If you’re new to fantasy basketball and need a guide on the language, then this article is for you.
If you’re new to fantasy basketball and need a guide on the language, then this article is for you.
Mock: A practice draft.
H2H: A league format where a team plays against a single opponent weekly. The winner is the team that scores the most points or wins the most categories.
Points: A league format where each category is assigned a value, and the team with the most points wins. Eg. AST = 2 points, BLK = 4 points.
Categories: A league format where managers need to win more categories than their opponent. Each category’s win, loss, or tie is reflected in the league standings. Eg. In a 9-category league, the winner is the team that wins at least five categories.
Rotisserie (Roto): A league format where teams are ranked from first to last in each category by accumulating stats throughout the season. First place earns the most points, and last place gets the least. There are no weekly matchups, and the winner is the manager with the highest overall score at the end of the season. Eg. In a 12-team league, the manager with the most rebounds in the league earns 12 points. The team with the second-most earns 11, and so on.
DFS: Daily fantasy sports. Managers pick players for a daily/weekly competition.
Best Ball: A league format where players draft a team, and the top-scoring players at each position are added to a team’s weekly score. There are no matchups or roster moves, and the manager with the highest points total at the end of the season wins.
Redraft: A league where you only keep your players for one season.
Keeper: A league where managers can keep some of their players for future seasons.
Dynasty: A league where managers retain their whole roster each season.
Devy: A league similar to dynasty, but managers can also draft prospects.
Snake: A draft format where the order of picks reverses at the end of each round. Eg. Round 1 starts with Team 1 and ends with Team 12. Round 2 starts with Team 12 and ends with Team 1. Round 3 starts with Team 1 and ends with Round 12.
Third Round Reversal: A draft that follows a snake format, but the order reverses at the end of the third round. Eg. Round 1 starts with Team 1 and ends with Team 12. Round 2 starts with Team 12 and ends with Team 1. Round 3 reverses and starts with Team 12 and ends with Team 1. Round 4 starts with Team 1 and ends with Team 12.
Auction: A draft format where managers are given a budget to blind-bid on players.
ADP: Average draft position. The average spot where a player is being drafted. ADP varies across different fantasy sites. Eg. Dyson Daniels has a 42.8 ADP on Fantrax and 37.4 on Yahoo.
Punting: A draft strategy of ignoring certain categories to build strength in others. Eg. Drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo makes managers punt FT%.
Handcuff: A draft strategy of picking the backup to a starting player who will receive extra usage when the starter misses time. Eg. Backup center Andre Drummond is a handcuff for starter and often-injured Joel Embiid.
Waiver Wire: Where all of the players who are undrafted and dropped go. Managers can add players from the waiver wire.
Streaming: Temporarily picking up a player off the waivers to use for a game(s).
Waiver Claim: In some leagues, managers must submit a claim to add a player from the waiver pool and wait for a specified period before the transaction is processed. The manager with the highest waiver priority gets the player. Teams at the bottom of the draft order or with the worst ranking typically get the highest priority. After successfully claiming a player, the manager’s priority will drop to last for the next pickup. Eg. In a 12-team league, Team 12 has the highest priority, then Team 11, and so on.
FAAB: Free agent acquisition budget. Managers are given a budget to bid on players on the waiver wire. It is a blind process where the highest bid gets the player. Eg. A league could have a $1000 budget for the season. If Team 1 bids $10 to pick up a player and Team 2 bids $6, Team 1 gets the player.
Injured Reserve/Injured List: This is where you can stash injured players.
IR+/IL+: A spot on a roster to put players with short-term injuries (O/out, GTD/game-time decision, DTD/day-to-day).
IR/IL: A spot on a roster to put players with long-term injuries (OFS/out for season or INJ/ injured).
Stash: Adding a player and holding them for the future.
Projection: A player’s forecasted stats or ranking.
Bust: A player who significantly disappoints and underperforms.
Sleeper: A player who is overlooked but has great potential.
Breakout: A player who took a significant leap in their production.
Floor: A player’s lowest potential performance.
Ceiling: A player’s best potential performance.
Sell High: A player who is providing unsustainably high value and will have elevated trade value for a stretch of time. The goal is to trade away this player to acquire an even better one.
Buy Low: A player who is underperforming for a stretch of time, lowering their trade value. The goal is to acquire this player at a low price with the hope that they will bounce back.
Silly Season: The last month or so of the season, when low seeds will start tanking and shutting down players, and playoff teams will rest their stars. Eg. The Jazz often sit their best players in the final stretch of the year when they miss the playoffs.
