NBA Fantasy Basketball: Key Learning Points As Play Resumes

Staff Writer
Staff Writer
6 Min Read

The NBA season is provisionally set to resume on July 31st and, if that date sticks, it will bookend a period of 142 days without NBA action. The hiatus has not stopped Fantasy NBA players from renewing their passion for planning and tactics, and with their team looking like genuine title contenders, LA Lakers’ fans will be particularly focused on bringing the best out of their heroes.

Some Fantasy NBA trends learned from the 2018-19 season – and the early part of the 2019-20 campaign – give much food for thought.

Three-Point Ballers – Proceed With Caution

Three-point shooting in the NBA is the greatest it has ever been in terms of sheer volume. The 2018-19 season saw 27,955 makes from 78,742 attempts from behind the arc. Those numbers – which are both records in the history of the league – were both on pace to be smashed this year. At the halfway mark of the season, the numbers were suggesting something in the region of 83,000 three-point attempts, and maybe close to 30,000 makes.

Plenty of reasons exist as to why the three-point shot is used more and more. Primarily, players are better at it than ever before, and the LA Lakers in particular lead the NBA betting markets for the championship because of their ambitious approach to point-scoring.

That said, Fantasy NBA enthusiasts should beware of players who do nothing other than live and die by the jump shot. History shows that those players can have off-nights with their shot, and if they aren’t contributing in other ways (i.e. with rebounds/assists) then they have the potential for a fantasy ‘stinker’ out of nowhere.

Players with “IT” from Johnson to James

A player can simply have “It”, as defined by NBA lore and the sum of their total game. Put succinctly, they are the James’ and Antetokounmpo’s of the basketball world. Primarily, they take over a game and dominate every area, but they can also move the proverbial needle in other ways too.

Players with “It” will get a friendly call here and there purely because of their presence and their reputation. If that friendly call happens to be on a defensive rebound that turns into an assist, then that is a situational fantasy victory.

NBA: Milwaukee Bucks at Los Angeles Lakers
© Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The key here is to find other players who have “It” in fits and spurts. For instance, Kyle Kuzma has emerged as a major investment. Yet, despite him topping the Lakers’ shooting table and finishing second in adjusted shooting, 2018-19 was seen as an underwhelming campaign.

Kuzma’s game has improved since, with a one-man demolition of the Pistons in January being a particular zenith of his early career.

While the skills of players who have “It” may differ, their ability to dominate in one statistical category makes them a worthy pick. Naturally, the time to invest is when they start to show flashes of improvement and see their personal box scores start to pick up at a steady rate. It is always advisable to look for some of those players with “It” to break out down the stretch, as it always seems to happen somewhere.

Load Management and Psychology Are New Considerations

Stars of the game usually play reduced minutes or miss entire games to keep them healthy for the long haul of the season. Though the term is relatively new, this activity is known as ‘load management’, and has actually been happening for years. That stands to reason as far as the NBA is concerned, with players expected to slog through an 82-game regular season that destroys knees and ankles if managed improperly.

As it stands, the players will soon return to empty arenas, which many people see as nothing more than glorified high school gyms. How this might affect the psyche of certain players, and make an impact on Fantasy NBA projections, will only become clear with time. For all the justification behind their standing as championship favorites, the Lakers will be just as vulnerable to changes as other teams and will do well to maintain the form with which they ended February.

Of course, the NBA – like all other major sporting franchises – is experiencing unprecedented times. In spite of the drastic shifts in terms of location and attendance, there is an expectation that fantasy scores for stars and key role players will only increase, with their time on the court in each game being less closely managed than it was just a few months ago.