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How does fantasy basketball draft work
ESPN Fantasy Basketball 101 - How to play
Sep 26, 2022
ESPN Fantasy
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You love basketball. You follow the NBA, root for your favorite team and watched in amazement as Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors to another championship.
And you still haven't played fantasy basketball?!
If that sounds a lot like you, this is the perfect season to give it a try -- there is just so much exciting stuff happening around the league. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic can do everything on the court. Luka Doncic and Trae Young have moved into the MVP discussion. Zion Williamson is coming back from a missed season. And superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant continue to put their teams on their backs like they did 10 years ago.
There has never been a better time to jump right into the fantasy game.
Create or join an ESPN Fantasy Basketball league today and draft your league any time before the first game tips off every Monday. Your league starts fresh with 0-0 records for the new matchup period.
Sign up for free!
Imagine having Curry on your team when he gets on a roll from 3-point land and carries you to victory. Or what it feels like to have LaMelo Ball on your squad when he stuffs the stat sheet in his third NBA season.
These are the moments you remember as a fantasy manager!
In fact, many of those who've played fantasy basketball over the years can recall specific games that certain players had for them. An epic scoring night by James Harden or Damian Lillard, or maybe a timely triple-double by Russell Westbrook.
So fun. So, so fun!
If you're not an expert, don't worry -- we have everything you need to know about how to enter a league and draft a winning team. Even if you're a total beginner, you will still have the tools to experience the joy of fantasy basketball like millions do every year.
Make the league your own
Every fantasy basketball league is different. While there are basic rules and settings that apply across the board (you will learn about those below), each league takes on its own identity based on settings like roster size, injury spots, stat categories and other specifics.
We encourage you to join or start a league that fits what you're looking for. If you want to be more casual and set your lineups once a week, find a league that uses weekly lineup changes. If you're a little bit more diehard with all this and want to be able to add and drop players and craft new lineups on a daily basis, that's the type of league you should enter.
The bottom line is to do what's fun for you. Find a league that keeps you tuning in to watch your players every night.
With that in mind, we've put together ESPN Fantasy Basketball 101 to give you an overview of how to get started, how to prepare for your draft and how to play during the season.
Now it's time for you to sign up and join the fun!
Getting started
ESPN Fantasy Basketball FAQ
Click here for a quick reference for basic game-related questions.
How to sign up on the ESPN Fantasy app
Were you invited to an ESPN Fantasy Basketball league? Do you want to create your own as a League Manager? We have complete instructions for you right here.
How to sign up online
Whether you were invited to join an already-existing league or want to create your own as a League Manager, you'll find everything you need to do so right here.
League settings
If you created your own league, you'll need to make sure all of your league's rules and settings -- including roster size, scoring, regular-season schedules and playoff schedules -- are to your liking. We have all of the details of how to do that right here. Note: This season
You've signed up, now what?
Check out your league and team pages
It's time to learn more about your league and team pages, so you know where everything is. We've got you covered with a detailed tour right here.
Know your rules
This might seem incredibly basic, but even veteran fantasy basketball players often assume they know their league rules even when they don't. The result of overlooking a rule can be costly, so be sure you know the rules before your draft.
Go to your fantasy basketball league page, click on League, then Settings. Here, you'll be able to find all the rules that are in place for your league this season. This includes roster construction, scoring, schedule, playoff structure and more.
Take the time to carefully go over every section. To make sure you understand the thinking behind each rule, check out our League Settings overview.
Draft prep
A good draft will put you in position to have a successful season, and taking time to prepare beforehand is key. That includes formulating strategies and printing out rankings that reflect your league's scoring format.
Don't worry, we have you covered with customized expert rankings and draft strategies in the ESPN Fantasy Basketball draft kit.
Autodraft prep
If you don't plan to take part in a live draft, that's OK. Our system will automatically draft for you.
