.

Round 5

121. Anthony Bennett

122. Mario Chalmers

123. Samuel Dalembert

124. Andrew Bogut

125. Mike Dunleavy

126. J.J. Hickson

127. Markieff Morris

128. Andrea Bargnani

129. Jamal Crawford

130. Andrew Bynum

131. Arron Afflalo

132. Steve Nash

133. Chris Kaman

134. Nate Robinson

135. Kevin Seraphin

136. Nene

137. J.J. Redick

138. Danny Granger

139. Caron Butler

140. Trey Burke

141. Harrison Barnes

142. Alec Burks

143. Gerald Wallace

144. Nick Young

145. Brandan Wright

146. Thabo Sefolosha

147. Omer Asik

148. DeMarre Carroll

149. Kelly Olynyk

150. Jared Dudley

Round 5 is specifically when the wheels come off, and you’re simply looking for the best player at one of the holes you have left. For me, that was DeMarre Carroll, who I assumed was a small forward, since he played zero minutes at power forward last season. But he is only eligible at PF at CBS for now. Hopefully his eligibility includes SF once he starts five games there for the Hawks, which we can assume is going to happen.

Round 6

151. Danilo Gallinari

152. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

153. Jarrett Jack

154. Avery Bradley

155. Manu Ginobili

156. Jason Thompson

157. Tony Allen

158. James Anderson

159. Jared Sullinger

160. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

161. Andrei Kirilenko

162. Donatas Motiejunas

163. Luis Scola

164. Ed Davis

165. Iman Shumpert

166. Amare Stoudemire

167. Jeremy Lamb

168. Al-Farouq Aminu

169. Taj Gibson

170. Rodney Stuckey

171. Randy Foye

172. Metta World Peace

173. Corey Brewer

174. Andray Blatche

175. Derrick Williams

176. Lou Williams

177. Dorell Wright

178. Lance Stephenson

179. Ray Allen

180. Chauncey Billups

I came back with Jarrett Jack, who I moved to point guard, making my starting lineup PG Jack, SG Brandon Knight, SF Jimmy Butler, PF Paul Millsap, C Roy Hibbert and F DeMarre Carroll. I will fill out my G and Flex positions with my next two picks, hopefully. I love the Taj Gibson pick with Joakim Noah shut down with a groin injury, as well as those lingering foot issues. I also like the Donatas Motiejunas pick here, and he qualifies at both PF and C. I was hoping Lance Stephenson or Andrei Kirilenko would fall to me later, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Round 7

181. Ramon Sessions

182. Elton Brand

183. Channing Frye

184. Vince Carter

185. Alexey Shved

186. Otto Porter

187. Andre Miller

188. Luke Ridnour

189. Patrick Patterson

190. Thomas Robinson

191. C.J. McCollum

192. Trevor Ariza

193. Bismack Biyombo

194. Wes Johnson

195. Martell Webster

196. Jerryd Bayless

197. Kris Humphries

198. Josh McRoberts

199. Shawne Williams

200. Vitor Faverani

201. Jordan Hill

202. Archie Goodwin

203. Greg Stiemsma

204. Matt Barnes

205. Carlos Delfino

206. Emeka Okafor

207. Steven Adams

208. Jordan Farmar

209. Kyle O’Quinn

210. J.J. Barea

Ramon Sessions, Channing Frye, Vince Carter, Andre Miller, Trevor Ariza, Wes Johnson, Shawne Williams, Vitor Faverani, Jordan Farmar and J.J. Barea are all guys who could be useful in regular fantasy leagues this season.

Sessions is the yang to Kemba Walker’s ying, Frye can hit threes and block shots, Carter isn’t quite done yet, ditto on Miller, Ariza is starting for the Wizards and had a nice preseason, Johnson may get a long look in L.A. with Kobe out, Williams is going to start at power forward for the Lakers, as far as I know (and as hard as it is to believe), Faverani went absolutely nuts on Wednesday (a 3-pointer, 6 blocks) but has a back issue, Farmar may be the best point guard the Lakers have (sorry, Steve-o), and Barea can score in bunches off the Wolves bench.

There are still five rounds unaccounted for here, but I’m pretty sure I would bore you by going through all of them. This is the only league I know of where people get mad when someone takes guys like Al Harrington and Richard Jefferson just before they pick. And that is the beauty of 30-Deep.