10 tips to help you win your league

I remember one of my fantasy drafts from 2003. One of my favorite sleepers that year was Carlos Boozer. He was coming off a very solid but unspectacular rookie season, and I thought he'd have a bigger role for the Cleveland Cavaliers in his sophomore campaign. Plus, the Cavs had just drafted the most hyped prospect of all time in a high schooler named LeBron James, and I thought the two would play well together. Boozer ended up being one of my favorite picks that season, and his first (of many) seasons averaging a double-double with strong shooting percentages helped me win that league.

Now, more than two decades later, I just finished doing my preseason projections for every NBA team, and I projected both Boozer's son Cameron Boozer and LeBron's son Bronny James. I saw both of them live in Las Vegas at the Summer League, and I have Cam projected as a top-100 fantasy producer even as a rookie.

The point?

I've been doing this for a really long time. Long enough to be projecting across generations. Long enough to have some good ideas about how to prepare for and have successful fantasy drafts with tried-and-true methods. Though the game always evolves, a lot of the prep techniques and tricks I was doing while drafting rookie LeBron and young vet Carlos Boozer can still lead to fantasy victory decades later while drafting rookie Cam Boozer and young vet Bronny. And when it comes to preparing for fantasy drafts, like Notorious B.I.G. said back in the day about a different subject, "I wrote me a manual" how to do it."

Playing fantasy basketball is fun, but like everything else, winning just makes the whole experience that much sweeter.

Here is my collection of tips I've learned throughout the years to help you on your way.

Tip 1: Set aside some time to prepare for the draft

It never fails, in every fantasy draft I've ever done, one of the people in the league will say, "Yo. Haven't had a chance to look at fantasy much, yet. Let me pull up the rankings real quick." And that's cool, because we fantasy basketball analysts put a lot of time and energy into making our fantasy rankings. But keep in mind: a) these rankings lists are public, which means everyone in your league has access to that same information and b) if you really know the subject matter yourself, you can make your own adjustments to my (or any public) rankings and come into the draft with clearer ideas about where you think the value resides.

Tip 2: Follow the NBA offseason moves

The best preparation is to follow the offseason moves, because that is where the changes in fantasy value take place. NBA veterans on the same team in relatively the same situation tend to produce relatively similarly from year to year. So, you want to pay attention to moves like Jaylen Brown and LeBron (there's that name again) heading to the 76ers, Giannis Antetokounmpo taking his talents to South Beach and LaMelo Ball joining draftmate Anthony Edwards to form one of the most exciting backcourts in the league. And, of course, you need to pay attention to how the historic incoming class of rookies performed at the Summer League. And yes, we have you covered with analysis on all of those topics. So, if you haven't spent your summer following the NBA moves, rest assured we have and can help you get caught up.

Tip 3: Draft to your scoring system

It's important to know the scoring system you're playing, and draft to that system. A points-based league will have a different set of expectations and necessities than a roto league, which is also different than a roto head-to-head league. Category specialists are more valuable in the roto-style leagues than points-based, whereas efficient volume scorers that don't contribute across the board or that may have a horrible free throw percentage on high volume may be more valuable in points leagues. Draft accordingly.

Ready to play? Sign up for free today!

Tip 4: Draft management: Weigh best player available vs. position scarcity

My strategy on the type of players I pick changes as the draft goes along. In the first few rounds I build around best player available more than team fit. For example, I'm not super worried if two of my first three picks happen to both play small forward. It's more important to maximize the fantasy scoring potential of your best few players, and if need be you can play one or more in flex positions. You can worry about team fit later.

Tip 5: Draft management: Team fit and balance in the middle rounds

In the middle rounds of the draft, I typically start paying more attention to team fit and making sure I have strong contributors across the board. If there's a clear best player available then I'll certainly still keep that in mind, but by rounds 5-8 I'm also making sure I don't have any position holes that I don't think I can adequately fill in the later rounds.

Tip 6: Draft management: Shoot your shot late

By the later rounds of the draft I already have my foundation in place with sufficient positional flexibility, so by then it's time go after my sleepers. I'm taking more chances. I'm leaning into more risk-reward type plays, instead of just going with steady contributors. Often, it's the players taken late in drafts that hit that end up being champion-making picks.

Tip 7: Seek out younger, experienced stars with a lot on their plate

Think about where your players of interest are in their careers and how that might affect their production. You want to draft younger veteran players who are trying to carry their teams to the playoffs; they tend to be more durable and play more minutes because they're younger and have their NBA legs under them. And they have to do everything they can to get their teams to the promised land. On the other side of the coin, maybe think twice about picking older players that, while among the best in the league, may miss games while trying to stay fresh for the playoffs, as opposed to going all-out in every regular-season game.

Tip 8: Be active early in free agency

Be flexible and ready to make moves right out the gate. One habit that I had to curve was relying too heavily on my "draft brilliance", even once the season began and initial information was different than expectation. If my 13th round sleeper starts off the season on the bench or playing poorly, but there's an undrafted free agent that's scored 20 points in the first two games, I have to be willing to drop my drafted player to move onto the better prospect. I see those first couple of weeks as crucial, because many overlooked players will make themselves known early. And you've got to be ready and willing to give them a try early, before your competition does.

Tip 9: Trade to win

No matter how good your fantasy draft goes, and even if you're able to get some good free agents early, you are still going to need to make trades as the season goes along if you want to win. So make trade offers early and often. And I'm not talking lopsided, the-rest-of-your-league-hates-you type trade offers. I mean legit, you know what your team needs but have also paid attention to what their team needs type offers. Because here's the thing -- if you make win-win trades, and you make them more often than everyone else in your league, then your team should have added more "wins" to the ledger than your opponents. Over time, those extra added trade wins often add up to league championship wins as well.

Tip 10: Watch the games, lean into the NBA

No. 10 could have been No. 1, because it is really the "dirty secret" at the center of all fantasy sports success. Fantasy basketball is, at its core, just another way to enjoy basketball. So, if you want to be good at fantasy hoops, the best thing to do is dig into the NBA and enjoy it. Get NBA League Pass and watch a bunch of games. Have barber shop arguments about who the best players are in today's game. Watch "SportsCenter" on the regular. And yes, read your boy's articles here on ESPN Fantasy whenever you can.

The more time you spend enjoying the sport, the more you'll realize you are up on the latest developments without even trying to be. From there, it's easy to have a feel for which players might be ready to step up and produce, as well as players you might want to trade because circumstances suggest their opportunities might diminish down the road.

It's not homework. It's not work at all. It's just hoops, and if you enjoy hoops to the fullest, it's that much easier to win your fantasy league.