Improving Your Roster
There are two normal ways in which you can improve your roster: via trade and through the free agent pool.
Trading
Despite my track record as a relatively frequent trader, this is my least favorite way to improve my team. I find it time consuming, stressful and just as likely to end up bad as it is good. By its nature, a fair trade implies giving up as much as you get and therefore is really only useful for dealing with keepers whose contracts are coming up, addressing an imbalance (which shouldn’t happen if you drafted smart) and overcoming an injury.
Of course some people view trading as a chance to pillage a weak’s owner’s roster. I find this kind of behavior to be short-sighted as it will primarily serve to alienate your league mates, reduces the number and quality of trade offers made to you and make executing trades much more difficult when you actually need one.
In terms of executing trades, the best tactic is to do the work yourself. Look at your opponents’ rosters and identify a team that needs what you have and doesn’t need what you want. Then make a justifiable offer, not a lopsided one. If possible, give the prospective trade partner a choice of players to receive or give. If I am getting the best player, I try to leave some negotiation room in my offer. If I am giving up the best player, I make my best offer and stand firm.
If you receive a trade offer, always reply, even if it is just to say no. Common courtesy always pays off in future negotiations. If there are agreeable elements, make a counter-offer — even if it is a bit lopsided. This should at least get the conversation going. If an offer or counteroffer is rejected, unless it is categorically refused, feel free to re-offer with some of the fat trimmed. At worst, you are letting the trade partner know that you are willing to negotiate.
Don’t just post a message on your league board that you are willing to deal and expect to get fair offers in return. This is like jumping into the ocean while bleeding. The sharks will smell blood and take swipes at you. If you get any offers, they will likely be bad. The one exception is if you are contemplating trading a star and receiving something less than a star in return, such as trading Lebron James for anything less than Kevin Durant. The only way you are going to get close to fair value is by a league wide auction. The traders who will make the best offer for a Lebron James are the same ones who will assume that he is untouchable and will never make offer unless notified of your intention to trade.
Free Agent Pool
The easiest way to improve your roster is via the free agent pool. Players’ roles (and therefore their fantasy value) are constantly in flux and a key free agent acquisition or two can push your team over-the-top. In order to make these acquisitions, you need to follow the real NBA game and keep up with what your opponents are doing.
Following the real NBA can be very time consuming but hopefully is a labor of love as it is for us. We covered our favorite resources here but we understand that you, like us, have full time jobs, spouses and children who may not allow you to spend so much time on your hobby. If you choose just one resource, I again highly recommend the daily Fantasy Spin here at SheridanHoops where the previous day’s games are neatly summed up and recommendations for the future are made.
Keeping an eye on your league’s transactions is also important, not only because fantasy owners make mistakes and often drop someone of value, but it will also give you some insight to the happenings of the league. I learned of Linsanity when I saw that he was being picked up in my leagues and was curious why a throw-away PG was so popular.
After deciding to add a player, the hard part is deciding who to drop. If you don’t have an obvious worst player this decision becomes tactical. The first consideration is your team’s balance and diversity. The second consideration is who is least likely to be picked up by your opponents. Since these transactions are on the fringe of your team, emphasis should be on near-term value over long-term value. Ride the hot hand until it goes cold, then find the next one.
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Nice post but that’s Eric Maynor on the pic.
Thanks. It has been fun to write and share my thoughts.
I am not sure playing a draft with your cards face up is that much of a disadvantage. When I was novice I used to worry what others were doing but that only distracts you from what your team needs. The beauty of a good plan is flexibility. Despite my concerns about PG value, I still identified multiple options for four round pairs. I also have at least one option from each position for every pick. It will take an organized effort to thwart this plan. And, If my queue gets emptied, it usually means someone else fell below where I expected. The only league where my queues routinely gets emptied and I have to go off plan is BBFL and my solution is usually just bring the plan forward a round.
As a follow-up, my draft went pretty much as per plan. I was pleasantly surprised to get both Nikola Pekovic and Rodney Stuckey with my first and second picks. I did grab the targeted Byron Mullens in the 3rd round and since I had already addressed my main needs took the best available player in 4th who turned out to be Tony Allen. In the fifth, Jarrett Jack was the only of my targeted PG to fall (but that’s all I needed) and I took Danny Green as my other SG/SF. I didn’t expect him to be there and my preferred choice Marvin Williams was long gone. For the 7th and 8th I drafted Kosta Koufos and Tyler Zeller of my C list, who were preferred options 2 and 3. Option 1, Enes Kanter was drafted several rounds earlier. My final pairing included another C from the list, Brandan Wright and Mirza Teletovic, who I targeted for the third round but his pre-season struggles obviously hurt his stock (and was why I passed on him twice earlier when I was considering SF options). He represents that unique combination of value, upside and disappointment. In a word, it was a ‘safe’ draft, which was the goal. I am not jumping for joy but nor am I crying either.
My team as a whole did improve significantly. I have 14 players from 13 different teams (the one double up is Denver!), and at least 4 players eligible at every position except PG where I only have 3. Using the same projected stats, my team jumped from 14th to a virtual 4-way tie for second. I did overcompensate and added too much FG%, FTM and FT% at the expense of AST and A/TO. The only category where I really struggle is 3PM. Using Teletovic’s roster spot for streaming 3P specialist’s (especially with PG eligibility) is now the obvious in season tactical play though I will give to Teletovic a couple of weeks to see if he can get his shot to fall before resorting to that.
Jeff, this entire series has been great. Always knew you were a tough opponent, now I understand why. Many of your strategies were things I already did instinctively, but a few of my instincts were counter-productive — thanks for the advice!
Revealing your strategy for an upcoming draft was very generous. Not only are Bruce and I in that league, but several other sharks will be taking notes. My keepers there aren’t the greatest, but I did stockpile three of those controversial draft picks and will have a deep team if all goes well.
I’d reveal my draft plan if I had one. Mostly it’s “best available” with a slight emphasis on PG and C. As I don’t pick in the last three rounds, there won’t be as much focus on the sleepers I collected in the Elimination league. You can probably get Shved.