Unlike other punt points builds the route to punt points and ft% is likely made in reverse. Starting with a FT% punt staple such as Steph Curry or Giannis and then realising after a few rounds that we have fallen behind in points. The advantage of this build is the freedom we have with which to draft our big men. Big men naturally fit punt points builds, but often the most dominant sources of rebounds, blocks and FG% are punt FT bigs.
The key then, is complementing that dominance with the right combination of 3s, assists and steals without compromising FG% or Turnovers too much. Curry, CP3, Zach Lavine, Jrue Holiday, Draymond Green and Ben Simmons tend to be the staples of this build supported by a range of punt FT big men.
Points and FT% correlate heavily with 3s, Assists and Steals. Getting high A/TO point guards who also offer solid 3s and steals is the key with big men even easier to find in this build.
Keys to the build
In Punt Points & 3s we need to dominate the A/TO market, going early if need be. Steals will be another key category to go for early and often. Therefore we focus on:
- Assists vs Turnovers – the hardest trade-off, this takes active management to pull off but there are plenty of players throughout the draft that can provide assists without killing you in turnovers. This is made a lot easier when able to disregard 3-point 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.
- Steals – Points and 3s have strong synergy with steals so high A/TO players with great steals are going to be our focus.
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 easier but still enough to be conscious of.
You’ll notice below there are a lot of bigs late that fit this build but a lot less smalls. The Punt 3s mix enhanced bigs even more than punt assists. Target smalls that fit early and round out your bigs later.
Players to target
Round 1:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo – this build typically is a result of not getting the right scoring options you wanted in the early rounds. A punt FT monster.
- Steph Curry – The building block in this build with his unicorn 3s to FG% ratio with steals and assists thrown in.
- Luka Doncic – again, this build typically wouldn’t be how you want to go with Luka but you may have taken him with the hope of punting FT% and then found yourself opting for a double punt.
Round 2
- Rudy Gobert – the obvious R2 building block – elite Punt FT big with Boards, Blocks and FG%.
- Lebron James – 3s, Assists, Boards, Steals, FG%. The dream in any Punt FT build and can easily work for us here especially where punt points hides injuries better than other builds.
- Anthony Edwards – 3s, Steals, a handful of assists. Tick, Tick, Tick.
- Kawhi Leonard – With the biggest loss when early rounders miss games being scoring, we negate that in punt points. His combination of FG%, 3s, assists and steals is what we are after here.
- Bam Adebayo – Out of position assists boost our stocks here on good %s. Lack of 3s hurt but could be a good option if you started Curry and missed on Gobert.
Round 3
- Chris Paul – a stalwart of this build. Best in class A/TO ratio with elite %s. Some R2 options might be available if you picked early enough.
- Domantas Sabonis – a great source of out-of-position assists – a good get if you miss out on other options.
- Zach Lavine – If all the above options are missing efficient 3s with some assists isn’t a bad option although a bit of a reach.
- Jarrett Allen – A great alternative if we have missed the 3 bigs above.
Round 4 – 6
- Jrue Holiday – great FG% with elite steals and solid A/TO ratio
- Dejounte Murray – Good alternative to Jrue here. Will likely be gone in drafts.
- Draymond Green – from R5 Green is a must-draft player in this build. Can probably get in R6. Top 20 in this build.
- Jakob Poeltl – Top 20 in this build. No brainer if you need bigs.
- Clint Capela – Top 20 and should be resurgent this year.
- Ben Simmons – After taking a year off I am high on Simmons this year. This is his build and he has genuine top 20 upside here. Worth the risk early in R6 or even late R5.
- Klay Thompson – a real option in R6 here especially if we need 3s.
Round 7 – 9
- Mitch Robinson – Has Rob Williams upside but can be taken in R6 or 7.
- Robert Williams – a top 5 player in this build. Injury is a concern but this build hides injuries better than most.
- Jarred Vanderbilt – potentially a top 40 player in this build, Draymond without assists. Boards and steals with a block. Need good FT shooters early.
- 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.
- Jusuf Nurkic – the out-of-position assists will help, especially if he drops in drafts. Key is whether he can stay healthy.
- Keegan Murray – a little bit of everything post-80 seems like a no-brainer.
- Brandon Clarke – should feast with JJJ out. Useful source of big man stats and FG%.
- Tre Jones – we really want to close out with assists before we get too deep into the 100s. Tre offers elite A/TO and a much bigger role this year.
- Markelle Fultz – similar to jones if you need assists I love doubling down and taking Jones and Fultz just around 100.
Late Rounders
- Onyeka Okongwu – Reb / Blk
- Nic Claxton – Reb / Blk
- Daniel Gafford – Reb / Blk
- Isaiah Jackson – Reb / Blk
- Bobby Portis – 3s / Rebs
- Pat Beverley – Ast / Stl / Blk
- De’Anthony Melton – 3s / Stl
- Robert Covington – 3s / Reb / Stl / Blk
- Mason Plumlee – FG% / Reb
- Steven Adams – FG% / Reb
- Matisse Thybulle – Stl / Blk
- Kyle Anderson – all around
- Nerlens Noel – Reb / Stl / Blk
- Isaiah Hartenstein – Reb / Ast / Blk
- Javale McGee – Reb / Blk
- Walker Kessler – Reb / Blk
- Delon Wright – Ast / Stl
- Bruce Brown – Reb / Ast / Stl
- TJ Mcconnell – Ast / Stl
- Joe Harris – 3s
- Seth Curry – 3s
