Whether you're a rookie to fantasy basketball this season or a seasoned pro, this is a game that's always changing and challenging even the best hoops minds.
The successful fantasy managers find a way to remain in learning mode, looking for new information and strategies that can push them ahead of their competition.
And that starts on draft day.
With that in mind, we gathered our fantasy basketball experts -- André Snellings, Eric Moody, Eric Karabell, Steve Alexander and Jim McCormick -- to get their best advice on how to ace your fantasy draft this season.
A little preparation goes a long ways
Spend a few minutes before your draft getting a feel for how you want your draft to go. In the Ultimate Draft Guide and Draft Tiers articles, we have given our thoughts on the players that might be available at any given point in the draft. At the very least you should check out our thoughts, but ideally you should go through some of those exercises yourself. Even better if you do so in your specific draft software, so you'll have a better idea where players are default ranked. So many people just show up and draft, that if you do just a bit of prep it can give you a leg-up on your competition. -- Snellings
Get your guys, however possible
My draft strategy is pretty simple and that is to get 'my guys' before the other fantasy managers in my draft room have a chance to. If it means I have to reach a bit to make that happen, so be it. There's nothing more fun than leaving the draft room knowing you took several guys that other managers had queued up later in that round or even in the next round. And my guys tend to come in with a lot of hype, so they're more like 'everyone's guys.' The strategy can backfire if your guys don't end up living up to the hype, but fantasy hoops is supposed to be fun, right?. And there's nothing more fun than leaving your draft room with a bunch of players you really wanted coming in, along with creating some draft-room chaos along the way. -- Alexander
Stay clear of the injury-prone
Fantasy managers should never assume players with spotty health records will suddenly find durability, or the desire to play in 70 or more games. If anything, things generally get worse as players age. Clippers Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are great, but we need more than 60 games. They won't play in 60 games because they never do. LeBron James and Zion Williamson are not going to stay healthy for six months, either. Target minutes and durability in drafts, get volume. Nikola Vucevic, Julius Randle, Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes and CJ McCollum are not flaw-free players, but they play the games. Harrison Barnes started every game last season. Jonas Valanciunas, Brook Lopez, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jaden McDaniels and Jabari Smith nearly did. Players cannot help your fantasy teams unless they play. -- Karabell
See beyond name value
It's important to not overvalue name recognition. It's not a guarantee that someone is the right fantasy pick just because they're a well-known player with a lot of publicity. Consider the recent performance of the player and how well he fits the strategy of your team. You should use our positional tiers during your draft. Tiers are groups of players who are projected to have similar fantasy point production, with the drop-off between tiers representing a more significant projected points difference. -- Moody
Be bold
Get who you really want. Make a list and execute it as best possible. Will you land all of them? No. But will you feel good if you acquire emergent players you really believe in? Yes. The season is very long and comes with many turns and twists; it's an endurance effort that asks for you to really care about each box score. I have always found that this process is more enjoyable and rewarding when I select who I really want and not just consensus. It's your time to be a general manager. -- McCormick