This article explains why, in head-to-head 9-category fantasy basketball leagues, trying to be merely average across all nine categories is a formula for failure. Instead, you should specialize— “punt” in one or more categories deliberately—and exploit that weakness to load up on counting stats. We will lay out how the concept works special with a sport like basketball, real examples (like Alperen Şengün, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Domantas Sabonis), drafting mechanics, category rankings, pairing logic, and how to build a dominating roster rather than one stuck in mediocrity.
Why “Average in All Nine” Loses in Competitive 9-Cat Leagues
Expecting to be middle of the pack in all nine categories is a losing strategy because in any given matchup your opponent will beat you in some categories, and you will struggle to force wins across enough of them. In a 9-category league, categories like FG%, FT%, and TO can be volatile, and matching evenly across all categories leaves little room for dominance. The reality: most must-win builds lean into strengths and abandon (or accept) deficits in weaker stats.
Balanced drafters often overpay for “safe” players, leaving little room to reach superstars. If you try to capably cover all nine, you will not hit elite thresholds in any one category—and elite thresholds usually decide matchups. Thus, balanced builds lose their upside ceiling.
By punting, you accept weakness in a category, so you can draft high-volume, high-impact contributors in the remaining eight (or fewer) categories. That lets you target players in earlier rounds who would be off-limits if you tried to maintain “average” everywhere. In effect, you shift the value curve: players weak in your punted category but strong elsewhere become excellent value picks.
The Philosophy of Punting
Punting is not conceding defeat—it is strategic allocation. You use a categorical hole you tolerate to access higher cumulative value elsewhere. You pick a category or categories you are okay with being weak in (like FT% or turnovers) and do not waste premium picks rescuing them. Instead, you focus on maximizing counting statistics in other areas.
Many drafters think weakness is failure. But in punting, weakness is a driver—you create a statistical “hole” you will live with and then tailor your build so that hole does not sink you. You accept the risk and plan around it.
The Locked on Fantasy Basketball Perspective
The YouTube episode “Fantasy Basketball Punting & Pairing Strategy To Win Your NBA Fantasy Basketball League?” from Locked on Fantasy Basketball describes that punting is not about weakness but about leveraging strengths. It is a core source for the concept.
In that Locked On content, the hosts argue that drafting someone like Giannis or Şengün early often means accepting poor FT% or high TO rates. The weakness is baked in—what matters is how you pair him and build around him.
They emphasize that your second or third round picks must complement the stat hole created by your first pick. If your first pick brings FT% drag, you should select someone whose strength neutralizes other categories but does not worsen your deficits. Over time, they demonstrate how a mis-pair in early rounds breaks your build.
Real Examples: Şengün, Giannis & Sabonis
A concrete way to illustrate punting is looking at real players whose limitations are well-known, yet whose upside is enormous. Alperen Şengün is a high-usage big man with strong rebound, block, assist and scoring numbers. But his free throw percentage and turnovers are liabilities. By drafting him, many managers willingly accept a drag in FT% and TO in exchange for dominance in rebounds, blocks, assists, and boards.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is commonly drafted in the early rounds despite being a notoriously weak free throw shooter and high-turnover player. When you take Giannis, you implicitly accept those deficits. But the upside in points, rebounds, blocks, and assists is so high that leveraging his strengths often outweighs the weaknesses.
Domantas Sabonis also brings strong counting stat production but is not great in FT% or turnover discipline. Because he shares some weak traits, he often falls in value to middle rounds—making him a target for punters who already accepted similar weaknesses. The logic: if you have already conceded FT% or TO drag via Giannis or Şengün, Sabonis becomes a steal at a discount.
Category Rankings & Pre-Draft Modeling
The foundation of any punting strategy is knowing category-by-category rankings, so you can see how picks complement or clash. Before the draft, project rankings are in each of the nine categories. Know who the top 8, 16, 24 players are in rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, FG%, FT%, 3PT, points, turnovers. Use that to determine where your first pick will force you to hole out.
