NBA Auction Strategy Part 3: H2H Rankings and Auction Values

NBA Auction Strategy Part 3: H2H Rankings and Auction Values

This article is part of our NBA Draft Strategy series.

In an attempt to differentiate head-to-head rankings from the standard rotisserie rankings that most sites provide for both games, we've been promoting our suggested head-to-head rankings that stress punting field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and turnovers in standard 9-category head-to-head leagues.

The table at the bottom of this article displays our suggested head-to-head rankings, and these rankings account only for the six positive counting stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and three-pointers made) while punting field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and turnovers.

The reasoning behind building the rankings for head-to-head (H2H) off of the six positive counting stats is multi-layered, but the concepts are relatively simple.

Why Are H2H Leagues Different than Rotisserie Leagues?
In rotisserie leagues, you have to account for all the categories that you're competing in, because each category is worth the same value. In a 10-team rotisserie league, each category could give you as many as 10 points toward your total rotisserie score for the league, and the stats that you're collecting are the total stats of the entire season. That's a huge sample size.

In H2H leagues, you're only collecting stats for a one-week matchup. So, in a 9-category league, you only have to win five of the nine categories to win the matchup that week. That's the key difference between the rotisserie game and the H2H game. One of them is a full-season game, the other is a week-to-week game.

Through the three-to-four games a player has during a weekly H2H matchup, there's a greater possibility for variance in stats from week to week based on the player's efficiency, the minutes they play, and the number of games on their schedule.

Our suggested H2H rankings are an attempt to circumnavigate the variance of the percentages from week to week for a player, and our focus on only drafting with the six positive counting stats in our rankings is an attempt to build a strong foundation in those six stats that helps to insulate a team from the idiosyncrasies of injuries and weird schedule quirks throughout the season.

Why You Should Punt Turnovers in a Standard 9-Category H2H League?
This is relatively straightforward. The best players in fantasy have the ball in their hands more than anyone else, so they create more turnovers by default, making the use and tracking of turnovers in fantasy basketball counterintuitive to the purpose of all the other stats. Yahoo's standard leagues default to a 9-category setting that includes turnovers, while ESPN forgoes turnovers in their standard leagues and defaults to an 8-category setting.

There are lots of people out there who believe it's important to use turnovers in fantasy, and no one is right or wrong, but if you talk to most experts, they'll voice their disdain for the turnovers category as it obscures the rankings to an often unfair degree.

Why You Should Punt the Percentages in a Standard 9-Category H2H League?
We touched on this above, but the primary reason is due to the variance inherent in percentages in small sample sizes.

Over the course of three-to-four games in a given week, Dwight Howard might only shoot 45 percent from the field, but as long as he's getting 36 minutes per game, he should still collect the same number of rebounds and blocks that he is accustomed to collecting in 36 mpg. The concept is really that simple.

One other argument tied to punting percentages is the fact that percentages can influence the rankings greatly, and when the most important stats in H2H are the counting stats, it's counterintuitive to give the percentages the same weight in H2H rankings that you would in a set of rankings for rotisserie leagues.

In Part 2 of our Auction Strategy series, we pointed out that a player's ranking and auction value can be very different depending on your league settings (number of teams, roster spots, and scoring). To help gain an advantage on draft day, Parts 3-6 of this series will give you suggested auction values and snake draft rankings specific to Head-to-Head, Rotisserie, and Points Leagues:

Part 1:Why You Should Try An Auction Draft (Free!!)
Part 2:How Auction Values Are Calculated (Free!!)
Part 3:Head-to-Head Rankings and Auction Values (Free!!)
Part 4:9-Category Rotisserie Rankings and Auction Values (Subscriber Content)
Part 5:8-Category Rotisserie Rankings and Auction Values (Subscriber Content)
Part 6:Points Leagues Rankings and Auction Values (Subscriber Content)

All of the rankings and auction values are based off of the RotoWire Projections. They are calculated using the methodology described in Part 2 of the series.

The rankings and auction values provided in this article are for 12- and 10-team leagues. They are up to date as of 10/20/2014. If you would like rankings that are completely up to date, please use our new rankings tool.

Enjoy!

