Living the Fantasy: Championship or Bust

By now we've all drafted the teams that will allow us to live vicariously through our favorite players over the next six months. And with the season officially upon us, it's a good time to be alive.

And for those of us "experts" in the online 30-Deep League, it's good to be done drafting. If you haven't heard about this 30-team league, it's nine-cat head-to-head with 12 roster spots.

No, the rulers of 30-Deep haven't expanded the roster to 15 to mirror the NBA's maximum roster limit, but when your 12th pick is J.J. Hickson that's quite all right.

And no, the rulers of 30-Deep did not pay any mind to your heady scribe when he put up a stink about this year's inclusion of turnovers as the ninth category. For the 798,613th time, turnovers do NOT belong in fantasy b-ball because they ugly up the competition and they are LAME.

Who wants to add an annoying -- and unnecessary -- reality check like turnovers to a perfectly good fantasy? Freaks, it's like looking at a supermodel through a telescope when polarized shades are a much better call.

End sum: TO = TMI.

With everyone in the fantasy world buzzing about their teams and making parade plans, I'm here to take the conversation to another level with the opening night rosters for all three of my squads.

8-Cat, head-to-head, 12 teams, 1 keeper
Team Name: In Stuck We Trust
Note: Although I am the commissioner and a perennial contender, I have never won this league. Yes, it hurts.

Projected Starting Lineup

Center -- Greg Oden: Still not sure how I got ROY with the 52nd overall pick, but I've been fielding trade offers ever since. Color me crazy, but I am projecting 14/12/2.5 from G.O., and the fifth or sixth seed for the Blazers in the murderous Western Conference.

Forward -- Chris Bosh: I happily scooped up Bosh -- 17th in 8-cat rankings last year -- early in round three (28th overall). CB4's dual eligibility is icing on the cake.

Forward -- Emeka Okafor: I drafted Okafor over Andrew Bynum late in round four because Larry Brown will finally get Mek to realize his vast potential. I am looking for 15 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks per game. Also, Okafor swings at forward and center while Bynum is center only.

Guard -- Dwyane Wade: LeBron, Paul, and Kobe comprise The Big Three in fantasy basketball (and League Freak), but I did not hesitate to draft Wade with the fourth overall pick. Remember, Wade was first on the 8-cat charts two years ago. He dominated at Beijing, destroyed people in the preseason, and Wade will garner MVP consideration for leading the Heat back to the playoffs after their 15-win disaster.

Guard -- Kevin Durant: I am forecasting 25/5/3/1.2/1.4 from KD, which is why I took him 21st overall -- ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, and Tim Duncan. If my calculations prove incorrect, then I'm a complete idiot for passing up those known commodities and I will not win the 'ship. If I am right about Durant morphing into an All-Star, then my team is business.

Sixth Man/Flex Player -- O.J. Mayo: The sixth round tipped off our keeper eligibility, so I was pleasantly surprised to draft Mayo with the ninth pick in the round. I went with Mayo over Derrick Rose because of his potential in steals and threes. I don't take preseason stats to the bank, but Mayo's 1.9 threes and 1.8 steals were nevertheless promising.

Bench
G -- Raymond Felton: I thought about John Salmons and Tony Parker, but pulled the trigger on Felton in the seventh round because of the LB factor. The HOF coach has been known to work well with young point guards. Plus, I needed assists badly and Ray dimed 7.4 per game last year.

F -- Tyrus Thomas: I'm going back to the well for the third straight season with Thomas, hoping this is finally the year it all comes together. Dude averaged 10.1/8.6/2.1/1.0 in 24.3 minutes during the preseason and I got him on the cheap (eighth round), so we'll see...

G -- Rodney Stuckey: He's a certifiable fantasy thief with all his steals, and I been caught stealing, Jane's Addiction-style, with Stuck in round nine. As you can see by my team name, authored originally by Rasheed Wallace late last year, I have big plans for this super sophomore in 08-09.

G -- Luke Ridnour: With the way Cool Hand Luke concluded the preseason he's looking like a rotation player in fantasy leagues, and with four games in week one he's in my starting lineup. Hey, I'll take 11 points, seven assists, 1.5 steals, close to a three, and feckless free throw shooting in the last round.

9-Cat, head-to-head, 30 teams, no keepers
Team Name: Rick Kamla -- NBA TV/NBA.com
Note: Won last year's regular season with a 25-5 record, but then lost in first playoff round when Yao Ming went down. My brother, Chris, who serves as my not-so-silent partner, was completely against taking Yao with the 17th overall pick, and I may never live that one down.

Projected Starting Lineup

Center -- Ben Wallace: I know, I know, you already hate my team. Check yourself. Big Ben was, in fact, durable last year, averaging 30.6 minutes in 72 games. Not bad for a 34-year-old. And he remained solid in rebounds (8.4), blocks (1.6), and steals (1.2) even though he plummeted in scoring (4.8) and field goal percentage (.392). But to get all that D from a swing big with the 175th overall pick (sixth round) still feels good because the rest of our team is ... well...you be the judge.

Power Forward -- LaMarcus Aldridge: My brother was the driving force behind nabbing L.A. in the second round with the 55th overall pick, continuing the foundation started by taking Wade with our first pick -- points, rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage and free throw shooting. I wanted Ron Artest, who is a better complement to Wade, but my bro played the Yao-injury card, I stopped talking, and we moved on without Ron-Ron.

