In Dirk Nowitzki and Baron Davis, this team has a pair of versatile fantasy studs. So it is time to draft the “best player available,” right? But are you not always trying to draft the best player available? I suppose that double-talk came from the notion of not drafting due to positional needs or off-the-court issues.

This man continues to ride high on a championship wave. A little over a year ago, he wanted to be traded. Now people mention him as being hall of fame material. That’s the “Truth.”

Round 3, Pick 7: Paul Pierce, SG/SF, Boston Celtics

Here are his three year highs and lows in all the major fantasy categories.

Best: 80 GP, 47.1 FG%, 84.3 FT%, 26.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 4.8 apg, 2.3 3pg, 1.4 spg, 0.5 bpg, 2.8 topg

Worst: 47 GP, 43.9 FG%, 77.2 FT%, 19.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.4 3pg, 1.0 spg, 0.3 bpg, 3.5 topg

The following list recaps the order in which shooting guards and small forwards have been taken thus far:

LeBron James
Kobe Bryant
Shawn Marion
Caron Butler
Allen Iverson
Dwyane Wade
Danny Granger
Rashard Lewis
Josh Smith
Jason Richardson

Pierce ranks eleventh by getting selected here i.e. not elite but very good. What should “very good” mean in fantasy terms? It means that if your opponent for the week employs one of the players taken ahead of Pierce, Pierce should be able to win the match-up if he has four games that week and the other player has three games. For example, take LeBron and his 29-8-7 game (that’s points, rebounds assists)? Pierce and his 19-5-5 plus the steals neutralizes LeBron, more or less. Then it is up to your other players to gain an advantage.

What else does “very good” mean? It means that in a three-game week, he still makes the lineup and although he will not dominate across the board, in certain categories,consider him still a force unleashed. In the case of Pierce, his output in FT% has drastically improved over his career and the three-pointers would be hard to compete with, even with an extra game in hand. Given the volume of free throw attempts, Pierce could have a strong positive influence on your team in that department.

“Very good” means one more thing…consistency. You know what to expect. He is starting FOR SURE. He is on the SAME TEAM as before. He has reached a certain level of production and has shown the ability to maintain it. It means you can afford to take a flier later on in the draft. It is not quite the same as selecting Tim Duncan, but the sentiment bears some similarities. As with Duncan, it might be more fun to have some other player on your team, but employing him means your team will no doubt be at the very least?

Very good.