Online Fantasy Basketball

From LoveToKnow Online

Online fantasy basketball is a game that allows basketball fans to play owner, general manager and coach, all at the same time. Like other fantasy sports, online fantasy basketball is a game in which people join leagues at popular sites, like ESPN, and participate either with friends they invite or with other fantasy basketball enthusiasts nationwide. Here’s how it works.

Online Fantasy Basketball Draft

What are fantasy sports without a draft? The draft is the most anticipated event in any fantasy league. In an online fantasy basketball draft, you will join others in cyberspace to select players based on a pre-determined draft order. The draft order is set up by your league commissioner or by the web site you are using. You rank your players prior to the draft, and each time it’s your turn to select a player, you choose one of the desired players on your list. You will need to fill all five positions: point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center; you will also need to select backup players. Be sure to read your league’s rules carefully prior to drafting, so you know how many players you need at each position.

Head-To-Head Leagues

Playing online fantasy basketball in a head-to-head style is somewhat like playing opponents in a fantasy football league. Fantasy football owners select players in a random draft and set a lineup for each week of play. Some fantasy basketball leagues play this way, too. The biggest difference is in the actual fantasy schedule. The National Football League only plays 16 regular-season games, with each team playing once weekly. In the National Basketball Association, each team plays 82 games – four or five games a week. In an online fantasy football league playing a head-to-head schedule, you will submit your lineup at the beginning of the week, and those players’ statistics for the entire week will be matched up against another team in your fantasy league’s roster for that particular week. However, in an online league, the team with the most points at the end of the week will win one game.

Rotisserie Style

A fantasy basketball league that uses a rotisserie style is one that is based on total statistical points or average statistical points for a season. In other words, you draft your players, much like you do in fantasy football leagues and other fantasy leagues, but you do not play a head-to-head schedule. Instead, you track your players’ total statistics throughout the season and use these numbers at the end of the year. Some leagues prefer to break the season into increments. This way, you can change your lineup from time to time and use the cumulative statistics of these players during each period of play. Some traditional fantasy sports enthusiasts like this style because it is how most fantasy sports, aside from fantasy football, began.

Salary Cap Leagues

Another interesting style of fantasy basketball is playing in a salary cap league. Although some of the rules may be similar to other fantasy basketball leagues, salary cap leagues give owners the opportunity to incorporate the business side of professional sports into fantasy play. Teams are given a maximum dollar amount to use to pay players. Of course, this is all part of the fantasy game, so there are no real dollar amounts. You might be given a $50 million salary cap. Your league will set values for all players, and you select your team based on how much you are willing to spend. If you believe LeBron James is worth $10 million, you’d have 40 million fantasy dollars to spend on the remainder of your team.