Fantasy Basketball 2019: 1st-Round NBA Mock Draft and Top Team Names

Theo SalaunOct 7, 2019

As we wade deeper into October, we enter the golden time of the year for fans of the orange sphere. From pumpkin patches to dunks and splashes, Halloween and the NBA's 2019 tip-off are within striking distance, and that means fantasy basketball is, too.

Before some fun team names, below is a mock draft of the first round of a traditional, head-to-head, nine-category (field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage, three-pointers made, points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, turnovers) league.

First-Round Mock Draft

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1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

2. James Harden, Houston Rockets

3. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

4. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers

5. Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers

6. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

7. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves

8. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

9. Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers

10. Russell Westbrook, Houston Rockets

11. Damian Lillard, Portland Trailblazers

11. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

12. Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors

The top six are in a tier of their own ahead of the new season, as each player is expected to fill up the stat sheet and should have tremendous opportunity to do so barring injury.

Stephen Curry, in particular, could provide huge value as he will be leaned on heavily by a Warriors team that no longer boasts Kevin Durant (and Klay Thompson will be absent for at least half of the season).

After those six, Towns, Jokic and George are in a second tier as a trio of prolific scorers with tremendous upside and some efficiency concerns. Speaking of efficiency concerns, Russell Westbrook is in his own tier as managers who draft him will need to balance the gift of his padded stats with the curse of his inefficiency.

The end of the first round becomes a complete toss-up. Lillard, Embiid and Siakam are all poised to have major roles for their teams and contribute in numerous statistical areas if they take the right steps. But players like Jimmy Butler, Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum, among many others (including young upstarts like Trae Young, Luka Doncic and De'Aaron Fox) are in similar positions.

Team Names

Some of these are just references to revolutionary moments in human culture (Kawhi Leonard's "What it do, baby?" being a prime example). Others are cringe-worthy puns to fluster your opponents ("I can be your Herro, baby" being a very prime example).

Others, like "The Zion, His Hitch and the Scoreboard," slowly creep up on you before making such a remarkable, profound impact on your spirit that an eventual decision to draft Zion Williamson in the first round grants you passage to Narnia.