Build Your Perfect Team With This Auction Draft Strategy

Typically, most leagues prefer to use the Snake Draft settings when it comes to fantasy sports.  It's simpler, more understandable, and all up to chance.  It could be argued that it definitely depends on your picks, and any position could win, but if you really wanted to grab Kevin Durant or Steph Curry and you are handed the 11th pick, unfortunately you have no chance.  In an auction draft, you could shell out a little more of your allotted cash and pay up for your favorite player.  For this reason, the auction draft could be considered more preferable among experienced fantasy players.  For this reason, I suggest this be your draft settings this year.  But how do you know how much a player is worth or how much you should spend on a particular player?  I'll help you out - here are some tips for drafting your perfect team.

For basic information on the format of auction drafts, check out this link: Auction Draft

Essentially, each team is given 200 fantasy dollars to budget (you want to use every last one as there is no benefit to having anything leftover after the draft).  Each team will take a turn nominating players to be put up for auction, and every owner has an equal opportunity to purchase the players. The auction will continue until bidding stops, at which time there will be a system alert for "Going Once," "Going Twice," and "Sold!" So let's give you an overall idea of how much these players typically go for.  The below numbers are current averages for the upcoming 2014-15 fantasy season.

1. Kevin Durant - 82.1
2. LeBron James - 78.3
3. Anthony Davis - 67.0
4. Stephen Curry - 65.9
5. Chris Paul - 59.5
6. Kevin Love - 55.5
7. James Harden - 55.3
8. Carmelo Anthony - 52.6
9. John Wall - 50.7
10. Russell Westbrook - 49.8
11. DeMarcus Cousins - 44.0
12. Serge Ibaka - 40.6
13. LaMarcus Aldridge - 40.3
14. Blake Griffin - 39.1
15. Kyrie Irving - 38.4
16. Dirk Nowitzki - 33.3
17. Al Jefferson - 33.0
18. Damian Lillard - 32.8
19. Joakim Noah - 31.1
20. Kawhi Leonard - 28.9
21. Goran Dragic - 27.2
22. Ty Lawson - 26.1
23. Chris Bosh - 26.0
24. Nicolas Batum - 25.9
25. Kobe Bryant - 25.7
26. Kyle Lowry - 25.4
27. Paul George - 24.4 (Come on now, the guy broke his leg.)
28. Dwight Howard - 23.4
29. Rajon Rondo - 23.2
30. Marc Gasol - 22.9

For complete and up-to-date rankings, head over to ESPN's current draft results.

So that's just food for thought.  Here's my advice:

1. Don't blow your money on LeBron James
Sounds harsh, but considering the circumstances, it's tough to justify blowing almost 80 of your 200 dollars on him.  He's on a new team with superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love who are going to get theirs as well.  I believe he may become more efficient but will lose out in production.  Kevin Durant might be a different circumstance, as he placed 1st in fantasy points by a solid margin.  Even still, it's hard to say he's worth 82.  My point is, don't blow a ton of money on a player, even if you think he might be worth it.  Durant will be consistent every week, and will provide everything you want from a fantasy player, but would you rather have Durant for 82 or would you rather have Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Joakim Noah for a combined 80?  The temptation is there, but just be smart.

2. Do your research and look for bargains
First of all, I'm not saying don't bother with any of these top players.  You want them, so spend some money and get a couple of them.  What I'm saying is do your research beforehand and see what kind of bargains you can get after people drop their big money early.  Let your opponents fight it out for Kyrie, Paul, Curry, Dragic, and Lawson, and then go grab Derrick Rose for 21 dollars.

3. Look deep in the player rankings
Similarly to number 2, go through all the players and look for names you might be surprised to find so deep.  Plan accordingly, and determine a set amount you're prepared to spend on these players before the draft, and adjust depending on how the rest of your draft is going.  Look at Chandler Parsons currently going for the 50th-most at 13.1 dollars, or Lance Stephenson going for the 67th-most at a mere 7.7 dollars.  Looking even deeper, you can find Trevor Ariza for 5.8 dollars or Jimmy Butler for 4.5 dollars.  You can build a great squad for very cheap, so now you should be starting to see it may be wise to spend 100-120 of your cash on a couple of these top-30 players.

4. Follow the pre-season hype
Pre-season matches are always an experimental phase.  For the Bulls, it's all about Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah becoming fully healthy and seeing how they're playing.  But look a little closer, and notice that Mike Dunleavy sat out with an injury in their third match, with rookie Doug McDermott getting the start and helping out in their first win of the season.  Maybe consider picking him up last because he's currently only owned in 21% of leagues, and you could get him for a single dollar.  Other names you could get off the waiver or for a dollar are Amar'e Stoudemire, Gorgui Dieng, and Steve Nash.