Small Forward -- Luol Deng: We thought long and hard about drafting our starting center in round three, but we eschewed Rasheed Wallace, Chris Kaman, Samuel Dalembert, Brad Miller, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas for the best available player. Deng was 45th on the 8-cat board in 06-07 and we got him with the 66th overall pick. Tough to complain.

Shooting Guard -- Dwyane Wade: My bro wanted Dwight Howard with the sixth overall pick and he lobbied aggressively from the Blazers-Hawks preseason game in Kansas City. However, I tuned out an unpleasant Yao flashback and took Wade two picks later than he should have gone. After the Big Three, D-Will went fourth and Amare went fifth.

Point Guard -- Jameer Nelson: We desperately needed a point guard and Jameer was the pick at 115 overall, deep in round four. Almost took Ridnour, but favored the lack of competition at PG in Orlando.

Sixth Man/Flex Player -- J.R. Smith: With four players in our back pocket, but none of them averaging over one three per game, we needed a difference maker in that category and J.R. was the perfect fit early in round five (126th overall). In the final two months of last season, he averaged 2.6 threes but maintained 49 percent field goal shooting. That's insane. J.R. is a contender for Sixth Man of the Year AND Most Improved Player.

Bench
SF/PF -- Ryan Gomes: We got sniped on Darko Milicic and Jarrett Jack right before our seventh round pick (186th overall), so we went with Gomes. He backs up both forward spots and should average 30 minutes for My Wolves.

PG -- Anthony Johnson: Taking AJ in the eighth round is about as sexy as going to the grocery store with your mom, but we needed the handcuff behind the oft-injured Nelson.

C -- DeSagana Diop: Needed a backup center who blocks shots, so Diop was an obvious choice with the 246th overall pick (ninth round).

PG/SG/SF -- Devin Brown: Byron Scott trusts Devin, which is why he brought him back for a second tour of duty. Our 10th round pick (295th overall) will hover around 20 minutes a game and qualify at THREE positions.

PF -- Joel Anthony: We got sniped on JaVale McGee and Aaron Brooks before the Brown pick, so I was bound and determined to pull the trigger on one of my deep sleepers in round 11 (306th overall). Anthony will wrest the starting center job from Mark Blount at some point this season, at which point he will gain center eligibility and block over two shots per game.

PF -- J.J. Hickson: The 19th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft out of NC State was a stud at the Vegas Summer League. Plus, if Big Ben gets hurt, J.J. could be thrust into the Cavs' rotation ... and ours as well.

5-cat, head-to-head, 12 teams, no keepers
Team Name: Ron-Ron's Revenge
Note: Won the championship in 06-07 thanks to four blocks from Kendrick Perkins in a Sunday night game against Dwight Howard -- proof that miracles happen. My brother is the commissioner of the Kansas City-based KamBa II.

Projected Starting Lineup

Center -- Greg Oden: No-brainer to draft Oden with the 34th overall pick (third round), especially when your first two picks were forwards.

Forward -- Elton Brand: Tough call, but I went with EB over KG and Marion with the 10th overall pick. Historically, EB has been good for 20/10/3/2/1, and KG and Marion aren't going to match those numbers this year.

Forward -- Gerald Wallace: Before the draft I made the decision to go after Josh Smith and/or Gerald in the first two rounds. Josh went fourth overall?ahead of Kobe?so that forced me to take "aka Crash" with the 15th overall pick. My fingers are crossed.

Guard -- Michael Redd: My first five picks were forwards or centers, so Redd was a veritable coup with the 63rd overall pick (sixth round).

Guard -- Derrick Rose: I was in full-on guard mode at this point of the draft, so when I saw Rose on the board, I blew off his hip flexor and made him the 82nd overall pick (seventh round).

Sixth Man/Flex Player -- Ron Artest: I took Ron-Ron with the 39th overall pick (fourth round) for a variety of reasons. One, you cannot win without D-Freaks in five-cat leagues. Two, Ron-Ron is winning DPOY this year. Three, T-Mac is going to be a DNP buzzkill, opening up plenty of offense for QB's own. And finally, in a bit of ironically poetic justice, I want to defeat Chris in the championship round of HIS league with Artest, who will get HIS revenge on my bro for hating on Ron-Ron during our 30-Deep draft.

Bench
C/F - Zach Randolph: My first four picks were forwards or centers and I was all set to take Kevin Martin as my first guard. But then I checked the center-eligible list and saw Z-Bo just sitting there, all alone. I like to load up on running backs in fantasy football and I like to load up on bigs in fantasy hoops, so I blew off Martin and took Z-Bo with the 58th overall pick (fifth round).

G -- Randy Foye: With my bigs in a state of rock-stardom, I decided to take as many guards as I could, starting with Redd and Rose, and continuing with Foye in the eighth round.

G -- Russell Westbrook: The fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft really came on toward the end of the preseason and I've never been a big fan of Earl Watson. As such, I rolled the dice on the rookie with the 106th pick (ninth round).

G -- Rudy Fernandez: I had to have Rudy on one of my teams and here was my chance to add a steal machine with the 111th overall pick (round 10).

G -- Jamaal Tinsley: I was waiting on Nene or Etan Thomas but both were taken right before me, so I drafted Tinsley with two things in mind. One, the Nuggets and Pacers are still talking about moving Tinsley to the Rockies. Two, Tinsley is a five-cat beast when he plays, and the possibilities are downright juicy with finishers like Melo, Iverson, JR, and K-Mart.

G -- Rodney Stuckey: In Stuck We Trust...