The most ideal fantasy basketball draft strategy for 2024-25

Joel Embiid represents both a risk and a value in fantasy basketball drafts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Fantasy basketball rankings can vary significantly by league type. Players who are great in points leagues may not be so great in category leagues. In head-to-head categories, you also have punting to consider. There are general guidelines that are helpful to follow — knowing your league format, keeping up with the news and not reaching too far beyond ADP (average draft position) being some of the biggest among them.

[Create or join a Yahoo Fantasy hoops league for the 2024-25 NBA season]

But how about strategy? Is there an overarching strategy we can utilize regardless of league type to improve our chances of winning our fantasy leagues? A broad place to start, and something I can endorse as my favorite draft strategy, is to find high-floor players early and focus on upside late. Focus on not losing your draft at the start, and try to win it later.

Ideal draft strategy: High-floor early, high-upside late

Avoiding age/injury

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The primary drivers of risk/reward in fantasy basketball are age, injury history and role. Team success can play a factor too — is this player at risk of being shut down during tanking season? — but it should be considered more of a tiebreaker rather than a major factor.

Age and injury history are often related. Someone who is older has a higher risk of injury (and general performance decline). Someone who has been injured a lot is less likely to play well when they’re older. When the two factors collide, issues arise. Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have all proven to be first-round talents, and they’re generally being selected in the first round this season. However, if your best player is as likely to play 55 games as 75 games, that’s a tough hole to dig yourself out of. Plenty of players like this litter the second and third rounds as well, like LeBron James, Paul George and Kyrie Irving. There is only so much the remainder of your roster can do to make up for the potentially lost games or decline in production.

At the same…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/favorite-nba-fantasy-draft-strategy-091200609.html

Author : RotoWire.com

Publish date : 2024-09-26 09:12:00

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