5. Big men are the most valuable
If nothing else, make sure you draft yourself two solid big men who are ready to produce every night.  The rebounds will always be there, the field goal percentage will always be there, and you can probably get some blocks while having them commit very few turnovers.  Obviously the big scorers and shooters are your guards, but there are so many of them that you could get one of a slightly lesser talent for much less.  When you get past the first 20 or so big men, you're looking at Roy Hibbert and Zach Randolph, and while still productive, they don't have the consistency or production as Dwight Howard or Blake Griffin might.

6. Shooting guards are in high demand
And by high demand, I mean there aren't a lot of greatly valuable ones.  In the top 40 players, only 3 are shooting guards - James Harden (55 dollars), Kobe Bryant (25.7 dollars), and Klay Thompson (19 dollars).  My advice is grab one of these three, preferably Harden or Bryant.  You can find other good point guards and small forwards, but it's a lot tougher to find another fantasy-dominant shooting guard.  These guys provide a very small window.

Now for just a few more tips on the actual drafting strategy.

7. Don't run up prices if you're not willing to pay
A typical game plan is running up prices of players to make other owners pay more, especially if you know certain owners want certain players.  So when somebody nominates Rondo because they're a die-hard Celtics fan, don't bid 30 or 35 trying to run up the price if you're not willing to live with the possibility that you might end up paying that amount.

8. Don't nominate a player you have determined you want
By nominating the players you want, you are doing two things.  First, you're telling everybody you want this player and you're willing to pay for him.  Secondly, you're throwing a player into the auction early, which will almost guarantee he will go for higher than you could get him for in a later round.  So don't nominate Russell Westbrook 5th, but let someone else nominate him 12th when most people have already purchased a high-end player.

9. There will be a happy medium of demand-players
There will come a time in the draft (it's different in every draft) where owners will start realizing they have a lot of money leftover and were saving it for players that end up very cheap.  There will be owners who have vowed to not spend more than 30 on any player, but by the time the 25th pick comes around, they realize they have 200 dollars to spend on 13 roster spots and they'll start spending more on players you thought you'd get cheap.  For this reason, I strongly recommend buying up a few big name players fairly early on.

10. Look forward to April
The Road to the Playoffs.  Ah, always an interesting stretch.  To put it plainly, the weaker Eastern Conference teams are pretty much set in stone, and the 2-4 spots don't really matter because the 5-7 spots are so much weaker that the higher seeds are okay playing just about everyone.  Your top 4 Eastern teams are going to be (in no particular order) the Bulls, Cavs, Heat, and Wizards.  Your bottom 4 playoff teams in the East are going to be the Hornets, Hawks, Raptors and Nets.  Although the fight is getting more competitive this year, the Cavs and Heat aren't going to run their stars to the ground trying to match up with the Hawks instead of the Raptors.  See where I'm going with this?  There are always players that sit out the end of the season (and inconveniently, the fantasy playoffs).  Watch out for LeBron, Wade, Bosh, and Garnett, to name a few, to have a reduction in minutes when you need them the most.  It's safe to say that Western Conference players have tougher matchups but also tend to play full games as the season ends as they are battling for seeding.

11. Don't rule out or make promises on any players pre-draft
Basically, don't cross of any names from your options or promise to pay whatever it takes to get a certain player.  Every player is an option until they're bought, so draft objectively.  You may decide you aren't going to draft Nerlens Noel or Rajon Rondo because of injury history, but if they're at the right price, they're worth the gamble.  On the other hand, don't just keep bidding higher on Blake Griffin because you want to name your team Frosted Blakes.

12. Don't draft any Spurs.
Except Kawhi Leonard.


Thanks for reading, and I hope this helped you out a bit! Good luck with your drafts, and I will shortly be posting some pre-draft player rankings!

Utilizing All Scoring Categories in Fantasy Basketball

So if you're coming here from my previous post, http://fantasybasketballforum.blogspot.com/2014/08/staggered-scoring-settings-for-fantasy.html, this really doesn't need much of an intro, but basically, this is just a realistic and efficient way to utilize all possible scoring categories in fantasy basketball.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend using every single category, but if you did, this is my recommendation!  However, if you do decide to do this, I would recommend at least taking off the "Rebounds" category as you will already have separate "Offensive Rebounds" and "Defensive Rebounds" categories.

