Round 4, Pick 12: Caron Butler, SF, Washington Wizards

Given the first pick in the odd rounds, math and logic present fantasy owners with the last pick in the even rounds.  So, after swiping guys like LeBron James and Vince Carter in rounds one and three respectively, I’ve had to witness (Cleveland pun, very intended) several targeted players fly off of the board to the other owners – something that is highly likely to happen when given the opportunity to draft first overall.  However, I was able to accommodate my team very well with the selection of the second of back-to-back Wizards off of the board, and one of the most underrated players in the league: Caron Butler.

How can I consider Butler to be underrated?  Not many third scoring options on a team go in the fourth round of a fantasy draft, right?  Well, maybe I can go with “underappreciated,” if it makes you feel better as an owner.  How so?  Well, for starters, the guy was traded to Washington in a deal that included Kwame Brown and Lamar Profit on the other end.  Yes…Lamar Profit. 

Honestly, there were several routes I could’ve went with this selection.  However, my past 3 picks have led me to lean towards correcting a few problem areas on my team: turnovers and free throw percentage.  Crunching the numbers, I feel that the former UCONN product is a very comfortable fit for this squad.

The arguably weak free throw percentage (which I feel will be a lot better than it currently is on paper, when James improves his charity stripe game) is not only aided by the Vince Carter addition, but is improved even more so with Butler, who has a career 83.7% mark and was 11th in the league last season.  Caron will also aid me on the turnover end.  His TO totals last year were up a bit over his season in LA, but his assist and steal totals also increased.  Butler was top-15 in total steals as well as steals per game last year, and top-25 total in steals-to-turnover ratio.

Add in the fact that his rebounds, field goal percentage, and scoring have increased year over year since 2003, and you have a player who is still young and is becoming more and more of a focal point in the Washington Wizards game plan.  The fact that Butler came off the bench for a lot of games last season in favor of Jared Jeffries should not even be considered as a negative, as Butler received over 36 minutes per contest.  His consistent improvement in all major categories is a very good sign of things to come for the Wizards, as well as Butler’s fantasy owners this season.

Other Team Members:

1.1. LeBron James, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers
2.12. Amare Stoudemire, PF/C, Phoenix Suns
3.1. Vince Carter, SG, New Jersey Nets