Shutdown Candidate: A player who will likely miss time towards the end of the season. Eg. Lauri Markkanen is infamous for this.
Mock: A practice draft.
H2H: A league format where a team plays against a single opponent weekly. The winner is the team that scores the most points or wins the most categories.
Points: A league format where each category is assigned a value, and the team with the most points wins. Eg. AST = 2 points, BLK = 4 points.
Categories: A league format where managers need to win more categories than their opponent. Each category’s win, loss, or tie is reflected in the league standings. Eg. In a 9-category league, the winner is the team that wins at least five categories.
Rotisserie (Roto): A league format where teams are ranked from first to last in each category by accumulating stats throughout the season. First place earns the most points, and last place gets the least. There are no weekly matchups, and the winner is the manager with the highest overall score at the end of the season. Eg. In a 12-team league, the manager with the most rebounds in the league earns 12 points. The team with the second-most earns 11, and so on.
DFS: Daily fantasy sports. Managers pick players for a daily/weekly competition.
Best Ball: A league format where players draft a team, and the top-scoring players at each position are added to a team’s weekly score. There are no matchups or roster moves, and the manager with the highest points total at the end of the season wins.
Redraft: A league where you only keep your players for one season.
Keeper: A league where managers can keep some of their players for future seasons.
Dynasty: A league where managers retain their whole roster each season.
Devy: A league similar to dynasty, but managers can also draft prospects.
Snake: A draft format where the order of picks reverses at the end of each round. Eg. Round 1 starts with Team 1 and ends with Team 12. Round 2 starts with Team 12 and ends with Team 1. Round 3 starts with Team 1 and ends with Round 12.
Third Round Reversal: A draft that follows a snake format, but the order reverses at the end of the third round. Eg. Round 1 starts with Team 1 and ends with Team 12. Round 2 starts with Team 12 and ends with Team 1. Round 3 reverses and starts with Team 12 and ends with Team 1. Round 4 starts with Team 1 and ends with Team 12.
Auction: A draft format where managers are given a budget to blind-bid on players.
ADP: Average draft position. The average spot where a player is being drafted. ADP varies across different fantasy sites. Eg. Dyson Daniels has a 42.8 ADP on Fantrax and 37.4 on Yahoo.
Punting: A draft strategy of ignoring certain categories to build strength in others. Eg. Drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo makes managers punt FT%.
Handcuff: A draft strategy of picking the backup to a starting player who will receive extra usage when the starter misses time. Eg. Backup center Andre Drummond is a handcuff for starter and often-injured Joel Embiid.
Waiver Wire: Where all of the players who are undrafted and dropped go. Managers can add players from the waiver wire.
Streaming: Temporarily picking up a player off the waivers to use for a game(s).
Waiver Claim: In some leagues, managers must submit a claim to add a player from the waiver pool and wait for a specified period before the transaction is processed. The manager with the highest waiver priority gets the player. Teams at the bottom of the draft order or with the worst ranking typically get the highest priority. After successfully claiming a player, the manager’s priority will drop to last for the next pickup. Eg. In a 12-team league, Team 12 has the highest priority, then Team 11, and so on.
FAAB: Free agent acquisition budget. Managers are given a budget to bid on players on the waiver wire. It is a blind process where the highest bid gets the player. Eg. A league could have a $1000 budget for the season. If Team 1 bids $10 to pick up a player and Team 2 bids $6, Team 1 gets the player.
Injured Reserve/Injured List: This is where you can stash injured players.
IR+/IL+: A spot on a roster to put players with short-term injuries (O/out, GTD/game-time decision, DTD/day-to-day).
IR/IL: A spot on a roster to put players with long-term injuries (OFS/out for season or INJ/ injured).
Stash: Adding a player and holding them for the future.
Projection: A player’s forecasted stats or ranking.
Bust: A player who significantly disappoints and underperforms.
Sleeper: A player who is overlooked but has great potential.
Breakout: A player who took a significant leap in their production.
Floor: A player’s lowest potential performance.
Ceiling: A player’s best potential performance.
Sell High: A player who is providing unsustainably high value and will have elevated trade value for a stretch of time. The goal is to trade away this player to acquire an even better one.
Buy Low: A player who is underperforming for a stretch of time, lowering their trade value. The goal is to acquire this player at a low price with the hope that they will bounce back.
Silly Season: The last month or so of the season, when low seeds will start tanking and shutting down players, and playoff teams will rest their stars. Eg. The Jazz often sit their best players in the final stretch of the year when they miss the playoffs.
Shutdown Candidate: A player who will likely miss time towards the end of the season. Eg. Lauri Markkanen is infamous for this.