You can’t be 100% prepared when entering your drafts. You must account for variable changes that occur during the draft. There are many different ways to build your teams. When in your draft, there are a few things you should remember when making a balanced team. Balance is the most important thing to remember in fantasy basketball, especially early on.
PLAYING TIME IS KEY: Playing time translates to opportunity in both seasonal and DFS Hoops. If a player is not on the court (no matter how big the name is), it will ultimately hurt your teams. Andre Drummond is a fantastic Center who pulls down many rebounds per game, but if he is not hitting his free-throws in close games, there is a good chance he will lose playing time down the stretch in the closing minutes of games. That playing time he would be missing out on is very valuable and if you see a Center further down your rankings who is playing consistent minutes, it might be smart to wait and fill another position, even if you lose out on a couple of rebounds per game.
AN NBA STARTER IS NOT THE SAME AS A FANTASY STARTER: Remember, you aren’t looking to fill out or mirror an NBA roster when constructing your team. You’re trying to build an All-Star team. Just because a player is a STARTER on his NBA team, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they should be starting for your fantasy teams. A player like Timofey Mozgov has proved that he is more effective when playing fewer minutes. He could be starting, but his minutes have been monitored throughout his career. Don’t get fooled and look at team depth charts without checking the playing time breakdown.
MULTI-POSITION ELIGIBILITY GIVES YOU BALANCE! DON’T DRAFT JUST TO FILL POSITIONS: I’ve noticed that a lot of people when in a fantasy basketball draft become fixated on filling out empty starting roster positions thinking that it keeps them organized. A lot of players in the NBA play multiple positions. If you want to grab 3 forwards to start your draft and one of them has Center eligibility and another has Guard eligibility, you’ll be in good shape. Just because the website you are drafting on puts a player at a certain position on your roster, it doesn’t mean they are obligated to start in that spot. Don’t feel pressured to fill specific positions just because you want to fill starting spots. You’ll address them later on.
GUARDS WHO REBOUND ARE IDEAL: Who doesn’t want to draft a player with flashy statistics? At some point in your draft, those players disappear and it’s up to you to figure out which players are key for your team’s depth. You can’t only look at the big picture in fantasy basketball. Look at single statistics that separate certain players at their position. Guards are generally not known for compiling the same statistics as Centers because they tend to play outside of the paint. Some guards though, actually do step inside the paint and bang around with the big boys. Look for guards who rebound consistently, even if they only average three to four rebounds per game. It will be two or three rebounds more per game than the majority of Guards and it will add to your rebounding total. Coaches love when players play bigger than their size. It shows hustle. It shows heart. The same could be said for good passing big men. When a Power Forward or Center get the ball in the post, the majority of the time another player on his team will look to cut to the basket. There are big men who will help you compile assists (just like guards would normally do.)
DON’T CHASE SCORING: The title says it all. Especially in the NBA in this day and age, teams focus less on defense and games often become a shootout. I used to think players like Danny Granger were awesome to have on your team. The guy would score 26 points per game in his prime, but in those games in which he shot 25 percent from the field, he didn’t help in any other category and his misfiring would only hurt my percentages. Scoring 26 points per game is great, but if that is all that the player is giving you, he’s not worth the high draft pick. If that player is cold from the field, he could lose playing time, shot opportunities and the ability to beef up your categories in your match up. Look for players who do more than just score.
TORN ACL’s=ULTIMATE RED FLAGS: In sports, players get hurt. Some injuries are easier to recover than others. There are certain injuries that quite simply stay with these players throughout the rest of their career. Torn ACL’s are the WORST because it impacts a player’s game as a whole. When you tear your knee, it impacts your shooting motion, the way you move on the court (side to side), alters your speed, crushes your jumping ability and most importantly, it makes you more prone to re-occurring injuries. Jabari Parker has torn his ACL twice in his young career and as skilled as he is, you should be afraid to spend a draft pick on him. We may not see Parker until after the All-Star break and even then, who knows what his speed will be? Who knows if he can drive with the same amount of force? Will his shooting motion have to be changed? Let these issues be somebody else’s problem. Avoid spending meaningful draft picks on players with knee injuries, especially Torn ACL’s. It’s bad news!