Still, you have the option of guiding how our system will draft your team. Go to your Team page and click "Edit Autopick Strategy." Here, you can decide which player positions you'd like to pick in which parts of the draft and how many players at each position you want to select overall.
Mock drafts
Mock drafts are simply practice drafts that don't count for anything. It's a terrific way to get used to the ESPN draft software, make sure you know how everything works and test out different strategies. For example, that might mean drafting a point guard in the first round versus drafting a small forward in Round 1 and waiting on a point guard until the fourth round.
These practice drafts also let you see which players are going higher than expected and which are routinely slipping down a round or two (or more). This is extremely useful knowledge that you can take with you in your real draft and use to your advantage, avoiding those "sliding" players until later rounds when you have a good idea that they will still be available.
For an overview of how everything in the ESPN draft room works, click on this link.
The draft
Draft day is the most exciting day of the season, because it's when your team goes from a plan to a reality. It's when you finally get the chance to assemble the group of players you get to root for all season. Of course, you can always add and drop players throughout the year, but the draft is still the most fundamental part of your roster and you want to make sure you don't miss on your top players.
If you have prepared for your draft by reading up on players and strategies, and by participating in several mock drafts, you're on the path to success. Believe in your hunches and don't look back.
To make everything go as smoothly as possible, be sure to follow these handy rules.
The season is starting, let the fun begin!
Trading
In most leagues, there are at least a few managers who enjoy the art of the deal. If you're one of those people, trading is going to be one of the most fun aspects of fantasy basketball. When done well, it's a great opportunity to improve your roster while unloading someone you perhaps no longer want or need.
There are several important factors to keep in mind. You must look at the roster of the team you're trading with and understand which, if any players, that manager might be willing to part with. For example, it'd be unwise to make a trade offer for a point guard on a team that is battling injuries and down to one healthy point guard. Also, while you may never want to send your best trade offer with your first proposal, be careful not to offer up too little. That can be offensive to the other manager and can lead to that person not only declining your offer but ending all future trade talks with you.
In-season strategies
Beyond trading, there are other factors to consider during the season like how to manage your games played in roto leagues, how to approach head-to-head playoffs, and how best to work the waiver wire. Check out the in-season strategies section of our draft kit.
Fantasy basketball etiquette
Every few years, no matter what type of league you're in, you'll run into someone who causes problems. Sometimes it name-calling on the message board and being a bully. Other times it is a constant stream of wild trade offers and questionable transactions. Whether you are in a hyper-competitive league or just trying to have some casual fun, you want to avoid being this way or having others in your league who conduct themselves like this.
Generally speaking, that just means following the golden rule: Treat others the way you'd want to be treated in your league.
How to sign up on ESPN Fantasy app
Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images
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Sep 26, 2022
ESPN Fantasy
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Get the ESPN Fantasy Sports app
Go to the Google Play Store or the App Store, search for ESPN Fantasy Sports, and install the ESPN Fantasy Sports app. Then sign in or create an ESPN account, if you are a first-time user.
Click on the basketball icon in the top row to access ESPN Fantasy Basketball via the app.
How to join a public league
If you don't have enough people to create your own league, or if you just want to join a random league, click the orange "GET A TEAM" button to find a public league that fits your desires.
For detailed explanations of each setting (number of teams, scoring, draft, etc.), click here.
How to start your own league as a commissioner/league manager
Click the orange "CREATE LEAGUE" button, then choose the settings you want to use in your league. In order to create your league, you'll need to choose your basic settings, including League Name, Number of Teams, Scoring Type and Draft Type. Don't worry about being perfect with these settings -- you can change any and all of them all the way up until the league draft.
For a detailed look at all of the basic and advanced settings, click here.
Invite friends
Once you've created a league, you can invite your friends via Twitter, Facebook messenger, email or text message. You can also copy the invitation link to send it to them in any other manner you choose.
While it's best to invite the other owners as soon as possible, you can always create your league now and invite participants at a later date. Or, you can provide the invitation link to active members of your league and encourage them to invite friends or family members who might be interested in playing.
