NBA Fantasy Basketball Early Season Guide

At this early point of the NBA fantasy season, it’s tough to know what to do. Whether to have a fire sale and completely rearrange a team, whether to make a few bold moves, or whether to sit tight. It all depends on the fantasy owner, but there are some rules of thumb to follow. Here are some suggested approaches to various rotisserie fantasy basketball situations. In some cases, the same might be applied to head-to-head.

Getting Crushed in One, Two, or Three Statistical Categories (“Stat Cats”)

At this point in the season, it’s important not to panic. Remember, it’s a long season and fantasy basketball is a marathon, not a sprint. However, if at this point, your team is getting crushed in one to three stat cats, without possibility of remedy (perhaps a player who might help in that category is due back from an injury soon), it might be prudent to try to balance out the team with a trade.  In head-to-head, balance isn’t as important as it is in rotisserie.

Assess the situation. If your team is dominating in one or two categories, identify players on the team who perform well in those categories and make trade offers to teams who struggle in that stat cat. Be persistent. Trades can be tough to pull off, so don’t give up after one or two tries. Also, ensure your team can afford to be without that player. For instance, if a manager tries to trade Chris Bosh because his rebounding isn’t needed, keep in mind that he also scores points and shoots well from the field. 

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Fantasy NBA: Analysis of Fourth Round

The saying is way too simplistic to capture how sophisticated some strategies are in fantasy sports, but for hoops, the first three rounds more or less involve drafting so-called “best available” talent. People have their preferences, but no one really goes too off the board. Generally in fantasy basketball, early draft picks end up as busts due to injury, not poor play. Match-ups are not as important as in football; for example, LeBron James might struggle against a good defensive team like the Spurs, but he will still get 25 points one way or the other. Contrast that to football where a high draft pick this year like Steve Slaton continues to struggle.

The middle rounds are where people try to mold their team. Injuries are out of anyone’s control, so if a top three pick succumbs to an unexpected health problem, there is not much you can do. However, you can soften the blow by hitting on a few of your picks from the fourth to eight rounds. These picks are often the ones that separate the strong teams in your league from the weak ones. Here is how the fourth round is shaping up using Yahoo’s average draft position rankings as of today. These numbers change often, and as we move past the early rounds, the stats will vary day to day, so use this tool yourself for the latest updates.

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2009-2010 NBA Northwest Division Preview

There are plenty of reasons for NBA fans to be interested in the Northwest Division with several captivating stories to pique their interest. For starters, will the Utah Jazz go with Carlos Boozer as its starting power forward, or will it opt for up-and-comer Paul Millsap, thereby making Boozer expendable? Will Chauncey Billups be able to continue the great leadership role he exhibited with the Denver Nuggets last season? Will Greg Oden make strides to becoming a top flight NBA center? Will Al Jefferson and Kevin Love be able to coexist in Minnesota? Will Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder be able to become a true point guard?

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