DON’T AVOID BAD NBA TEAMS: This isn’t fantasy football in which your players get one shot per week to produce. These team’s have to play 82 games per season and bad teams bring nothing but opportunity in both seasonal and DFS Basketball. Don’t avoid teams like the Hawks and Bulls just because they may win just 25 games. Those players (especially from the DFS side) will be valued in your favor and won’t have as much exposure as “Super-Teams”. Players like Mike Muscala will get 30 plus minutes per night to compile stats with limited competition at the position and that will do nothing but pay dividends for your teams. Later in your drafts, Kris Dunn will be available and he’ll likely be starting at Point Guard and will get a long leash while honing his craft. Be aware of those lesser-known squads and take advantage of the situation.
WATCH TAPE: It’s a very simple concept that many fantasy sports players still don’t embrace. The only way to learn about your players is to watch tape on them. Start with Youtube.com and look for highlights of the specific player. Expand your search afterwards to look for full or condensed games. You need to not only focus on how your players will impact their NBA team’s on the ball but off the ball as well. Setting up an NBA play is a quick process and if your player isn’t setting good screens, boxing out, crashing the boards, or not moving in general without the ball, he’ll lose out on playing time. Team’s have no problem giving a dominant screen setter 30 plus minutes. That player might not take a shot, but he keeps his team balanced and sets up other players for success. If you’re looking to draft Evan Turner, look up not only Turner highlights, but Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum highlights as well and watch for Turner to see where he’s positioned on the court. Pause the video, take a mental note of where he is on the court and if he’s helping Lillard or McCollum get to the rim and then keep watching Lillard and McCollum highlights to see if you see consistency for Turner’s placement. It will not only teach you about Turner’s game, but it will show you how the Blazers offense runs as a whole and you can find further consistency. Be a Coach!
DON’T OVERRATE TURNOVERS: It’s the NBA! Everyone turns the ball over! Some of the biggest stars in the league, like LeBron James and James Harden, turn the ball over. Will that make you avoid James in your drafts? HECK NO! The same goes for other players for later in your drafts. Players often try to do too much with the ball and no matter how you draft, you’ll have weeks with high turnover totals and weeks with low ones. Don’t obsess over turnover-prone players. It’s going to happen and there’s nothing you can do to avoid it. A lot of players switched teams in the off season and there’s not enough time in training camp and pre-season for these players to completely gel. It may take a couple of months for them to see patterns and figure out what works. Experimentation is huge for team’s who make major off-season changes. What happens if your fantasy team turns the ball over the most of anyone else in your league? Look to your bench first if you feel the need to make that change, but don’t go into the season thinking you need to be the best when it comes to turnovers. If you’re getting killed in turnovers, but are dominant in other categories, don’t make a roster overhaul. Make small changes on your bench. Turnovers are a crapshoot and also very match up dependant, so don’t obsess over them.
TEAM STATS ARE MORE BENEFICIAL FOR DFS THAN SEASONAL: The Rockets were one of the best offensive teams and one of the worst defensive teams last season. We all feasted on them for Daily Fantasy Basketball, but for seasonal leagues, it doesn’t mean as much to us. Home versus Road stats also shouldn’t mean a thing for seasonal players. Each team plays an even amount of games at home and on the road. Leave the advanced team stats to the DFS players. A team being the most dominant on the road last season means absolutely nothing to me. Also, the issue of looking at team stats from last season is that so many teams change in the off-season, especially with the amount of money that was spent acquiring new talent. Don’t get trapped by those team stats, especially on offense. It’s hard to predict how a team will do on defense prior to watching them play. Because so many changes occurred on these teams, it’s hard to pinpoint specific team stat expectations. Yes, we all know the Rockets will STILL be one of the best offensive teams and one of the worst defensive team’s, but that’s a generalization and we won’t be able to pinpoint exact team stats with Chris Paul on the team. Focus on individual stats because there are too many factors to determine how a team will do offensively and defensively on a given night.