Once you pick your first star, filter the second and third round by category profiles. You should look for players who do not worsen your weak categories too badly and maximize other categories. That targeted drafting leverages the statistical hole you have accepted.
Pairing Strategy
Your first couple of picks set your whole build. If they conflict poorly, your foundation collapses. Elite Fantasy Basketball’s pairing guides emphasize that not every second-round pick fits each first-round player, especially in punting contexts. A poor pairing early can leave you unsalvageable.
In their projections, they note that the average stats for top 24 players in Round 1–2 are about 24.7 PPG, 2.3 3PG, 7.1 RPG, 6.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 48.8 FG%, 80.9 FT%, and 3.0 TO/G. They also observe that if you exclude Giannis, the average FT% of the top 24 becomes 82.5%—meaning a build around Giannis may force you to punt FT% if you want to stay competitive elsewhere. They argue that the pairing logic must also consider whether your build demands you to punt turnovers or if you can still compete decently in TO.
Multi-Punt Builds: FT%, FG%, and Turnovers
When successful, a triple-punt (FT% + FG% + TO) is among the most aggressive and potent builds you can run. Hashtag Basketball frames a traditional punting template as ignoring the “negative” categories: Free Throw Percentage, Field Goal Percentage, and Turnovers. That frees you to chase counting stats like points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
The reward is you can aggressively target the highest-volume producers without worrying about efficiency or turnover. The risk is that the statistical hole is big—you need your selection to be precise, and recovery from disasters (injuries, bad matchups) is harder.
Punting FT% is Most Common
Among the nine categories, punting FT% is often the cleanest and easiest to manage. Because FT% is a divisor statistic (a ratio), dragging it is difficult to overcome. Most strong rebounders and shot blockers struggle at the line. By conceding FT%, you unlock access tough bigs. Many experienced drafters limit themselves to punting FT%, FG%, and TO together—and often stop at three categories.
Punting FG% and TO with FT% is logical because those are also “negative” or volatile stats. When you remove all three constraints, you free yourself to stack counting stats aggressively.
Draft Mechanics & Adjustments
Your punting build must stay flexible. Do not fixate on punting categories before the draft. NBC Sports warns against deciding which category (or categories) to punt before the draft begins. You must adapt to how picks fall. For example, you might plan to punt FT%, but if Giannis is gone, you should pivot. Often, your first two to three picks should shape which categories you punt. Max Kulish, in his punting guide, advises letting the early picks determine your build rather than forcing a pre-declared punt.
In-Season Strategy & Recovery
Drafting is just the start; your win depends on how you manage your roster as the season progresses. When you have punted FT%, FG% and TO, you do not need to worry about adding “efficient” bigs as much; you just chase counting stats. That gives you flexibility to stream high-volume players or deep sleepers.
Because you accept holes, you can sometimes package inefficiency-heavy stars to shore up weak categories midseason if your lead in your strong categories is big enough. Always look at the trade windows to balance if needed.
Putting Fantasy Basketball Draft into Practice
Preparation is the name of the game in any league; it does not matter what sport it is as all of them have their niche. During your fantasy basketball draft, after locking in your first two picks, your mid-round targets must be scrutinized for category fit. Around rounds 3–6, look for high-upside players who have moderate negative impact on your punted categories, and are neutral or positive in your prioritized categories. Avoid players with extreme negative swings in your weak stats unless their upside is huge.
Because you have accepted a hole, you can afford more variance—but do not pick boom-or-bust players who have huge downside in your weak stats unless their upside is enormous. You need a cushion, not a volatility.
Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them
Even well-conceived punt builds can fail. The difference is how you avoid traps. Some managers try to rescue their punt too early. If you draft a player solely to cover your punted category in a later round, that often violates the build. It undermines your leverage. Always check that rescue moves do not compromise your core.
If your first and second round picks conflict catastrophically—both dragging your punted category too heavily—recovery is tough. That is why pairing logic is so critical. A bad pairing early was frequently emphasized in Locked On discussions. While double or triple punts are viable, going beyond three categories often introduces too much risk. Hashtag Basketball warns that punting in four categories is extreme and leaves too little margin for error.
