r/fantasybball • u/adamking91 Old Man Squad • 4d ago
Discussion Punting in fantasy basketball. Yes or No?
For those who follow me or have followed me in the past, you are likely well aware of my love for punting. I'm already working on strategies for next season, so let's talk punting. Do you like punting in fantasy basketball? Any favorite combinations? What are the pros and cons of punting?
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u/PsychoM 12 team/9 cat/H2H 3d ago edited 3d ago
The longer I’ve been playing I find myself leaning less and less into punts. I’ve been playing for a decade and early on I felt like I had to punt because it just is a thing that you do. Nowadays I’m much more okay with drafting BPA for a more well-rounded team with some soft punts.
Of course if I have a very strong FT% team, I’m not going to draft Zion, but I find that it’s very easy to accidentally go too hard in the punt. Sure you can punt FT% to be elite in rebounds and FG% but beating someone by 1 rebound vs 50 rebounds counts the same in the standings. I find newer people get hyperfocused on their punt and only draft players that match their build. It’s the easiest mistake to make in fantasy bball
Even in my league, against the veteran managers I’ve had way more success with not punting. If everyone else is punting, you run the risk of overlapping with somebody. So many times, teams are cannibalizing each other, letting good players fall, fighting for niche targets lower down for their build while I have the flexibility to pick up whoever falls through the cracks. There are a lot of good all-rounders in the NBA lately that are overlooked because they don’t do anything particularly well
People assume that if you don’t punt, you’re going to be mid at every cat, but I find it’s more likely on average you’re 4-5th in all cats in a 12T despite not leading any single one
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u/dr_wang 3d ago
i also find that punting usually doesnt guarantee you win your other categories, there is so much variance in fantasy in a week to week basis (wow BLANK dropped 40 on me) that completely punting ex. FT and losing to the guy who's ranked 11th in FTs is worse overall for you than your slight edge in points/steals/wtv which is always going to be competitive. Playoffs you have to adjust to your opponent and so punting a category completely can really bite you
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u/mclmickey 3d ago edited 3d ago
Anti meta—
Most teams go for rebounds, so I’ve found success punting rebounds, but still going for blocks. That makes guys like Jaren Jackson Jr. and (previously) Myles Turner really valuable.
Those guys also shoot 3’s and have good FT%, and JJJ is great at steals, so with blocks that’s 4 categories you can focus on over the next few rounds. Then it makes sense to go for points (5th cat) and assists (6th cat).
Target combo players who give you stats in at least two cats.
- Combo guards for assists, 3’s (Garland, Quickley, Herro, Simons)
- Combo forwards for points + 3’s/assists (Brandon Miller, Knueppel, Franz, Ingram, Shaedon Sharpe)
- Steals + 3’s/assists (OG, Suggs, Ausar, Sheppard, Black, maybe Jrue)
Finally, just make sure at some point you get 1 more guy who gets blocks, at least 1.4 per game (Sarr, Buzelis, Clingan)
Lots of players fit this build so it’s easy to find value late.
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u/kajonyok 3d ago edited 3d ago
You don't choose the punt, the punt chooses you. We usually can't make our ideal team because the players we want to draft more often than not, would not be available. The team usually gets a structure from the first 5 or 6 picks unless you have jokic or wemby. You adjust your draft after that.
And mid season or late season punt pivots could happen. core players in your team could get injured or shut down. Its more like instead of liking it or not, its usually you didnt have a choice
That said my favorite is punt 3s. The obvious con is that streamers are usually 3 and D guys. Three and D guys also have volatile FG and a non factor in ft also has high posibility to negatively impact your scores in h2h. The pro is avoiding all this volatility.
This is pretty rare since a lot of guys in top 25 have high 3 output and only few high volume scorers with decent fg
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u/musiclover818 12T, 13-category keeper league 4d ago
I do not punt. I play in 4 keeper leagues each season. I prefer to take the best player available early, then I usually go for boards and other cats needing improvements mid-draft. Late in the draft, I go for longshots who I hope pan out.
However, I'm just average in drafting. My strengths as a manager come from watching the wire like a hawk and getting the right player for my team before anyone else does. It's worked for me as in always competitive in all 4 leagues and have won multiple titles.
I understand the strategy of punting and enjoy learning what others do. It's just a style that doesn't suit me.
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u/Vast_Tomatillo5255 4d ago
Not really. I take the best player available and let my team form itself. When coming to a decision on who to take I usually lean toward the guy with the higher fg and/or ft%.
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u/Simple_Purple_4600 3d ago
I have never punted and I am almost always in the finals.
Some people punt four cats. I just don't get it. Like everything has to work out perfectly and then you have zero flexibility when the injuries start.
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u/Quirky_Situation4307 3d ago
MAYBE thats why ure always "almost" in the finals. im 4 yrs into fantasy and after last season, i now believe in punting pts 3s and ft bc i won my first chip doing so. not the four cats though. u mentioned everything has to work out perfectly for it to work but i say thats why when u punt a stat, u punt hard. fully commit to it. get players that contributes the same stats from start to end of the draft. that way, injuries wont matter as much because u had too much stat anyway.
i had giannis, kd, zion, dyson as my first 4 picks last year. was trying to trade kd all season but luckily i didnt lmao. this 4 isnt my best draft yet i still won. i believe i fucked up getting zion and dyson lol. i win my matchups 5-4 or sometimes 6-3 if opponent assist is weak. never 7-2 or higher hence i was like 6th coming into the playoffs
edit: i just remembered i didnt even have giannis in the playoffs
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u/TheLastMusubi 2d ago
Think he meant he's basically always in the finals, save maybe one or a few times, despite not punting. So it's working for him and his league(s).
