Fantasy basketball is a game where you assemble a team of NBA players and compete against other teams in various statistical categories. It’s a great way to stay connected to the sport all year long, especially if your team doesn’t make it far into the playoffs. It’s also a fun game to play with friends, family, or coworkers. The basics of fantasy basketball are simple: You draft a team of NBA players and get points based on how well they perform in real life. You have to stay on top of things during the season, so you can trade players who aren’t doing well for those who are performing better. Here are some tips that will help you improve your performance in your next fantasy basketball league.
Know the types of games
There are two main types of fantasy basketball games: roto and head-to-head. Roto leagues are for people who want to be general managers, managing all facets of a team, including trading. Head-to-head leagues are for people who want to focus on competing in one-on-one matchups. There are also various daily fantasy basketball sites that let you put together a new team every day. While these games are more focused on statistics, like one-day baseball games, they still require an understanding of the game to be successful.
Don’t draft your entire team at once
One of the biggest mistakes fantasy basketball owners make is drafting an entire team at once. Doing so makes it nearly impossible to change your roster during the season. If a player gets hurt or has a bad game, you can’t easily cut him and replace him with someone else. Additionally, if you draft an entire team at once, you don’t get to see how other people draft and what players they value. You’re going to be at a disadvantage when you’re up against other owners who draft a player before you do. You may miss out on a guy who has a breakout season.
Be aware of positional requirements
In roto leagues, you’ll need at least one player at each position—point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. You can have more than one player at a position, but you need a minimum of one at each spot. If you draft LeBron James as a forward and he ends up moving to small forward, you lose points in that category. If you’re in a head-to-head league, you don’t have to worry about positional requirements. You need to make sure you have the best players at each position, but you don’t have to worry about having players at every position.
Watch preseason games
Pre-season games don’t count in fantasy basketball, but they are a great way to get a sense of a team’s style of play and how individual players look in the new system. Fantasy basketball is a game of information. The more you know, the better decisions you can make.
Watching preseason games will give you a sense of the coaches’ strategy, players’ playing time, and how they’re doing statistically. You can also use the pre-season to look at rookies. Fantasy owners don’t typically draft rookies because they don’t know their playing time or level of performance. But if you see a rookie with a lot of promise, it may be worth trading for him. You can also use the pre-season to see if a player is injured or just needs a rest.
Have a plan for autosubs
Autosubs are players who automatically replace a player if he gets injured. You may want to have specific players you want to sub in for certain situations—for example, if a big name is playing in a back-to-back game, you may want to have a lower-priced option to sub him out. If you’re in a roto league, you have up to six subs. If you have a lot of high-priced players, you’re going to want a few lower-priced subs to balance your team. If you’re in a head-to-head league, you only have one sub. You want someone who can adequately replace a starter for a game.
Have a plan for bench players
Bench players are the players you draft on your bench. You want to have players who can help you out in a variety of categories. Starters usually score a lot of points, so they don’t help you out in other categories. You may want to draft players who will start on a lot of teams. For example, if you draft a player like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, he’s likely to start for a lot of teams. That will help offset the points you lose when your starters play. You may also want to draft bench players who will be available in the last couple rounds of your draft. That way, you don’t lose out on some of the top-tier players who are likely to go before you get a chance to draft them.
Conclusion
Fantasy basketball is a game of numbers, and you have to make sure you’re drafting good players who are going to help you out in various categories. You also have to know your league’s rules and have a plan for every part of the game, from drafting to managing your bench. There’s a lot of strategies involved in fantasy basketball, and it’s a fun way to stay connected to the sport all year long