If you do decide to use this scoring system, definitely let me know what you think!

Category	Points
Points	0.5
Blocks	3.0
Steals	3.0
Assists	2.0
Offensive Rebounds	2.0
Defensive Rebounds	1.0
Rebounds	0.5
Ejections	-10.0
Flagrant Fouls	-7.5
Personal Fouls	-2.0
Technical Fouls	-5.0
Turnovers	-3.0
Disqualifications	-10.0
Field Goals Made	1.0
Field Goals Attempted	0.75
Field Goals Missed	-1.25
Free Throws Made	1.5
Free Throws Attempted	0.75
Free Throws Missed	-1.25
Three Pointers Made	2.75
Three Pointers Attempted	0.5
Three Pointers Missed	-1.5
Double Doubles	10.0
Triple Doubles	15.0
Quadruple Doubles	30.0
Minutes	0.10
Games Started	2.5
Games Played	2.0
Team Wins	5.0

Staggered Scoring Settings for Fantasy Basketball

This post will be a little different from my normal posts, but I thought I'd take a few minutes to explain custom scoring settings that I like to use for fantasy basketball.  I don't necessarily like the way ESPN scores; I think it's a little too easy.  I find it hard to enjoy a league where points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks are all equally worth 1 point.  It's much harder to get a block than a point, which is why league-leading Anthony Davis averaged 2.82 BPG as opposed to Kevin Durant's 32.0 PPG last season.  Logically speaking, I believe a block is worth more than a scored point.  So here's how I would lay it out:

Category	Scoring
Points	0.5
Assists	2.0
Rebounds	2.0
Steals	3.0
Blocks	3.0
Turnovers	-3.0
Field Goals Made	1.0
Field Goals Attempted	-0.5
Three Pointers Made	2.75
Three Pointers Attempted	-0.75
Free Throws Made	1.0
Free Throws Attempted	-.75
Triple-Doubles	10

So as you can tell, this scoring system is very efficiency-based, which basketball actually is.  The point of playing fantasy sports is drafting as close of a real team as possible, and here you have a plausible scoring system. You could always throw in double-doubles if you like, but I find that double-doubles really only benefit the big men as it is much easier for them to grab 10 rebounds than it is for guards to dish out 10 assists.

Efficiency:

For every made 2-point shot, you receive 1 full point from the scoring in addition to another half of a point from the (Made Field Goal-Attempted Field Goal) category.  For every 3-pointer made, you receive 1.5 points from the scoring in addition to 2 more points from the (Three Pointers Made-Three Pointers Attempted) category.  This obviously offers you higher reward for the three-pointers, but likewise, in basketball you get a higher reward for making three-pointers.  Higher risk (-.75 points for missing as opposed to -.5 points) offers higher reward (3.5 points as opposed to 1.5).  Very similar are the free throws.  Free throws are a given, wide open shot in basketball.  Players stand 15 feet away from the hoop centered with the basket and are asked to take a shot.  They're professionals, which should make this fairly easy, which is why making a free throw will net you only .25 points, but missing one will deduct .75 points.  (This also coincidentally makes it more fair for big men, because as you'll see, big men have potential for very high scoring.)

"Front Page" Stats:

I call points, assists, rebounds, blocks, steals, and turnovers front page stats because these are the big numbers you see headlining the Sports section of any newspaper most the time.  Occasionally, you'll see a shooting percentage, but usually you'll see "Kevin Durant's 51 and 12 Power Thunder Past Toronto," and not "Kevin Durant's 51 on 15-32 Shooting Power Thunder Past Toronto."  Kind of a mouthful, huh?

So anyway, points are self-explanatory.  You get half a fantasy point for each point - 1 full point for a made 2-pointer and 1.5 points for a made 3-pointer.  Next, the assists and rebounds worth 2 points each are designated as a second or even first option for most guards and big men, respectively.  In addition to scoring, you expect your guards to "playmake" and your big men to rebound, making this an important stat that is harder to obtain than scoring. Thirdly, you expect your guards to get steals and your big men to block shots.  Steals and blocks are even more rare than assists and rebounds, which is why they are appropriately awarded 3 points for each.  On a good game, a player can record 3 steals or blocks, which would award you 9 fantasy points instead of standard scoring's 3; on an average game, a player can score 15 points, which would award you approximately 7.5 fantasy points instead of standard scoring's 15.  You see how this makes more sense?

And then of course to make things fun, you've got to reward the Joakim Noah's of the league by giving them 10 more points for a triple-double in any three categories.