League manager tools
As commissioner/league manager, it's your responsibility to make sure all of your basic and advanced settings are done correctly. That can be done by tapping the three-bar menu button on the top left, then selecting "League Manager Tools."
Once there, you can edit the basic draft settings and add/remove owners as needed.
In order to edit advanced settings for your league (including scoring and rosters), you'll need to visit your league web page on ESPN Fantasy Basketball.
For a detailed look at all of the basic and advanced settings, click here.
Fantasy Basketball is the best way to follow the NBA. The main thing is to add a commissioner, a lottery, fake news and a ring - PRO Basketball - Blogs
American fantasy basketball is a great way to follow the NBA, your favorite players and get the latest news.
I only discovered this thing last year and immediately made a league of friends. Among them are amateur basketball players, a VTB United League player, coaches and just fans. Age of participants from 20 to 36 years. Someone has been following basketball since childhood, and someone started thanks to fantasy. The main thing is that everyone is equally interested. And in this article I will tell you why.
You will be interested in the article:
if your idea of fantasy ends with a tournament on Sports.ru;
if you don't know what fantasy is;
if you don't play because you don't speak English;
if you want to know more about the NBA;
if you have been playing fantasy for a long time, but you do not have enough real NBA attributes: draft lottery, news, commissioner or ring, for example.
What is fantasy
Let's take the ESPN.com tournament as an example.
Fantasy is a virtual game for basketball fans. They recruit real basketball players from the NBA to their team and act as a general manager: they carry out the draft, form the starting lineup for the week, expell, sign and trade players.
The essence is the same - every week to score more points than a rival in the league, to win, to rise in the standings and at the end of the season to become the strongest in the playoffs.
This is the result of a match from last season and two fantasy squad
Fantasy basketball is based on the statistics of players in real basketball matches. It is important for the manager to gather the most effective players in the squad. After all, besides the fact that the effective action of a player in a real match brings points to the fantasy team. His losses and misses take away these points. Therefore, Russell Westbrook, with his triple-doubles and trash throws, is not the best option for fantasy.
The fantasy site or application calculates players' fantasy points in real time. Therefore, it is convenient and easy to follow. For example, a 3-pointer scored by Luka Doncic earns the team manager five fantasy points, and a Miles Turner block gives four points at once.
The table shows all the scoring actions of players who score in fantasy:
And this picture shows how the statistics of a player from a real match are translated into fantasy points:
As you can see in a single confrontation, the center and point guard can be equally valuable.
The most important thing about fantasy on ESPN is the interface and the possibilities. Everything resembles the official NBA website and helps to feel involved in the basketball world. And each real basketball player can only be on one team. Therefore, the number of teams in the league is limited - from 4 to 20.
Why play fantasy
Understand the NBA. Fantasy Tournament is a great introduction to the NBA. Even for those who played basketball only on the console and most of the players do not know at all. Such fans begin to deal with fantasy, select lineups and develop their own tactics. And they organically immerse themselves in the NBA: they start watching matches, find out the names of the players, understand the difference between role players and the main team, and gradually understand the rules.
At the start, managers will definitely make mistakes and learn. For example, in our league, a basketball rookie gave away Drew Holiday and got Buddy Hill. This trade jeopardized the fantasy rookie season and helped the opponent win the championship.
Keep a close eye on the regular season. Fantasy motivates you to follow all regular season matches. The manager of a virtual team must know everything about the players of his team and a little about the players of the opponent: who was injured and how much, who is on fire now, and who fell on the bench.
At the same time, the manager monitors free players, reads the news and understands who replaces whom in real matches in order to sign the most valuable free agent. Therefore, every morning the fantasy manager checks the results of the matches, sometimes watches the games, finds the best players and changes his roster.
