Keeper and Dynasty League Strategy
For some managers, there is no more exciting and challenging experience than a competitive keeper league. In certain respects, a keeper league mimics the idea of managing a team more realistic than a standard redraft fantasy league. The same can be said for dynasty or auction leagues to an even larger degree.
The Basics
In keeper leagues, managers get the opportunity to build teams around a core of players instead of assembling new teams each season. Honestly, both formats are fun and challenging but the idea of putting together an awesome keeper core and then building a championship-caliber squad around them is an extremely rewarding experience.
With dynasty leagues, you get the opportunity to draft and retain an entire team of players, replicating the actual general manager experience to a greater degree than a standard keeper league. Dynasty leagues strongly reward managers who can identify talent and secure talent. It separates those with an eye for talent and devotion to the game from those that get the entirety of their hoops knowledge from SportsCenter (no disrespect to SC at all).
And auction leagues take dynasty leagues to a whole new level of complexity by forcing managers to bid against each other for talent and then to live with the teams they assemble and the salaries they pledged. The key to auction leagues is finding value on the cheap. That’s how you secure the hardware.
So, how do you spot talent and sign them cheaply?
That is pretty much like asking for the fantasy holy grail. For starters, you have to have NBA League Pass. Second, you need a lot of free time and a patient and understanding significant other. Then you need to do your due diligence (and no shortcuts either). Finally, you need a serious dose of luck.
Pretty simple, eh?
League Settings and Variations
Keeper leagues themselves are not by any means universal. They can be roto or head-to-head. They can be standard eight or nine category or they could be entirely different combinations of categories. There really is no such thing as a “plain vanilla” keeper league.
The main distinguishing factor between keeper leagues, however, is the number of players kept from year-to-year. The most common number of keepers is probably around four or five, but the number can really be all over the map and can range from one to nine. Leagues that keep more than ten players are probably closer to dynasty leagues than to keeper leagues.
Beyond the previously mentioned differences, there can also be other variations for keeper leagues. One of the most common way involves forfeiting draft picks based upon who is kept. Let’s say that last season you drafted Dirk Nowitzki in the first round, Paul Pierce in the third round, Kevin Durant in the sixth round and Wilson Chandler in the twelfth round. In a normal keeper league, Nowitzki, Pierce and Durant would be the no-brainer keepers.
However, under these league settings, you would have to forfeit your first, third and sixth round picks to keep those three players. So then you have to consider the value you are getting (i.e. the keeper) versus the value you are paying (i.e. the draft pick). Under these circumstances it might make sense to keep Chandler over one of the other three players based upon value alone. In this case, you can only really consider Pierce as Nowitzki and Durant are locks to post first round value.
Thus, the dilemma becomes would you rather have Paul Pierce, a twelfth round pick and no third round pick? Or, would you rather have Wilson Chandler, a third round pick and no twelfth round pick? There is no right answer here but it basically depends upon how you value the two players and their future outlooks and team situations.
For dynasty leagues, the treatment of rookies provides one source of variation. In some leagues, rookies are thrown into a pool with all players not rostered at the end of the preceding season. Thus, rookies are drafted with veterans in the redraft to fill rosters at the start of next season. The other common way of handling rookies is through a separate rookie draft. This can be a one or two round mini-draft, depending upon the number of managers in any given league. This method also mimics real life to a large degree and rewards managers that follow college or do their research before the rookie draft. This is good way for managers with an eye for talent to lock up premier talent on the cheap.
The basic lesson from this discussion of some of the common league settings and variations is a simple one. Know your league and the various nuances of its scoring and settings. This is often the difference between the average managers and those standing tall on the winners podium at the end of the season.
Critical Strategy!
Regardless of league type (keeper, dynasty, auction), scoring type (roto, head-to-head, points) or league settings (number of keepers, forfeiting draft picks, treatment of rookies), there is one common mistake that is prevalent. In fact, it’s practically an epidemic and it can absolutely cripple a fantasy team. It is the mistake of overvaluing youth and building for the future.
Keeper league and dynasty managers often build with a timeline of years laid out in front of them. Call it the Portland or Oklahoma City model of team building. They draft the most talented rookie first and plan on waiting years until that player blossoms into the Man. However, this model ignores the fundamental purpose of fantasy basketball and why we participate.
We play fantasy sports to win; simple as that.
Every manager, all of the time, should be gunning for the gold. It doesn’t matter how bad your keeper core is or which team has Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade, your goal is to beat everyone, everyday. It takes a truly outstanding manager with a focused vision and realistic game plan to beat a team with vastly superior keepers (not to mention a little goodwill from lady luck). And these wins are often times the most satisfying of all fantasy basketball victories.
So, when drafting in a keeper or dynasty league, always remember that the ultimate goal is to win the upcoming season. Obviously you don’t want to handcuff yourself in the future but don’t ever forfeit an entire season before it begins. It is amusing to see how early players with “upside” or “potential” get drafted over a proven veteran with a very high chance of continuing their fantasy production. A good example would be drafting Hasheem Thabeet when Ray Allen is available in the redraft.
In head-to-head leagues, continue to compete up until you are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. As soon as this happens, then you can start to plan for next season. Open up negotiations with all of the managers in the playoffs and see what they need. The idea is to trade all of your depth (i.e. non-keepers) for star power. Trade three, four or even five players to a contender to get their star. Do anything you can to compile and consolidate star power. That is how unstoppable keeper teams are made.
Once you exhaust all depth for star power trades, explore avenues for acquiring draft picks. The same rules apply; trade any non-keeper to those in the playoffs (or teams with weak keeper cores) for draft picks. This puts you in the best possible position to dominate next season. Because as soon as the playoffs end, you lose the leverage of being able to trade with players who are still trying to win it all this season.
Competing in dynasty and keeper leagues is not difficult if you follow a couple of basic rules and are willing to devote enough time and effort to besting your opponents. First, make sure and know your league settings and all of it’s nuances. Second, avoid the all-too-common pitfall of overvaluing youth and potential at the expense of trying to win now. Finally, have fun and try and not take it too seriously.
This article originally appeared at Barracuda Fantasy Sports. Check out their redesigned home page with tons of solid fantasy sports articles and analysis.