Head-to-Head Suggested 9-Cat Rankings and Auction Values
(w/ Punting of FG%, FT%, and TOs)

Rank

12 Team $$

10 Team $$

Player

POS

1

$58

$57

Stephen Curry

PG

2

$55

$54

LeBron James

PF

3

$53

$51

James Harden

SG

4

$45

$42

Anthony Davis

C

5

$45

$43

Russell Westbrook

PG

6

$45

$43

Damian Lillard

PG

7

$43

$40

John Wall

PG

8

$42

$40

Chris Paul

PG

9

$41

$39

Blake Griffin

PF

10

$41

$39

DeMarcus Cousins

C

11

$40

$37

Andre Drummond

C

12

$36

$34

Kevin Love

PF

13

$36

$33

Kemba Walker

PG

14

$36

$33

Paul Millsap

PF

15

$35

$33

Kevin Durant

SF

16

$35

$33

Ricky Rubio

PG

17

$35

$33

Carmelo Anthony

PF

18

$35

$32

Victor Oladipo

PG

19

$33

$31

Jrue Holiday

PG

20

$33

$31

Klay Thompson

SG

21

$32

$30

Michael Carter-Williams

PG

22

$32

$29

Kyle Lowry

PG

23

$32

$30

Monta Ellis

PG

24

$30

$28

Ty Lawson

PG

25

$29

$27

Goran Dragic

SG

26

$29

$26

Brandon Jennings

PG

27

$28

$25

Nicolas Batum

SF

28

$28

$25

Dwight Howard

C

29

$28

$24

Serge Ibaka

PF

30

$28

$25

Rajon Rondo

PG

31

$27

$24

Kyrie Irving

PG

32

$27

$23

DeAndre Jordan

C

33

$27

$24

Chandler Parsons

SF

34

$26

$24

Mike Conley

PG

35

$26

$23

Rudy Gay

SF

36

$26

$23

Al Jefferson

C

37

$26

$23

Jeff Teague

PG

38

$25

$22

Deron Williams

PG

39

$25

$22

Chris Bosh

C

40

$24

$22

Wesley Matthews

SG

41

$24

$21

Marc Gasol

C

42

$24

$21

Kenneth Faried

PF

43

$24

$21

Gordon Hayward

SF

44

$24

$21

Trevor Ariza

SF

45

$23

$20

LaMarcus Aldridge

PF

46

$23

$19

Derrick Favors

PF

47

$22

$19

Josh Smith

SF

48

$21

$18

Greg Monroe

PF

49

$20

$16

Nerlens Noel


50

$19

$15

Roy Hibbert

C

51

$19

$16

Kobe Bryant

SG

52

$19

$16

Jeremy Lin

PG

53

$19

$16

Darren Collison

PG

54

$19

$16

Thaddeus Young

PF

55

$19

$16

DeMar DeRozan

SG

56

$18

$15

Joakim Noah

C

57

$18

$15

Eric Bledsoe

PG

58

$17

$14

Tim Duncan

C

59

$17

$14

Dirk Nowitzki

PF

60

$17

$14

Kawhi Leonard

SF

61

$17

$14

Paul Pierce

SF

62

$16

$13

George Hill

PG

63

$15

$12

Al Horford

C

64

$15

$12

Lance Stephenson

SG

65

$15

$12

Jeff Green

SF

66

$14

$10

Pau Gasol

C

67

$14

$11

Brandon Knight

PG

68

$14

$11

Danilo Gallinari

SF

69

$13

$10

Nikola Vucevic

C

70

$13

$10

Mario Chalmers

PG

71

$13

$9

Larry Sanders

C

72

$13

$9

Markieff Morris

PF

73

$13

$9

Trey Burke

PG

74

$12

$9

Terrence Jones

PF

75

$12

$9

Marcus Smart


76

$12

$9

Dwyane Wade

SG

77

$12

$8

Ryan Anderson

PF

78

$12

$8

Reggie Jackson

PG

79

$11

$8

Channing Frye

PF

80

$11

$8

Jabari Parker


81

$11

$8

J.R. Smith

SF

82

$11

$8

Joe Johnson

SG

83

$11

$7

Giannis Antetokounmpo

SF

84

$11

$7

Carlos Boozer

PF

85

$11

$7

Jose Calderon

SG

86

$11

$7

Kyle Korver

SG

87

$10

$7

DeMarre Carroll

SF

88

$10

$7

Derrick Rose

PG

89

$10

$6

Tyreke Evans

SF

90

$10

$6

Marcin Gortat

C

91

$10

$6

David West

PF

92

$10

$6

Jared Sullinger

PF

93

$9

$6

Zach Randolph

PF

94

$9

$5

Robin Lopez

C

95

$9

$6

Andrew Wiggins


96

$9

$6

Luol Deng

SF

97

$9

$6

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

SG

98

$9

$5

Draymond Green

SF

99

$9

$5

Josh McRoberts

PF

100

$9

$5

Dante Exum


101

$9

$5

Jimmy Butler

SG

102

$8

$5

Jamal Crawford

SG

103

$8

$5

Elfrid Payton


104

$8

$4

Patrick Beverley

SG

105

$7

$4

Alec Burks

SG

106

$6

$3

Isaiah Thomas

PG

107

$6

$2

Enes Kanter

C

108

$6

$1

Gorgui Dieng

C

109

$5

$1