Watch matches with excitement. The manager gathers players from different teams. Therefore, he can always choose a match with his players and worry about them. For example, the outcome of a fantasy duel is decided by the match between Indiana and Chicago. The manager in the Sabonis team, and the rival Lavigne. Whoever plays better will win. The manager turns on the match, worries about every productive action of Sabonis and gets angry from every hit of Lavin.
Learn English. The site and app offer an English interface: main tabs, news, injury reports, statistics and forecasts.
At first it is difficult to navigate, but then the manager begins to understand basic basketball terms, watch broadcasts with his players and understand American commentators.
7 Tips for Making Fantasy Interesting
To make fantasy exciting, you need to create an entourage of the real basketball world around it.
1. Come up with a legend. When I launched the PRO League, I invited members through a letter from the NBA. The letter contains the date and time of the draft, highlights of the organization, and the commissioner's name and signature. Legend has it that Adam Silver appointed Kobe Bryant our heavenly commissioner. But a legend is nothing without live reinforcements.
2. Appoint a secret commissioner. In real life, one of the league members or an outside observer is hiding behind the commissar's mask. Kobe Bryant was commissioner last year and Wilt Chamberlain this year.
The commissioner explains the rules to the participants, conducts the draft lottery, helps with the application, resolves conflicts and takes comments from the managers.
3. Create a Telegram channel and chat for discussions
The commissioner writes to the league members on Telegram and asks them about tactics, trades, player injuries, match results and draft expectations. He turns it all into stories and publishes it in the closed Telegram channel "Office PRO League". And he makes it all look like cards from the NBA on ESPN Instagram account.
Chat managers discuss each other's comments, matches, injuries and agree on exchanges. Sometimes they gather for a joint viewing. But most often they swear and tease each other in a comic manner. Therefore, the most reckless atmosphere can be created only in a chat with friends and acquaintances.
4. Hold a draft lottery. One of the most important attributes of fantasy basketball. By default, the computer distributes spades randomly. But in our league, the commissioner runs the draft lottery two weeks before the draft. Managers have time to swap picks if necessary, prepare a draft strategy, draw up a list of desirable players and complain a little about bad picks.
The commissioner runs the lottery backstage and then shoots a video of the draft order. It looks spectacular because the participants do not know the place in advance and do not know the person under the mask.
This is how the lottery went this year:
5. Call and conduct a draft. One of the most exciting parts of the fantasy tournament. The draft takes place on a certain day and a certain hour. So everyone should join. To make it more interesting, we arrange a video conference, because the participants live in different cities. This is how we show emotions when we take away other players or take away someone very desirable. At the same time, we have time to discuss our thoughts on teams and players. You can also get together live and assemble lineups face to face.
6. Make bets and forecasts. This is optional. We play fantasy for fun and have not yet connected the financial part. But they began to think about paid participation and the purchase of various valuable prizes with the money raised. You can also add weekly motivations. For example, advance bets on the outcome of fantasy fights. Or a weekly cash transfer from the manager of the worst team to the manager of the best.
7. Give the champion's ring. Fighting for such a prize is much more interesting than just playing for money. The ring is canonical and unique. After the first season, the champion received a 100 gram artifact with the inscription Fantasy Champion and a basketball hoop on the surface. He came from the USA exactly the size of the winner. Next year, the champion will receive an even more custom ring with their fantasy team logo and, ideally, the final score.
That's it. Thank you for your time.
Tell us in the comments what is interesting about your fantasy leagues. Leave questions here or in my Telegram.
Fantasy sports: positive ROI, predictive models and where to start | by Scorum Team
“Fantasy sports? Bingo!"
We asked Oleg Smolerov , Scorum sports analyst and Scorum Draft product owner, to talk about his passion for fantasy sports.
How long have you been playing fantasy sports?
I played 5 years in seasonal fantasy, and for the last two and a half years I have been devoting more time to daily fantasy. Passed in the region of 8 thousand tournaments at a dozen different venues.
How much does it cost to participate in tournaments? Is it possible to earn?