In basketball, you expect your guards to:

1. Score
2. Pass/Assist
3. Steal
4. Make Three-Pointers

You expect your big men to:

1. Score
2. Rebound
3. Block Shots
4. Score Efficiently 

Negative turnover points are sort of in there as a fail-safe for guards, whereas free-throw efficiency does the same thing for big men.  You could have Andre Drummond go for 22 points and 18 rebounds, a fantastic fantasy game, but if he goes 3-11 from the free throw line, he's lost you about 6 points right there.  Likewise, if Curry lights up the Garden for 54 points and 11 threes, but has 4 turnovers, that just lost you 12 points.  (Okay fine, Curry was a bad example, but you can see how 4 turnovers could hurt you even on a game-of-the-year.)

One last thing I forgot to mention is that this scoring system puts tremendous emphasis on all-around players, because those players can fill stat sheets and get points across the board.  Obviously your bigs rebound and guards assist, so that kind of leaves the 2-guard and 3-guard somewhere in the middle and irrelevant in fantasy leagues, but with the staggered scoring system, the middlemen can have opportunities for higher fantasy points because they can steal AND block, assist AND rebound.  Just a little result of this scoring system that I find helpful!

So I hope you give this scoring system a try, or at least some rendition of it, because I think just about any scoring system is better than one where everything counts for either 1 or -1 points.

But if you want to get cute with it, check out this next post on utilizing every fantasy category:
http://fantasybasketballforum.blogspot.de/2014/08/utilizing-all-scoring-categories-in.html

2014 Point Guard Outlook - Paul, Curry Headline List

Let's get started on this year early so you can be well prepared for your draft for the 2014-15 season of Fantasy Basketball!  This post is going to pertain strictly to point guard predictions, so let's get to it.

1. Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers

I shouldn't have to explain too much about why I would draft this guy in front of any other point guard in the league for fantasy basketball.  But I will anyway.  First off, the most outstanding statistic is that his assist/turnover ratio last season was a 4.57.  Yes, 4.57 assists per turnover, over 1.5 more than the next closest player (Kyle Lowry).  That number speaks volumes about his passing ability, vision, maturity, and overall IQ of the game.  He's one of the smartest players in the NBA and also one of the craftiest.
     2013-14 Averages: 19.1 PPG, 10.7 APG, 2.5 SPG, 4.3 RPG, A/TO 4.57

2. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Next on the list, the sharp-shooting Stephen Curry.  In addition to his 3.3 made three pointers a game, Curry managed to drop 8.5 dimes a game to his teammates.  If you watch Curry play, you'll notice that his ball control and passing have drastically improved every year he's been in the league.  The drawback last season was his 3.8 turnovers per game, which tied for most with Russell Westbrook.  How I see it, when you ask your player to command the point guard position all game long with very little to no help, he's going to make mistakes.  I think Curry is learning quickly, and I see his assist numbers hovering around nine and his turnover numbers dropping to below three this season.
     2013-14 Averages: 24.0 PPG, 8.5 APG, 1.6 SPG, 4.3 RPG, A/TO 2.27

3. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

There's just something about drafting Russell Westbrook that bothers you.  I took that gamble at the beginning of last season while he was injured and saw tremendous success from him during those short 46 games he was able to participate in.  He's hit-or-miss, that's all there really is to it, but when he's hitting, he's the best point guard in the game, fantasy-wise and in reality.  He's the most explosive player in the league, and if you want to debate that, I'll settle for top three.  Consider the fact that Russell Westbrook on any other team would be an MVP candidate.  He's the most all-around point guard in the NBA, but he will have nights where he goes 5-19 with 7 turnovers, and there's nothing more frustrating.  I say forgive him those 15 games, because there are another 67 games where he'll give you outstanding play, most likely grabbing 5 or 6 triple-doubles along the way.

     2013-14 Averages: 21.8 PPG, 6.9 APG, 1.9 SPG, 5.7 RPG, A/TO 1.80

4. Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls

Ooh, there's a curveball.  So you're saying that out of all the point guards in the league, I'm going to sacrifice my second- or even first-round pick on a guy who's barely touched a hardwood floor in two years?  Absolutely.  Call me biased, call me a believer, or call me naive.  This would obviously be your call, and I highly recommend it.  I considered placing Rose higher in this list even, but for apparent reasons couldn't bring myself to do it.  Think back a few years when Derrick Rose won Rookie of the Year in 2009 and then only two years later was awarded the MVP in 2011.  Yeah, yeah, that's his claim to fame and he may never return to that state, but I disagree.  Derrick Rose has been anything but timid with the USA team this summer, and that's what worries most Bulls fans.  They want to see Rose on the court and don't want him throwing his body around with reckless abandon and getting injured again.  But that's not ROY Rose, MVP Rose, or who Rose is.  He's not going to play scared of getting hurt; two years were taken from his game.  He's going to come back a little rusty, but will build his way up to one of the best guards in the league.  There is no doubt in my mind he'll return to his old self.

