The fantasy basketball season is here, and even though we’re still a week away from the NBA season’s opening tip, many fantasy basketball leagues have already drafted. If you’re in one of them and want to start wheeling and dealing right away, I’m here to help. Every other week, I’ll be sharing a trade value chart for categories leagues and a trade value chart for points leagues.
The methodology for the grades is simple. For categories leagues, each player is assigned a value from 1-10 for each category. Those category values are totaled for the Trade Value.
For points leagues, projections for points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, and turnovers are calculated based on points-league scoring to form a total which becomes the Trade Value. Projections start with FantasyPros consensus projections and are then tweaked based on personal projections.
For simplicity, projections and Trade Values have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Trade Values are handy because they provide a simple numerical calculation that can help you decide if a trade is fair. For example, Anthony Davis‘ Trade Value for categories leagues is 66. If you wanted to trade Davis in a one-for-one deal, fair value would be Karl-Anthony Towns or Luka Doncic because those players’ values are also 66. For multi-player deals, simply total the Trade Values of all players on each side of the deal and compare.
Our first charts of the season come with some obvious question marks, as we haven’t gotten to watch any regular-season games yet. Minutes, usage, and the affect of past injuries can just be hypothesized for now, but these values will come more into focus with each passing bi-weekly edition.
Thanks for reading, and best of luck in all of your leagues this season. Let’s get to it!
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Familiar names top the Categories Trade Value Chart in our first edition of the 2020-21 season. Heavy hitters like James Harden, Anthony Davis, and Karl-Anthony Towns remain elite cornerstones for any fantasy contender, but some new names have entered the fray. After breakout seasons, Jayson Tatum and Bam Adebayo have seen their stock skyrocket, but perhaps no other player has seen his star shine brighter than Luka Doncic. After averaging a near triple-double last season and dazzling in the playoffs, he’s one of the hottest names in fantasy hoops, as eager managers await his third NBA season – a season that could be his best one yet.
Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s shooting struggles might ding his value in categories leagues, but those stats aren’t counted in points leagues, where the Greek Freak remains the top dog on the block. Kevin Durant has immediate top-10 value in his return to the court, while Russell Westbrook (similarly unaffected by poor shooting in points leagues) will look to keep stuffing the stat sheet with the Wizards.
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Zachary Hanshew is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Zachary, check out his archive and follow him @zakthemonster.
