Fantasy Basketball Draft Lessons: Top takeaways from the NBA High Score Creator League

The NBA season tips off next week, and I just wrapped a 14-team draft for the NBA High Score Creator League, with 13 of the Association’s top creators. Shoutout to Ben of NBA Recap Pod for taking the crown last year, but it’s a new season, with new entrants and more competition.

If you’re new to High Score, I have a 101 for you, but here’s the quick version: you draft 10 players and start six of them (G, G, FC, FC, FC, Util), and only each starter’s best game of the week counts toward your score. Scoring is 1 point per point and rebound, 2 per assist and 3 per steal and block. Turnovers don’t count at all. We randomized the draft order before the start (trust me, I rarely get the No. 1 pick).

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Here are my takeaways from the draft and what it means for those approaching draft weekend.

All rankings referenced below are my High Score rankings, and ADP is Yahoo’s as of Oct. 15.

Round 1

Pick

Player

Team

1

Nikola Jokić, DEN – FC

Dan Titus

2

Victor Wembanyama, SAS – FC

Jason Zone Fisher

3

Luka Dončić, LAL – G

Connor Printz

4

Cade Cunningham, DET – G

Bebida Tailgate

5

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC – G

Graphsketball

6

Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIA – FC

Bjorn Broman

7

Jayson Tatum, BOS – FC

Lucas Burns

8

Anthony Edwards, MIN – G

NBA Recap Pod (Ben)

9

Cooper Flagg, DAL – G/FC

Nick Knows Ball

10

Tyrese Haliburton, IND – G

Three Cones

11

Jalen Johnson, ATL – FC

IsoScoring

12

Tyrese Maxey, PHI – G

Strictly BBall

13

Donovan Mitchell, CLE – G

Makeshift Hoops

14

Scottie Barnes, TOR – FC

Hoop Venue

The first round was about as clean as it gets. The first 12 picks were the same 12 players at the top of my High Score board, just in a slightly different order. Seeing Luka go third overall could be a subtle value grab in this format, as only he and Nikola Jokić averaged more than 60 fantasy points per game (FPPG) last season. Cooper Flagg at No. 9 stood out as a pick that makes even more sense in this format than in others. His best game each week averaged 31% more fantasy points than his typical game as a rookie last season, the biggest gap of any first-round pick. The way Flagg’s looked in…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/fantasy-basketball-draft-lessons-top-takeaways-from-the-nba-high-score-creator-league-192449888.html

Author : Dan Titus

Publish date : 2026-10-15 19:24:00

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