Punt Points & Assists

If punt points is the highest potential single punt strategy possible. Punt Points and Assists combines it’s high potential with the high potential and high floor of punt assists to probably create the greatest double punt strategy.

When we punt points and assists we eliminate the need to draft elite scorers and elite point guards – the two most difficult players to find in drafts. The Robert Williams and Robert Covington’s of the world become world beaters in this build. Threes and Steals become incredibly important and form the core of our draft strategy.

This gives you an idea of the power behind this build – you don’t take these players in those draft positions, you take them at their regular spots, but you get incredible value out of doing so. On the right we can see Points and Assists plotted against draft position. Each line represents a unique players points z-score. We can see this more clearly in the Which Category Should I Punt? article but points and assists have the two steepest gradients of any category.

Points and Assists correlate heavily with 3s and Steals. Getting wings with decent FG%, 3s and steals are the VIP targets even though big men will have the most to gain from the build. This is because any big men we draft will gain a lot from the build, high FG% wings with elite 3s and steals will be much harder to find.

Points correlation to Draft Position
Assists Correlation to Draft Position

Keys to the build

In Punt Points & Assists we trade off assists to win turnovers every week. This makes %s and 3s even more crucial and a key focus of the build. Other focuses:

  • FG% vs 3s – it is especially important that your early-round picks bring an elite combination of these categories. We need 3s in large volume on decent (47%+) shooting.
  • FG% vs FT% – it is also important that your early-round picks bring these in large volume to anchor both percentages to a high mark.
  • 3s & Steals early and often – Curry, Edwards, Paul George, Lavine, Bane, Klay are all elite options in this build.

The extra punted category here makes for a much easier strategy in the draft. You don’t need to juggle all 3 of the hardest tradeoffs but just 2 which is still enough to be conscious of.

You’ll notice below there are a lot of bigs late that fit this build and even less smalls than regular punt points. Go extra hard on smalls in early rounds.

Players to target

Round 1:

  • Steph Curry – The staple of this double punt. Steph Curry with his unicorn 3s to FG% ratio gives us the perfect start.
  • Kevin Durant – Yes he could lead the league in scoring, but he does so with elite FG% and FT% on big volume and decent 3PTers. %s anchor.
  • Karl Anthony Towns – An ultra-efficient big man late who provides elite 3P shooting. %s Anchor.

Round 2

  • Kyrie Irving – Elite %s on volume, 3s and assists on low turnovers – tick tick tick
  • Anthony Davis – Top 5 player – boards and good percentages. Prefer efficient guards as a lot of bigs in the middle/late rounds.
  • Anthony Edwards – doesn’t bring the %s but brings the 3s and Steals we are after.
  • Kawhi Leonard – With the biggest loss when early rounders miss games being scoring, we negate that in punt points.
  • Jimmy Butler – Same story, reason he’s so low in draft guide is health. Less of a concern in punt points. Doesn’t hit 3s but is an elite steals guy with great %s.
  • Paul George – sure the injury risk concern is there but I can’t think of a more fundemental 3&D selection that PG13 in the back end of R2 or early R3.
  • Devin Booker – might seem like an odd fit here but his incredible anchor in both %s with decent 3s is useful.

Round 3

  • Myles Turner – Another player to move up your board. Elite block specialist with 3s and clean %s.
  • Deandre Ayton – Great FG Impact on good volume, great boards
  • Nikola Vucevic – clean %s on good volume, great boards with bonus assists and 3s
  • Zach Lavine – seems an odd choice but provides elite 3s on great FG% which is one of the keys to the build

Round 4 – 6

  • Jrue Holiday – Steals specialist with some okay 3pt production and great FG%.
  • Desmond Bane – an incredible source of efficient 3s. Hard to find in this build – feel free to move him up to R5. R4 is fine if you pick really late.
  • John Collins – clean big man with 3s and blocks.
  • Terry Rozier – Charlottes 2 guard and backup point will give us great 3s on decent shooting – great if you can nab him in R5.
  • Klay Thompson – If you are at the back of R6 and need some 3s, Klay is an ultra-efficient source.
  • Mikal Bridges – this build is designed for him. A R2/3 value in this build. Prefer getting efficient 3s over steals here though.
  • Michael Porter – injuries are a danger here but is a god in punt assists builds. Top 20 upside.
  • Jarred Vanderbilt – potentially a top 20 player in this build, Boards and steals with a block. Need good FT impact early. Should be able to get in R7 or 8 but decent value if other options are gone in R6.
  • Mitch Robinson – Has Rob Williams upside from last year but can be taken in R6 or 7.

Round 7 – 9

  • Robert Williams – the #1 player in this build when healthy. Injury is a concern but this build hides injuries better than most.
  • Al Horford – a 9 cat gem of a big man, the type of player to draft around 80 regardless of your needs.
  • Ivica Zubac – I love his upside this year. A monster source of FG% without FT% headaches.
  • Jalen Smith – a clean big man with 3s and blocks upside this late feels like robbery.
  • Devin Vassell – this build is built for elite 3 and D wings, and Vassell looks set to breakout this year.
  • Jabari Smith – the rookie looks poised to give us an elite combination of 3s, steals and blocks
  • Keegan Murray – a little bit of everything post-80 seems like a no-brainer.
  • Herbert Jones – a discount store Mikal Bridges. Top 40 player in this build.
  • Brandon Clarke – should feast with JJJ out. Useful source of big man stats and FG%.
  • Jaren Jackson Jr. – JJJ becomes a must-take here – we can get him just before he falls on others’ radars (back end of 80s)
  • Robert Covington – The dream around pick 100 will be Sir Bob, 3s, Rebounds, Steals and Blocks – first round upside if he gets 24+ minutes.
  • Bobby Portis – elite source of late boards and 3s.
  • Matisse Thybulle – defensive specialist. More questions about his role this year though the double punt makes him a top 30 player in this build in around 25 mins.
  • Joe Harris – although I’d suggest waiting til past R10 for him, Harris is a must draft player due to his efficient 3 point shooting.

Late Rounders

  • Seth Curry – 3s
  • Isaiah Jackson – Reb / Blk
  • Onyeka Okongwu – Reb / Blk
  • Nic Claxton – Reb / Blk
  • Daniel Gafford – Reb / Blk
  • De’Anthony Melton – 3s / Stl
  • Brook Lopez – 3s / Blk
  • Chris Boucher – 3s / Blk
  • Kyle Anderson – all around
  • Nerlens Noel – Reb / Stl / Blk
  • Isaiah Hartenstein – Reb / Ast / Blk
  • Javale McGee – Reb / Blk
  • Walker Kessler – Reb / Blk