Omer Asik

C

110

$5

$2

Bradley Beal

SG

111

$5

$1

K.J. McDaniels


112

$5

$1

Maurice Harkless

SF

113

$5

$1

Mason Plumlee

PF

114

$4

$1

Spencer Hawes

C

115

$4

$1

Bojan Bogdanovic


116

$4

$1

Terrence Ross

SG

117

$3

$1

Andre Iguodala

SF

118

$3

$1

Amir Johnson

PF

119

$3

$1

Miles Plumlee

C

120

$3

$1

John Henson

PF

121

$3

$1

Jonas Valanciunas

C

122

$3

$1

David Lee

PF

123

$3

$1

Danny Green

SG

124

$2

$1

Matt Barnes

SF

125

$2

$1

Tristan Thompson

PF

126

$2

$1

Dion Waiters

SG

127

$2

$1

Kevin Martin

SG

128

$2

$1

Courtney Lee

SG

129

$2

$1

Vince Carter

SG

130

$1

$0

Kelly Olynyk

C

131

$1

$1

Ben McLemore

SG

132

$1

$0

P.J. Tucker

SF

133

$1

$0

Andre Roberson

PF

134

$1

$0

Taj Gibson

PF

135

$1

$0

Jordan Hill

PF

136

$1

$0

Alexey Shved

SG

137

$1

$0

Kevin Garnett

C

138

$1

$0

Eric Gordon

SG

139

$1

$0

Mirza Teletovic

SF

140

$1

$0

Timofey Mozgov

C

141

$1

$0

Arron Afflalo

SG

142

$1

$0

Tobias Harris

PF

143

$1

$0

Aaron Gordon


144

$1

$0

Tony Parker

PG

145

$1

$0

Tyson Chandler

C

146

$1

$0

Tim Hardaway

SG

147

$1

$0

J.J. Redick

SG

148

$1

$0

Cody Zeller

C

149

$1

$0

Gerald Green

SG

150

$1

$0

Manu Ginobili

SG

151

$1

$0

Brook Lopez

C

152

$1

$0

Nene Hilario

PF

153

$1

$0

Jarrett Jack

PG

154

$1

$0

Corey Brewer

SF

155

$1

$0

Wesley Johnson

SF

156

$1

$0

Ersan Ilyasova

PF

157

$0

$0

Andrew Bogut

C

158

$0

$0

Marvin Williams

PF

159

$0

$0

Tony Allen

SG

160

$0

$0

C.J. Miles

SG

161

$0

$0

Samuel Dalembert

C

162

$0

$0

Randy Foye

SG

163

$0

$0

Tony Wroten

SG

164

$0

$0

Jameer Nelson

PG

165

$0

$0

Nikola Pekovic

C

166

$0

$0

Iman Shumpert

SG

167

$0

$0

Harrison Barnes

SF

168

$0

$0

Jason Terry

PG

169

$0

$0

Rodney Stuckey

SG

170

$0

$0

Norris Cole

PG

171

$0

$0

James Johnson

SF

172

$0

$0

Tiago Splitter

C

173

$0

$0

Hollis Thompson

SF

174

$0

$0

Boris Diaw

PF

175

$0

$0

Avery Bradley

PG

176

$0

$0

Elton Brand

PF

177

$0

$0

Julius Randle


178

$0

$0

Solomon Hill

SF

179

$0

$0

O.J. Mayo

SG

180

$0

$0

JaVale McGee

C

181

$0

$0

Shawn Marion

SF

182

$0

$0

Marco Belinelli

SF

183

$0

$0

Donatas Motiejunas

PF

184

$0

$0

Caron Butler

SF

185

$0

$0

Nick Young

SG

186

$0

$0

Marcus Morris

SF

187

$0

$0

Nik Stauskas


188

$0

$0

Amar'e Stoudemire

C

189

$0

$0

Wilson Chandler

SF

190

$0

$0

Mike Dunleavy

SF

191

$0

$0

Brandon Bass

PF

192

$0

$0

Anthony Bennett

SF

193

$0

$0

Devin Harris

PG

194

$0

$0

Jeremy Lamb

SG

195

$0

$0

Kyle O'Quinn

C

196

$0

$0

Rudy Gobert

C

197

$0

$0

Gerald Henderson

SG

198

$0

$0

Jason Thompson

PF

199

$0

$0

Luis Scola

PF

200

$0

$0

Steven Adams

C


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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Kyle McKeown
Kyle McKeown is the Managing Editor of NBA Content for RotoWire.com. He hosts the Fantasy Basketball Podcast and writes about fantasy basketball. Kyle used to run an after school program and approaches his work as an editor with teaching in mind. He genuinely cares about helping others win their fantasy basketball leagues, which seems really dorky when it's written in the third person. kyle@rotowire.com
Marc Roberts
Marc F Roberts writes about fantasy basketball for RotoWire. He has won no fantasy awards, but his mom thinks his writing is "fantastic". Hubie Brown is a national treasure.
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