Give Me The Rock
this is fantasy basketball
I’m not sure what percentage of fantasy basketball leagues use the traditional serpentine “draft” as their way to select players, but based on my experiences I’d put it at around 99%. And that’s a shame because auctions need more love. A lot more love.
If you have no idea what a fantasy auction is; it basically works like any other type of auction. You get a set amount of money (which may or may not be related to some buy in amount to get into the league, shhh), say $100 or $200, and you use that money to bid on players in monetary increments (usually $1). One person starts the auction by selecting a player to bid on and teams take turns either placing a bid on a player or removing their team from the bidding. The team with the highest bid (the last team standing) gets the player. Things continue player by player until you are either out of money or have a full team.
Now I love drafts. I will mock draft anytime, anywhere. fbasketballBlog set up a mock draft recently that I participated in while ignoring my crying one month old child behind me.* And yet, I feel that auction leagues are better than drafts in every conceivable way (except for one). Why?
Fun. You know what isn’t fun? Drafting a player and then waiting 15 minutes for the draft to get back to your spot. Also not fun? Getting slotted in a draft position that sucks. On the other hand, fun is having a new player to bid on every minute and having to quickly decide if he fits in with your team. Fun is having 5 seconds to decide whether you’re going to bid $76 dollars on Kevin Durant and blow half your load 5 minutes into the auction, or let that douche you hate get him for $75.
Total control over the team you build. There are certainly some draft strategies that you can use to mold your team in certain ways (like going big or small) but you never really have complete control over a team because teams do not get the opportunity to draft every player. You make a pick and then watch players come off the board until it’s your turn again. Auctions allow you to go after and get any player you want… for the right price. If you want to build your fantasy team like this year’s Miami Heat, you can probably do it in an auction.
The Money Game. Not only are you building a team during an auction, but you also have to make a decision on how you are going to use your money. Going to spend it all on a few great players (known as the stars and scrubs method)? Looking for value? Hording your money until the end to pick up good players on the cheap? It’s a game within a game. Just don’t break the cardinal rule of auctions – leaving money on the table – because it’s not like you can walk away with it at the end.
The Drama. No draft can create the kind of tension of an auction bidding war. Seeing two owners going after the same guy in an auction is great to watch as a spectator. However, as a participant it more often than not involves swearing as well as threats of physical harm.
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Up until recently, there have been two distinct disadvantages of auctions: 1) they take longer than drafts from start to finish and, 2) they are complex to conduct.
The time commitment isn’t going to change. With all the bidding going on, auctions just take a long time to get through. Most of the ones I’ve done have been in the 2-4 hour range, which can be a pretty significant time commitment (especially if you’ve got a child crying behind you the entire time).
The good news is that auctions are getting easier and easier to run. There was a time – not long ago – when auctions required the entire league to physically together in a room (usually you had to walk uphill both ways in a snowstorm with no shoes to get there). Then came third party auction software and other types of online tools. But now we’ve reached the next level. Last year, ESPN added auction capability to their fantasy basketball leagues and this year, Yahoo is doing the same. So now the two big boys in the industry give leagues the ability to conduct auctions instead of drafts. I tried ESPN’s auction software last year and it is slick. Given Yahoo’s track record, their auction software should be easy to use as well.
If you’ve read this far, then you already know my recommendation. Give auction leagues a try this year. Chances are you won’t look back.
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*Not true. My wife made me leave.
Tags: Auction
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