2023-24 Fantasy Basketball: Category league draft strategy

By Joel Bartilotta, RotoWire

Special to Yahoo Sports

I’ve played in over 30 Yahoo Fantasy Basketball Pro Leagues every season for the last decade, and in order to be successful, you must understand every facet of this format.

The standard is a nine-category league — here's how to play.

What’s a category format in fantasy basketball?

This might be news to fantasy football players, but the scoring in fantasy basketball is usually much different. While there are points formats, many basketball leagues use categories for scoring. The standard fantasy basketball league has nine categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, 3-pointers made, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and turnovers. Some of these statistics can be altered depending on the league’s settings, but this remains the standard.

What are the different category formats?

There are two types of category formats. The most popular is head-to-head. Players attempt to win more categories than their opponent over a given timetable (usually a week, but can vary based on league preferences). Most leagues just count wins, so players should attempt to win at least five of the nine categories. However, you can also play a cumulative style where your record is simply how many categories you’ve won and lost over the entire season. In that type of setting, managers should attempt to win every category every week, though going 9-0 consistently is nearly impossible in a competitive league.

The other type of format is rotisserie. This is the OG fantasy basketball format. Players compile the aforementioned stats throughout the season and battle the rest of the league all season long. No individual matchups. For example, if you lead the league in steals in a 10-team league, you’ll have a 10 in that category in the standings. A 90 would be a perfect score, but the champion usually finishes around 65-70 points.

This style is certainly more in-depth, and it eliminates some of the flukey nature of head-to-head competition.

General tips for category formats

Pay attention! The reason I like to play in category competitions is that I closely follow the NBA. This is key. Managers who are hoping to win category leagues must pay attention every single day throughout the six-month season and update their roster accordingly.

Streaming! One of my favorite parts of playing any fantasy sport is streaming. This is simply picking players off waivers in profitable short-term situations. I like to look at the upcoming schedule and see which teams will be playing three or four games that week. Players on those teams are the perfect streaming candidates because you simply get more opportunities to score points and move up the rankings.

Don’t drop any stars just to get this advantage, but you should look to flip-flop the bottom players on your roster based on weekly matchups.

Patience! While streaming can certainly gain you a weekly advantage, dropping a youngster who hasn’t hit his stride for a veteran with low upside is a risky move. It’s wise to hold onto younger players as long as possible because eventually, they tend to get their time to shine. You don’t want to be the guy who drops the fantasy darling of the year just because you want to get an extra game out of Mason Plumlee.

What is punting, and how do I do it?

One of the more popular strategies in category leagues is to punt a category. This is essentially saying, I’m going to give up one category in an attempt to gain an advantage in other categories. For example, Shaquille O’Neal was the ultimate pick when punting back in the day because his presence on your team would decimate your free-throw percentage, but he’d dominate in points, rebounds and field-goal percentage. Giannis Antetokounmpo has a similar impact on category leagues in today’s game. It’s certainly risky to throw away a whole category, but this strategy can be successful when executed properly.

What is the perfect strategy for category formats?

Draft Nikola Jokić.

Jokes aside, the key is to build your roster with players who complement each other. The reason Jokić is so valuable is that he dominates every category and hardly ever hurts you. Most players, even the elite ones, have a weakness. Most big men hurt you in assists and free-throw percentage, while most guards negatively impact your field-goal percentage and turnovers. It’s all about creating a well-rounded roster that can provide production in multiple categories, preferably the same ones while limiting the negative outcomes. If there was a “perfect strategy” everyone would know what it is, so instead, my parting advice would be to find the perfect balance between the different strategies.

Pick your moments when to stream, when to be patient and when to punt, but always pay attention and set your lineups.