Fantasy Daily: The Daily Add/Drop

There is always that irritating guy in your league who treats the waiver wire like it is his personal storage facility. Every day, he makes a new move is made as marginal players are incessantly swapped back and forth. Some view this as an opportunity to land a decent player off of the waivers. Others are simply frustrated by this constant player movement. Let me tell you though; there is no shame to the quick drop. This year, my team has suffered season ending injuries to Greg Oden, Joel Pryzbylla and most recently Anthony Randolph. In such a deep league, these losses have left me in a bit of a conundrum. After adding the recently discarded Jarrett Jack to pair alongside his new back-up Jose Calderon, I found myself with two empty roster spots. Subsequently, one day I decided to add a player on a lazy two game schedule. When I dropped him the next day, it was clear that I had discovered a winning strategy. By adding and dropping two different players daily, I ensure fourteen games played per week out of two roster spots that would typically play no more than eight games.

By simply checking your fantasy team daily, you make it possible to play only the best match-ups (re: games against Golden State), and tailor your roster additions to what your team is struggling with that particular week. In my deep league, the addition of Rasual Butler versus New Jersey should provide scoring and three point shooting. Tomorrow if my team is struggling to rack up the boards, Taj Gibson could see a day in the starting line-up. Now clearly this strategy is only for the devoted but I can assure you… it is a winning one.

The difference between the best available player and the next ten players is typically minimal. Look into a deeper league and the same phenomenon often exists. Like anything else, fantasy basketball should be treated like a business. While it may be done for fun, it also makes use of its players most competitive juices. A good owner has to be willing to cut ties with underperforming players, so why not cut ties with players who could be shuffled in and out to offer more production? This idea is not to be tried in a rotisserie league. Why? The games played requirement would be passed quickly, leaving a team underperforming and not allowing its best players to have their late season numbers recorded. But head to head? In the words of Trent (aka Vince “I play myself in every movie” Vaughn) from Swingers, “you’re money and you don’t even know it.”

While many readers may be wondering, well maybe this works in your deep league because the player pool is so terrible; but what about a normal league? Glad you asked. In my shallowest league, there are only eight teams and fourteen roster spots per team. My worst players are Channing Frye, Jason Thompson and Wilson Chandler: all extremely productive players. None would be considered droppable by traditional logic. But let’s say Chandler is the most droppable player of the bunch. At 15, 5.5 and 2 with solid peripherals, no free agent is better. So in one week, assuming Chandler is busy and plays four games, he will score 60 points, grab 22 rebounds and dish out 8 assists. Not too shabby, eh? But what about the use and dispose technique? Well let’s assume you use Carl Landry (16, 5.5, 1) twice, Brendan Haywood (10, 11) once, Raymond Felton (13, 3, 5) once, Kendrick Perkins (12, 8, 1) once, Lou Williams (15, 3, 4) once and Richard Jefferson (13, 4, 2) once. That is a seven game week. Now without even regarding match-ups, let’s add up these players’ averages: 95, 40, 14. That is the line you get out by  merely adding and dropping. You maximize games played and could care less that Wilson Chandler by all means should be owned. To be fair, so should most of the players I just listed (esp. beast-man Landry). Compare Chandler’s week to my compilation and you will add 35 points, 18 rebounds and 6 assists. It’s certainly extra effort, but those figures are often times enough to put you over the top.

Perhaps the more interesting point is breaking down those numbers into averages. Let's say we add together the statistics that are accomplished in a seven game period. Now, when we divide it by four (the average number of games a player would compete in during said week) and the figures are staggering. 23.75 points. 10 rebounds.  3.5 assists. Considering the high field goal percentages of Perkins and Landry, it is fair to say this phantom player would also shoot at over a 50% clip. Subsequently, his stat line would be reminiscent of a first round pick. If you can earn that type of production by simply checking your team daily…why shouldn’t you exploit that? Some commissioners put in a cap on acquisitions for this very reason. If your commish doesn’t, use it and abuse it. Heck, set your fantasy page as your homepage just to remind yourself. I’ve won more fantasy championships than I can count on my fingers (or on Antonio Alfonseca’s fingers for that matter), and these tricks are what win titles. That and a godly ability to analyze talent.

Questions? Complaints? David Solar can be contacted at David@hoopsdaily.com