5. John Wall, Washington Wizards

If you didn't buy into John Wall before, just consider how he tore apart the Chicago Bulls in this year's playoffs.  Getting away from the stats, John Wall is probably the second-most explosive guard in the NBA and can get to the rim at will.  He finally has had a few healthy years and now he has a solid supporting cast and is the unquestioned leader of the Wizards.  The John Wall-Bradley Beal duo is one of the best two-guard sets in the league if not the best two-guard set, and Wall is improving his game and maturing as a player.  Personally, I felt like Wall was still playing in his Kentucky years until recently, but he's made significant improvements in every facet of his game, and I think if you can nab Wall early on, you won't regret it.

     2013-14 Averages: 19.3 PPG, 8.8 APG, 1.8 SPG, 4.1 RPG, A/TO 2.44

6. Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors

     2013-14 Averages: 17.9 PPG, 7.4 APG, 1.5 SPG, 4.7 RPG, A/TO 3.02

7. Goran Dragic, Phoenix Suns

     2013-14 Averages: 20.3 PPG, 5.9 APG, 1.4 SPG, 3.4 RPG, A/TO 2.10

8. Ty Lawson, Denver Nuggets

     2013-14 Averages: 17.6 PPG, 8.8 APG, 1.6 SPG, 3.5 RPG, A/TO 2.72

9. Damian Lillard, Portland Trailblazers

     2013-14 Averages: 20.7 PPG, 5.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, 3.5 RPG, A/TO 2.37

10. Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers

     2013-14 Averages: 20.8 PPG, 6.1 APG, 1.5 SPG, 3.6 RPG, A/TO 2.28

     - This was definitely the hardest player to rank, but with the addition of a playmaker like LeBron James, I         can't imagine Kyrie Irving's role will stay the same nor will he stay has productive as he was last season.

Honorable Mention:

Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics - I think Rondo is going to have a great year, but it's just so hard to rank him because of the uncertainty of not only his health, but his future as well.  If he stays in Boston, he may be pretty good but it also depends on Marcus Smart's new role in Boston.  If he gets traded, it depends where he goes.  Too many factors affect his fantasy value, so it was too hard to tell.

Isaiah Thomas, Phoenix Suns - I think Goran Dragic will be the point guard that stands out of the point guard trio (Dragic, Bledsoe, Thomas).  Thomas proved himself in Sacramento, posting great numbers, but I don't see that same production in Phoenix.

Eric Bledsoe, Phoenix Suns - Very similar to Thomas, I just don't see three starting point guards all being very efficient.

Make sure to check out the rest of positional rankings, coming soon!

  

Why Derrick Rose Will be a Top 15 Fantasy Player

"My confidence is very high...my confidence level is through the roof."

In case you missed these Team USA Camp highlights going viral in the sports world, take a minute to see the kind of shape Derrick Rose is in.

In my opinion, he becomes a top 15 fantasy option.  You might be able to get him lower, but he won't fall far, despite his injuries.  The previous Rookie of the Year and MVP is going to return to full form by playoffs at the very latest, if not 20 games in.  You might also be able to trade cheap for him if he struggles early on.  But he's had surgery on both knees, both stronger now than before, and he's had two years to perfect his shot and work on his game.

The difference now is that he has shooters on his team.  Jimmy Butler has been coming around, Mike Dunleavy is a specialty shooter, and Doug McDermott, the NCAA leading scorer, will be huge for them.  He has three great shooters to facilitate to, not to mention that Pau Gasol can knock down a mid range jumper as well as, if not better than, Carlos Boozer.

Rose is the number 1 facilitator on the team, has a great nose for the ball, and has a full team of options for passing the ball to.  By the All-Star Break, I predict Rose will be back around 23 PPG, 8 APG, 4 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 3 TPG, and shooting above 45%.  However, right out the gate, there is a possibility he struggles around 15 PPG and 5 APG on 30% shooting with 4 TPG.  That is one reason I might recommend passing if you can get a great player early and then trading cheap for him.

Bottom line is, I don't draft Rose in the first round, but if he's available in the second round, he's mine, no question about it.