I’m not going to lie.  While the first five picks in hoops this year can likely be taken in any order, it gets a bit dicey towards the end of the first round.  This is one year that lacks a clear-cut choice at the top, which makes it that much better for those at the bottom who get to scoop up two top-15 players. 

Unfortunately, if you do land the eighth selection, you’ll have some decisions to make.  When selecting at the eighth spot, you’ve likely seen four big name forwards and a shooting guard taken.  Then it starts to get tricky like Run DMC.  Two point guards were just selected ahead of me, so I’m sensing that there’s going to be a decent run on big men.  This leaves me no choice but to lead the way and select:

Amare Stoudemire, PF/C, Phoenix Suns

Dating back to last season, some of us were about as big of Anti-Stoudemire proponents as you would find in the fantasy arena.  So much in fact that he fell to me in the last pick of the second round – pairing him with LeBron James.  Not bad, eh? 

Fact of the matter is that while Stoudemire did have a devastating knee injury two years back, he was a top atot plenty of draft boards prior to the news.  He took a year off, rehabilitated, and played last season like he never missed a beat.  The big man played in all 82 games and logged averages of 20.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks.

He stepped up his game big time in the playoffs by upping those averages to 25.3 points, 12.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.  Unfortunately, Amare was also the newsmaker as he was suspended for a huge game against the Spurs after he left the bench in the whole Robert Horry/Steve Nash debacle.  He was just checking into the game…wasn’t he?

I have to admit that I’m a bit tenuous on Stoudemire this season due to the whole USA Basketball inclusion.  You should all know how I feel about players logging in 82 games and then competing in International play.  However, when comparing the big man to some of his colleagues that will likely be selected in the upcoming picks, I don’t think you can go wrong with a guaranteed 20 and 10 with at least a block per game. 

Previous Picks This Round:

1.1 LeBron James, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers
1.2. Kobe Bryant, SG, Los Angeles Lakers
1.3. Shawn Marion, SF/PF, Phoenix Suns
1.4. Kevin Garnett, SF/PF, Minnesota Timberwolves
1.5. Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Dallas Mavericks
1.6. Gilbert Arenas, PG, Washington Wizards
1.7 Steve Nash, PG, Phoenix Suns