Welcome to the 2024-25 Fantasy Basketball Blueprint, where we channel the spirit of Jay-Z’s iconic trilogy (and others from Jay-Z’s deep catalog) to help you orchestrate a championship-winning team. Get ready to dive into strategy, ranks, tiers and analyst tips to help you dominate your drafts.
From sleeper picks to breakout stars, we have everything you need to turn your fantasy basketball draft into a masterpiece. It’s time to step up your game and build your version of a dynasty.
Let’s get started!
MAGNA CARTA: How to get ready for drafts
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Understand your league’s scoring system: It sounds simple, but if you’re new to this, ensure you understand the format and league settings. Each league can have its own unique scoring settings. Familiarize yourself with these rules to draft players best suited to your league’s format. Whether it’s points, categories or rotisserie, tailoring a strategy to these rules can give you a crucial edge. The default scoring for private and public free leagues is head-to-head points (like fantasy football) and the default scoring for public prize leagues is head-to-head categories. Click here for a quick overview on different formats.
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Formulate a plan: Create a plan that includes multiple scenarios and backup options for each round. This flexibility allows you to adapt to unexpected player runs or surprises, ensuring you make the most of every pick.
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Mock Draft! You can’t come in raw and unprepared — practice makes perfect! Participate in Yahoo mock drafts to get a feel for trends and a sense of player values. It’s a battle-tested way to try strategies and see where’s the likeliest places to snag your must-have players.
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Check my latest points and category league rankings: I’ve updated them weekly over the past month to account for injuries, role changes, competition and more. Points here, categories here.
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Monitor preseason performance: Keep an eye on preseason games to catch rising stars and evaluate how players fit into new team roles. While preseason stats can be misleading, they often hint at players who might have increased opportunities in the upcoming season.
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Use player projections: Yahoo’s 2024-2025 projections are available once you’ve signed up for a league. If you’re looking for additional resources, Hashtag Basketball and FantasyPros have free projection models, too.
I strive for balance between category leagues and points leagues, and to achieve that, I follow a simple formula:
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Get guards who cover points, assists, 3s and steals and shoot a high FT%.
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Get bigs who get points, rebounds and blocks with a high FG%.
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Turnovers are variable, but this build makes you competitive in eight categories and has a strong framework for points leagues.
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Hone in on the players with the steady minutes and high usage rates (north of 20%)
No draft is created equal, so you must be ready to pivot and be flexible. You’re not going to get all of your targets, so knowing how to manage the value that falls and when to reach for a player you want is important, too.
Make sure you have a depth chart handy because it’ll help a lot as you get to the mid-to-late rounds of drafts. That’s where you find the value and build the depth necessary to make it through a fantasy basketball season.
Optimal draft slots
In a 10 or 12-team league, I want to get picks 1-4 because you avoid the players with heightened injury profiles like Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis and Tyrese Haliburton.
I also like the backend of the first round in 12-team leagues because you can catch the residual value of players who fell outside the top 10 and then follow up with an immediate complementary pick to start building your core.
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Selecting injured players: Players who are hurt or have injury-prone labels will undoubtedly slide in drafts. Availability matters, and you’ll have a higher floor if you avoid them, leaving your draft with a player who’ll get fantasy points off the rip.
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Ben Simmons: He’s healthy with a few jumper reels in an empty gym. We’ve seen this movie before.
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Not setting your draft queue: Stack at least 3-5 players in your queue to save yourself from a panic or auto-pick. If you’re in shark-infested waters, make it 10 to account for sniping.
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Punting: Don’t overcomplicate your draft by attempting this veteran draft strategy. Punting only applies to category leagues, but for those unaware, here’s the TL;DR: Punting is when you neglect certain categories to gain an advantage in others.
THE TAKEOVER: Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick
I can easily justify Nikola Jokić — a three-time MVP and perennial top-three finisher as the No. 1 overall pick in fantasy drafts. However, if I get the first pick in any draft, it will be Victor Wembanyama. He’s a cheat code on a trajectory to be the most versatile stat-stuffer we’ve seen in a long time.
Wemby finished in the top 12 in points and category formats in his first season. He had the highest usage rate for a rookie in NBA history and put up the second-most fantasy points for a rookie in the modern era. Defensively, he led the league in blocks, and his 10% block rate was the second-highest in the history of the NBA — again, he was a rookie!
There is considerable hype with Wemby, so you’re not wrong to go with the sure thing in Jokić. Jokić rarely misses games and has 114 triple-doubles since 2019 (the most in the NBA). Wemby won’t match Jokić’s efficiency from the field or his assist production, but in scoring, rebounding and steals, he’s on par, along…
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