Think about it. When you're rapping about fantasy sports with a stranger at a bar or chattering away online with your friends, what are you talking about 99.9 percent of the time? Player rankings, right? This guy is better than that guy. I can't stand Player X and will never roster him. I love Player Y and want to be his best friend.
Whether you're new to the fantasy game, a grizzled veteran or a so-called expert, we all do the same thing. It's not without merit, of course. If you don't have a sound opinion on which player is better than another, you have no hope of winning your league.
But ranking your players is just the beginning of the process. What we should be talking about 99.9 percent of the time is pre-draft strategy because knowing how to construct the best team possible is how you win championships. That's why we draft our teams live rather than going straight down a cheat sheet, taking the top player available each turn.
Let's take a look at some tried and true methods to help you construct the best team possible in your fantasy hoops drafts.
Know your league rules
This seems about as basic as it gets, but we've all made mistakes, such as thinking a league started two centers instead of one. One simple mistake like that could wreck your whole roster. Think of the potential ramifications. You could end up reaching for that second center in the middle rounds instead of a real breakout power forward, or you could take a decent center with your third pick instead of a surefire star shooting guard.
In fact, you need to think through each rule and the potential ramifications of both good and bad draft-day decisions.
What's your scoring system?
If it's a nine-category rotisserie league, the 3.5 turnovers per game Joel Embiid has averaged for his career might make you think twice about taking him too early.
Whether eight- or nine-category roto, a guy such as Andre Drummond could torpedo your free throw category. On the other hand, in a category-based, head-to-head (H2H) system in which you get the weekly win if you outperform your opponent in more categories, you could draft Drummond, toss out the free throw category and focus the rest of your draft on winning the other categories, knowing you have a great start in rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage.
If it's a points-based, H2H system in which you earn a certain amount of points for each rebound, block, etc., you'll want to determine what that scoring system stresses and how it affects the stat production of your players. Are shot-blockers rewarded more than 3-point shooters? Are turnovers really costly?
What are your roster size and limits?
If you have eight people in a league and use only 10 roster spots, everyone's roster will be full of quality players. Because every player on every roster is sure to produce, you'll want to focus on having balanced production in all categories in roto leagues. Odds are, in a small league such as that, you'll have to be near the top of every category by season's end to win (i.e., you can't "punt" a category).
On the other hand, if you have 14 teams and 13 roster spots, you better make sure you have a good handle on the values of the top 180-plus players. That's because not every player on every roster will produce a lot, so the more low-end players you have giving you quality stats, the bigger advantage you'll have overall.
A lot of leagues use rosters that are loose on positions. Maybe you have PG, SG, SF, PF and C, but you also have a couple of guard spots, a couple of forward spots and a couple of flex positions. In this case, you don't need to pay much attention to which positions you are filling during your draft, because the G, F and flex spots give you a lot of leeway.
This is especially true these days, when the NBA is largely a position-less league, which has resulted in many or most players being granted multiple position eligibility in fantasy hoops games. There is no shortage of PG/SG, SG/SF, SF/PF and PF/C players in ESPN leagues.
On the other hand, if your league has strict roster requirements, you'll have to pay close attention while filling out your roster during your draft. Say your league requires two each at PG, SG, SF, PF and C and has no flex spots. You'll be in a tight bind if you wait until the middle rounds to address your PG and C positions.
Think about your draft position
Ideally, your commissioner will let you know the draft order well in advance. But even if you let ESPN's system randomize your draft order, you'll find out your draft spot an hour before the draft begins, and that's enough time to at least give it some thought.
I believe this is the most important part of your pre-draft strategy. Think through your first pick and beyond it. Consider what your team should look like after the first four or five rounds -- map it out.
If you're deciding whether you want Anthony Davis and Stephen Curry in the first round of a roto draft, you aren't choosing just between those two stars. You are deciding what the next few players you draft should look like too. If you go with The KAT, you'll have a terrific base of big-man stats and should focus your next couple of rounds on stocking up on dimes and 3s. If you go with Curry, you'll be in great shape for dimes and 3s, but you might want to aim for a big man for blocks and rebounds in Round 2.
If you're drafting last in the first round of a snake draft, you'll get two picks in a row. This gives you a nice advantage because you can pair two players to make the foundation of your team. If you can get Damian Lillard and Rudy Gobert, you'll have a good base of stats for your team in every category. But maybe Lillard and Russell Westbrook are clearly the two best players remaining, in your opinion. There's nothing wrong with taking them, but it will affect your next few rounds, as you'll have little need for point guard production after that.
You should map it out. Get your cheat sheet set, and mark off where your first-, second-, third- and fourth-round picks will fall. Then you'll see which players you can get with each pick (e.g., if you draft first out of 12 teams, you know you will get three of your top 25 players). Examine the players ranked just ahead of your draft spots carefully, so that when it's your turn to draft, you're deciding between two or three players you've already studied. Then it's just a matter of determining whether you want to take the best player of that group or set your roster up in a certain way.
Know your fellow managers
If you're in several leagues, you know that some managers trade, and some don't. In the fantasy sports industry, most of us have a slew of leagues. With limited time to spend on each of them, many industry leagues have few, if any, trades. So when you draft your team, you know that aside from waiver-wire work, that's probably going to be your team for the season.
In leagues in which you know you have little chance of trading, you need to construct your team well during the draft. In most scoring systems, you can't have a big hole in scoring and blocks, or you probably can't win. You also can't have a complete dud starting at point guard and no depth at that position, or you'll have a brutal time making any headway in assists.
On the other hand, if everyone in your league loves to trade, you can lean more toward drafting the best player available each round because you know you can tweak your roster by selling from your strong categories or positions to fill out your weak ones.
If you know your managers personally, you can take advantage of that too. Suppose a guy in your league is known for overpaying in trades, and you know his favorite player in the world is Trae Young. You might need a center, but you could draft the guard Young because you can be reasonably sure you can flip him in a trade for a better player than the centers left in the draft.
Also consider drafting extra players at one position to trade them, especially in leagues with tight roster settings, such as two-center leagues.
Filling out your roster
While you really must set up a quality backbone to your team in the first four or five rounds, leagues are won and lost in the final third of your draft. Did you select Pascal Siakam or Luka Doncic last season? How about Lonzo Ball or Devonte' Graham? Did you win? Did you lose? Admittedly, there's a lot of luck involved, but the better you're prepared ahead of time, the smaller role luck plays and the better your odds of winning.
I pay far less attention to rankings in the latter rounds of drafts and far more attention to players I aim for, regardless of which round it is. I recommend going through the bottom third of your cheat sheet and highlighting players you would like to have on your team. Although there are reasons you might rank Chris Paul above Jamal Murray in a vacuum, I am more inclined to draft the younger Murray. He has a ton of upside and could exceed his draft spot, unlike the veteran CP3.
In the latter rounds, I'm focused primarily on upside -- players who have a shot at breaking out, whether through natural development of their talent or because the only thing stopping their explosion is a brittle or overrated guy ahead of him on the depth chart.
Don't get cute, though. If every player you take in the bottom third of your draft is just as likely to do nothing as to explode, you're probably going to be in trouble. Make sure you have at least two or three guys whom you can bank on to give you some production every week, and surround them with skilled guys who can outperform their draft spots.
I'm certain that if you heed my advice on pre-draft strategy, you'll have your best drafts to date. The more prepared you are before a draft, the fewer mistakes and more correct decisions you'll make during the draft. Think about it.