There are a lot of tournaments, and buy-ins in them are different: from 1 to 100+ euros. There are larger tournaments: in December, at the European Fantasy Championship, the entrance fee was 1,000 euros. For all the time I have earned more than 10 thousand dollars, now I am approaching 15 thousand and I hope that I will conquer this mark for the 2018 World Cup.
Did you calculate your ROI*? What is considered a good ROI for a fantasy player?
* ROI
My ROI varies by venue, with an average of around 15% over the entire distance. The average load for each round of the Premier League is from 300 to 800 euros.
For regulars (professionals) 5% ROI is already normal. In general, any positive ROI is good. All fantasy sites have a huge commission - around 10%. Usually you give the platform 1 euro from the buy-in of 11 euros. This is a huge number. Bookmakers are now striving for 2% commission, and here 10%. Accordingly, if you have a positive ROI, then you collect teams at least 10% better than the average player.
Many players with positive ROI?
Small. The commission is the main reason for the loss of most players. If you are an ordinary middle peasant and collect sensible, but not space teams, then because of the commission over a long distance, you will still be guaranteed to play in the red. That is why we have zero commission on Scorum Draft. This will help the average players keep their bankroll.
Secondly, since this season in European fantasy decent money has started to be drawn, on which one can really live. More regulars appeared, they began to pay more attention to the game, so it became more difficult to win. To stay in the black, you need to constantly progress and improve your game. Thirdly, many players began to use complex predictive models that can no longer be beaten by simple analytics after watching a couple of matches and estimating which players are stronger.
What are these predictive models anyway?
Based on previous matches and historical data, it can be assumed how active a player will be in a future match. How often will he shoot on goal, pass under a shot and what are the chances of a clean sheet. By superimposing this on the court scoring, one can understand how many fantasy points are expected from each player on the tour. Further, this value is divided by the cost of the player on the fantasy site and his effectiveness for the next round is obtained. A team assembled from such effective players should bring victory.
Such algorithms really work. In the winter, I did a fun basketball experiment: I took a publicly available predictive model from an American site, applied it to the prices of players on a European fantasy court, and got an interesting result. I don’t understand basketball at all, thanks to this simple algorithm, I played in plus at a distance of 28 tournaments with an ROI of 21%.
Even if you don't have a deep knowledge of sports, you can win in fantasy with pure mathematics. Many professionals in the United States have become successful, and some of them do not even suspect what the players they recruit into teams look like.
Other sports are a bit more complicated. Basketball scores a lot of points (200+ per game), so it's easy to shortchange. Football is a low-scoring sport, and there, despite a lot of research, they still have not found a statistical parameter that directly correlates with the result, and even more so with the fantasy points of a particular player. A team can land 30 shots and only allow 2, but still lose 0-1. That's what football is good for.
It turns out that in football now the most favorable conditions for fantasy?
Yes. Football is the most popular sport on the planet, and more and more new players will be constantly involved in fantasy. And because of its unpredictability, it is unlikely that there will be players capable of blowing the field to zero every round.
Who would be interested in playing fantasy sports?
Everyone can play fantasy, but those who are driven by sports, statistics and gambling will especially like it. Fantasy is much more complicated than betting, and it will take a lot of effort to figure it out, but the feeling of watching matches is completely different and much cooler.
To place a bet now is to open the application on your phone and make 2 clicks. And in fantasy, you need to deal with scoring, evaluate each player, meet the salary ceiling ... It's hard to start, but once you get into it, it's impossible to stop. I get high from the very collection of lineups, from making difficult decisions and, of course, from subsequent victories due to them. It's cool, and in the near future I'm unlikely to give it up.
What do people who want to get involved do?
If there is a desire, it is very easy to figure it out. You look at what fantasy points are given for, look for players who are good in these parameters, and pack them all into a team without exceeding the salary cap. After a couple of tours, an understanding of how everything works, and then an endless space for creativity opens up.
