We spend a lot of time arguing over drafting for fit versus drafting the best player available, with the consensus seeming that BPA is usually the way to go. I have been thinking a lot about this as we head into draft season, and have concluded, as others have here and elsewhere, that it isn’t so simple. Certainly, there are clear-cut cases—you don’t want to miss out on drafting Michael Jordan because you already have Clyde Drexler on the roster, for example.
But cases like this are rare, and especially anywhere but the very top of the draft, team needs must come into play, if only because players lose value if they don’t get opportunities.