NBA FANTASY: The Key to Success

THE DRAFT:

The Key to Success for your NBA Fantasy Basketball team needs be creating a strong foundation.  Drafting your team is like building the foundation of your house and if you want a successful team your draft needs to be your strongest moves.  It doesn’t matter how many sleepers you pick-up off waivers. It doesn’t matter how many trades you make. If the house you built has a weak foundation it will eventually fail.  If this is your first crack at NBA Fantasy Basketball, or if you are looking to become more competitive, here are a few tips on drafting a great team. 

1. THE STRATEGY:

WHERE DO I BEGIN?

If you are wondering where to start, with your early picks, you are going to want to pick a Forward.  There are a few exceptions to this rule, some being James Harden, Russel Westbrook, Steph Curry, and Damian Lillard.  In the NBA Fantasy Basketball world there are many guards and centers that you will be able to draft in the middle to late rounds that will produce consistent stats.  After the first few rounds of the draft, the forward position becomes very thin and it isn’t as easy to find an intriguing player.

KNOW YOUR LEAGUE

You need to understand how your league is set-up.  This may sound obvious, but having the knowledge of what positions there will be in your line-ups, how the scoring break-downs work, and make sure you understand what type of league you are in.  Some leagues are category leagues where you are trying to win each stat line and even with category leagues there are variations there can be eight or nine categories, which should change the way you think about who you draft.  For example, Russel Westbrook might be the number one player in an eight-category league because it doesn’t count field goal percentage or turnovers, but in a nine-category league Westbrooks value would drop from being the number one prospect.

Some leagues are head-to-head leagues or points leagues.  A player’s worth can vary greatly depending on the league you are in.  Make sure you know your league rules, check your league rankings, and draft accordingly.

2. NBA FANTASY BASKETBALL RESEARCH

Mamba Mentality

Kobe Bryant has advertised his legacy as ‘Mamba Mentality.’  Mamba Mentality is the drive to outwork your opponent, which includes sacrificing basically everything to be the best you can be.  When it comes to your NBA Fantasy Basketball team no one expects you to sacrifice everything, but you can outwork and do your due diligence to beat your opponents.  Even from the very basics of familiarizing yourself with all the off-season moves from trades and new team signings.

Another good researching idea is to consider which players are injury prone.  There is a risk in drafting a player who has history of injury, for example, Lonzo Ball.  Lonzo has played 99 games in two seasons.  Ball has a great upside to his game as he positively touches most categories of statistics and is posed to have a big role joining his new squad the New Orleans Pelicans.  Lonzo’s rookie campaign is almost identical to Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, which shows the potential of Lonzo Ball going into his third NBA season.  There is an added risk as he has missed many games due to injury, if you are wondering if I think Lonzo Ball is worth the risk, I definitely think he is!

Make sure you take your time to do your research and identify players you are targeting and avoiding at all costs.  You may be tempted to draft rookies and other young players early as the upside is always tempting.  If you are in a keeper league then of course by all means do so, if you are drafting fresh, I would consider being careful on drafting young upside prospects as you can snag them in the later rounds if needed.

3. FANTASY DRAFT BEST AVAILABLE

Always keep in mind your positions, but if you ever are in doubt draft the best available player.  The more talent you have makes it easier to make moves to fit your needs.  I am not saying draft a bunch of forwards and hope you can make trades to fill out your roster.  If it comes down to giving up an all-star to draft a point-guard to fill out your roster…draft the all-star.  Most times you can find fill-in players to round out your roster and then you will have more leverage to acquire a player you need through trade.

4. TEAM NAMES & TRASH TALK

An NBA Fantasy Basketball Team is supposed to be fun.  There is nothing more fun then winning and some bonus fun is trolling your opponents.  A great team name can give you the swagger your team needs and looks great going onto a trophy.  Trolling your friends is also a fun way to inspire competition and there is not a lot of things better then beating your friends. 

  For your research needs check out my last article “Keepers, Sleepers, and Weepers”

Be sure to follow The Sports Reverends on:

Twitter: @thesportsrevs
Instagram: @thesportsreverends
Facebook: @thesportsreverends

Tune into The Sports Reverends weekly podcast for sports discussions and hot topics! My name is Dan Chandran my co-host is Drew Martin, we are Sports enthusiasts & reverends and love to talk about the major sports!
(Found on all major podcast platforms)

Go and follow Overtime Heroics on twitter @OTHeroics1 & @oth_basketball
Also, check out our Forums Page on Overtime Heroics for great fantasy basketball and other sports discussions.