FantasyBasketball101

How the rankings work

Every number on this site is computed from NBA box scores with the method below.

The data

Box scores, schedules, rosters and injuries come from BallDontLie. After each night of games we load the new box scores and check them before anything is published: every finished game must have box scores, and each team's player points must add up to its final score. If a check fails, the rankings keep the last good version.

Who gets ranked

Regular-season games only, counting only games a player actually played. To be ranked, a player needs at least 25% as many games as the most-played player this season and at least 10 minutes per game. Everyone else still gets a profile and category scores, but no rank.

Category z-scores

For each of the nine categories (FG%, FT%, 3PM, PTS, REB, AST, STL, BLK, TO), a z-score says how many standard deviations a player's per-game average sits above or below the average draftable player. The draftable pool is the top 156 players, the size of a 12-team league with 13 roster spots. We find it with a first pass over all qualified players, then compute the averages and spreads from that pool alone, so the scores compare a player to the players you are actually choosing between.

FG% and FT% are scored by impact, not by the raw percentage: the shots a player makes above what an average pool player would make on the same number of attempts. Shooting 60% on 20 shots a game moves a fantasy team far more than 60% on 2, and the score reflects that. Turnovers count against the player.

Formats

  • 9-cat: the sum of all nine category z-scores.
  • 8-cat: the same, without turnovers.
  • ESPN points: fantasy points per game with ESPN's default scoring (PTS +1, 3PM +1, FGM +2, FGA -1, FTM +1, FTA -1, REB +1, AST +2, STL +4, BLK +4, TO -2).
  • Yahoo points: fantasy points per game with Yahoo's default scoring (PTS +1, REB +1.2, AST +1.5, STL +3, BLK +3, TO -1).

What is not in here

No betting lines, odds or player props, ever. Rankings describe what players have done this season, not a forecast.