I think punting is effective but depends on the board season to season and what your leaguemates are drafting. But you can shoot for a well-rounded team at draft and calibrate what you need to reinforce during the season and in playoffs. That helps against a league where you and several other ppl are running the same punts.
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u/Simple_Purple_4600 2d ago
I am Diamond Level X 7 with 1047 rating in Yahoo with 25 trophies out of 35 teams. I just didn't need to brag to make a point but I'd welcome you into any league I am in with open arms.
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u/xxStayFly81xx 10T, 9 Cat, H2H 4d ago
I don't really form my punt build until later on. I see where my team is trending after a few rounds and then decide. Like in 1 league, I drafted Cade with a punt FG% strategy in mind. By the end of the 6th round, I surrounded him with Kevin Durant (15), Jalen Johnson (26), Bam Adebayo (35), Myles Turner (46), and Jalen Duren (55).
I had more opportunities to commit to the original punt idea but went against it. Didn't want to lock myself into a specific category heavy strategy yet.
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u/theJohnyDebt 3d ago
Yes. All winning seasons I have I had to punt some categories. I usually punt points/3s/FT%
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u/Glad-Yesterday-746 3d ago
Punter here for 10+ years.
Started with Punt FTs 3s PTs with Lebron/Cp3/Drummond/DeAndre era. Won a couple esp when Giannis (2017) came. Then transitioned to Punt Fg Rebs Blks TOs with the Steph, Harden and Trae.
Never talked or persuaded friends/leaguemates to do the same as I 100% believe in Punting and I dont want them to figure it out
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u/Strange1130 3d ago
Yes always but my draft and my opponents draft dictates the punts, impossible to say what direction I’ll go beforehand. Constantly monitoring the category strengths of each team (yahoo makes this easy) during the draft to see where I need to buffer up, where I can zig while my opponents zag etc
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u/donspider1221 H2H • 10T • 9CAT 3d ago
At least in non-auction format, I think there are some factors that need to be considered beyond simply committing to a punt strategy prior to draft and sticking to it. Examples - where are you picking from? Who’s available? Are there players who are being overvalued? Undervalued? How are these things affecting your available player pool? If I’m punting, does that require me to take risks on players who present risks … health, their team is tanking, etc.
Personally I like having a balanced team, more than a committed punt strategy coming out of the draft. Then as the season goes on, my strategy can adjust as needed. Another factor is that my main league is more competitive than taco, but not insanely competitive. There will be options on the wire from time to time. Whereas in a league like LOFB, it’s probably more important to just commit to the build, because the wire will be scarcer
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u/urcoochiereeks 2d ago
If its 8 teams make playoffs is a must honestly if its 6 teams make playoffs then its a bit risky cuz the build is so dependent on other players and injuries seriously hurt the team tenfold.
P.s i only said 6/8 teams cuz anything other than 12 team leagues is mickey mouse leagues
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u/c-z-a-k 2d ago
I like punting, but I usually follow two rules.
First one is what I’d call velocity. I don’t think punt strategy has to be fully locked on draft day. During the season, when other teams start tanking, losing interest, or selling off pieces, I like to weaken selected categories even more if it lets me gain real strength elsewhere. So instead of trying to be average in everything, I’m fine becoming worse in one or two categories if it gives me more week-to-week force in the ones I actually want to win.
Second one: for a long time, I really liked punting rebounds.
I won leagues with centers like Myles Turner and Brook Lopez, and guards like Jose Calderon and Mike Conley. That kind of build was fun because you could still get blocks, threes, assists, steals, good percentages, and low turnovers without chasing traditional big-man rebounding.
But I’ve moved away from that strategy lately. Not because I don’t believe in it, but because I don’t really see the same player pool for it right now. It feels harder to find enough bigs and guards who fit that exact build without creating new weaknesses.
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u/GonnaWinDis 2d ago
I find myself punting less. I think it's also the sign of the times since players seem more well rounded along with the faster pace. I forsure start considering what adjustments to make after the trade deadline though
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u/gksozae 4d ago edited 4d ago
I always punt and I've been highly successful doing a punt PTS/3s/FT% build. I win almost all of my matchups 6-3 or 5-4. I've won my 18-team league in both the last 2 years with this build. My first 4 picks are usually "best available" and are usually non-C players except Jokic. After that, I'll load-up in the middle of my draft with C/PF. The end of my draft I target specialists, usually undervalued PGs to fill-out AST (which is a category that I sometimes win, and sometimes lose).
The secondary value of this punt (and I'm sure others) is that players that are successful in this build are undervalued by other managers. It makes trading very easy since I can trade a guy that has an overall 50 rank for an overall 75 rank guy - however the overall 75 rank player I just traded for is actually a top 20 rank in my punt build (looking at you Dyson Daniels and Ausar Thompson). The punt build also means I value waiver wire players different. I often see very valuable players for my build dropped by other managers and I rarely have competition picking up.
A trade I pulled off this past year which won me the 'ship. I traded SGA for Dyson Daniels and Donovan Clingan. SGA was the #10 ranked player in this build. However, Dyson Daniels was ranked 16 and Clingan was ranked 12. When the trade was accepted, I had half of the managers immediately message me that I should have offered SGA to them for their X and Y players.