To progress, you need to have a good understanding of the statistics and value of the players. For example, to know that crosses are the most ineffective type of passing under a blow, but through passes are cool. If a player often passes into the cut, then it is unlikely that he will be left without a bunch of assists. Shots from outside the box are a separate issue, their implementation is around 3%, and they confuse new players. You need to focus on strikes only from advantageous positions - from the penalty area. Recently, expected goals (xG) and assists (xA) are increasingly used - this is also a very cool and effective thing.
How long does it take to get good at football statistics?
Someone will understand and delve into the nuances in three months, and someone will not have enough even a year. It all depends on the desire and ability.
What attracts you specifically to fantasy?
I like football, statistics and all kinds of numbers. I like to calculate probabilities, look for underestimated players and come up with new strategies. In fantasy, you can experiment, collect non-standard teams, look for an advantage over other players.
The most enjoyable moments come when you manage to find an unpopular player who shoots on the tour. For example, a football player for 3 rounds in a row does not score or give assists, but at the same time hit the post 5 times, gave a bunch of cutting passes for a one-on-one and was the most active in his team. Sooner or later, such a player will break through, and only you and a couple of other people will have him, and it is you who will divide the pot in this round.
Fantasy combines all my knowledge and favorite activities, and at the same time you can earn good money on it. Bingo!
What resources can you recommend to help beginners?
RotoGrinders and FantasyFootballScout - there is a bunch of statistics and materials that will help you explore fantasy from all sides. If you regularly study these sites and transfer knowledge to your fantasy teams, then success will inevitably come.
Tell us about Scorum Draft. How is our platform different from others?
The main advantage is the absence of commission. This is the real 0% without any reservations. In the future, we will add a simple cryptocurrency exchange from bank cards and make it as easy as possible to adapt to the platform. Scorum Draft also has a non-standard interface, and over time it will become even cooler.
Even if you're a total beginner, you will still have the tools to experience the joy of fantasy basketball like millions do every year.
We've got you covered with a detailed tour right here.
This is extremely useful knowledge that you can take with you in your real draft and use to your advantage, avoiding those "sliding" players until later rounds when you have a good idea that they will still be available.
Or, you can provide the invitation link to active members of your league and encourage them to invite friends or family members who might be interested in playing.
All rights reserved.
Even for those who played basketball only on the console and most of the players do not know at all. Such fans begin to deal with fantasy, select lineups and develop their own tactics. And they organically immerse themselves in the NBA: they start watching matches, find out the names of the players, understand the difference between role players and the main team, and gradually understand the rules. 
Therefore, every morning the fantasy manager checks the results of the matches, sometimes watches the games, finds the best players and changes his roster. 
He turns it all into stories and publishes it in the closed Telegram channel "Office PRO League". And he makes it all look like cards from the NBA on ESPN Instagram account. 
For example, advance bets on the outcome of fantasy fights. Or a weekly cash transfer from the manager of the worst team to the manager of the best. 
The average load for each round of the Premier League is from 300 to 800 euros. 
More regulars appeared, they began to pay more attention to the game, so it became more difficult to win. To stay in the black, you need to constantly progress and improve your game. Thirdly, many players began to use complex predictive models that can no longer be beaten by simple analytics after watching a couple of matches and estimating which players are stronger. 
In the winter, I did a fun basketball experiment: I took a publicly available predictive model from an American site, applied it to the prices of players on a European fantasy court, and got an interesting result. I don’t understand basketball at all, thanks to this simple algorithm, I played in plus at a distance of 28 tournaments with an ROI of 21%. 
That's what football is good for. 
I get high from the very collection of lineups, from making difficult decisions and, of course, from subsequent victories due to them. It's cool, and in the near future I'm unlikely to give it up. 
You need to focus on strikes only from advantageous positions - from the penalty area. Recently, expected goals (xG) and assists (xA) are increasingly used - this is also a very cool and effective thing. 
Sooner or later, such a player will break through, and only you and a couple of other people will have him, and it is you who will divide the pot in this round. 
