Alright, guys, let’s talk about something I messed around with recently – fantasy basketball average draft position, or ADP. It’s a mouthful, but it’s basically just a fancy way of saying where players are typically getting picked in fantasy basketball drafts.
So, first I started looking into what this ADP thing even is. I found a bunch of websites that track this stuff. They basically gather data from a ton of fantasy basketball leagues where real people draft real players. It seems that the data is from the real users for the upcoming season. Some of them even include auction drafts, which is a whole other beast that I won’t get into here.
The first thing I did was just browse through some of these ADP lists. One source showed the top players listed as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, and Kevin Durant, and others showed top players such as N. Jokic, L. Doncic, V. Wembanyama, G. Antetokounmpo. But these lists were a bit different from each other. It all depended on the site I was looking at, and I guess, the leagues they were pulling data from.
Then I got a little deeper. I started comparing these ADP numbers to my own gut feelings about players. I looked at some players who were going way higher than I expected, and some who were way lower. The first overall is generally considered the best. It got me thinking – is this guy really worth that high of a pick? Is this other guy really being overlooked? I checked the data, and it showed that the difference between first and second is way bigger than the difference between 23rd and 24th.
I played around with building some mock draft strategies based on these ADPs. I found a fun strategy. If I had the first pick, I’d grab a top guy, then maybe a strong second player, and then with my third pick, just go for the best player available, regardless of position. There are a lot of good ways to go from there. The distribution of talent throughout fantasy basketball drafts is rarely even across positions.
My Key Takeaways
- ADPs are different everywhere: The numbers are not set in stone. They change depending on where you look, and probably the type of league, too.
- They are based on actual drafts: These ADPs are not just made up. They are coming from real people making real draft picks.
- They are good for spotting value: I could find players who might be underrated or overrated based on where they’re getting drafted on average.
It is a pretty cool tool. I definitely learned a thing or two messing around with this. In the end, the ADP data gave me a general idea of player values. It is a great way to prepare for the upcoming season. But at the end of the day, it’s still fantasy, and anything can happen. You have got to do your own research, trust your gut, and maybe, just maybe, you will dominate your league.