Keep the board beside your draft.

Setting up before your league's clock starts

A preset fills everything in one tap; otherwise open the settings and work down the list. Teams and your seat come first, because together they shape the grid: you can leave the seat blank, though filling it adds a You column and a running count of picks until your next turn, the figure you will check most often. Then the scoring (9-cat, 8-cat, roto, or one of two points tables), the roster shape, any punts, and the number of rounds, which starts at the length your roster shape implies. To put names on the columns, paste the draft order one manager per line, import a league you have linked in Front Office, or enter a Sleeper league ID, which needs no account because those leagues are public by their ID. An import fills the seats in order, marks yours and places any picks already made. It copies the draft as it stands when you press the button and does not keep following the room, so after that the taps are yours. Once Start tracking is pressed, the lobby gives way to the board.

What the value column is measuring

In a category format each player's value is his z-scores added up across the categories your league counts: the distance between his projected line and the pool's norm in each column, measured in units of the pool's spread. Shooting percentages count in proportion to attempts, so a backup big who makes two of three shots a night helps your field-goal column less than a starting forward who makes ten of eighteen, and turnovers count against him. The list is sorted by this number, which is MustDraft's own valuation in your format, and beside it sits ADP, the average spot where real drafters have been taking him. When the list order and ADP disagree by a round or more, you have found a player the market sees differently from our numbers. That is where bargains and traps both hide, and a quick check of his role and health usually tells you which.

The punt row is where the number changes shape. Strike free-throw percentage and every value is re-added without it, instantly, with no reload: the bigs whose foul shooting was dragging them down climb, and the guards who were on the list mainly for their accuracy at the line slip. Strike assists as well and the pure playmakers fall again. Your roster strip keeps the struck columns visible, so you can see what you are giving away. A points format has no punt row, because a points league scores one combined number.

Guards, forwards, centers and the slots in between

Basketball eligibility overlaps, and the board follows it. Each player carries every position he qualifies for, so the filter chips work by eligibility: a combo guard appears under PG, under SG and under the G chip, and a big listed at power forward and center appears under PF, F and C. The three names in the strip above the table are the best guard, the best forward and the best center still available, judged the same way, which is the shape most lineup decisions take. Your roster panel fills the single-position slots first, then the guard and forward slots, and leaves utility for whoever is left over. When that panel shows an empty center slot and the C filter shows the top tier nearly cleared, a slight reach is justified. When it shows empty utility slots instead, take the best value on the board whatever his position.

Tier ribbons and positional runs

Choose a single position chip, PG or C for example, and tier ribbons appear in the list. A tier is a run of players whose values sit close together; a new one starts where values fall away sharply. Each ribbon counts how many players are still available before that drop. Basketball rooms tend to run on a position once someone starts it, most often centers in leagues that start two of them, and the ribbon tells you whether a run is about to leave you on the wrong side of a cliff. Read it together with your countdown. In a twelve-team snake the managers at the ends of the order pick twice in a row and then wait twenty-odd picks, while a seat in the middle waits about a round each time. If the ribbon says two left and twenty picks stand between you and your next turn, take one now; if the next turn is three picks away, you can usually wait.

Late rounds: minutes, schedules and upside

By the final third of the draft the projected values inside a tier are close, and other things decide. Minutes come first: a reserve who would inherit a starter's role if someone ahead of him misses time, or a rookie with a clear path to playing time, is worth more than a veteran with a slightly better line and a capped role. Schedule comes next. Each row shows the club's games in the current fantasy week, which is week one until the season opens, and the schedule planner lays out every week of the calendar, back-to-backs included, so you can favour clubs that play often during your league's playoff weeks. Light nights, when only a handful of games are on, are where a deep bench earns its spot.

What it cannot know

It knows nothing about your league mates: the manager who always takes a center in the first round, the one who drafts only players from his favourite club, or the keepers already kept. ADP is an average of many drafts, and yours will not be the average one. Leagues that score only a starter's single best night of the week are outside what it models. Nothing syncs live with your host, so each pick after an import is a tap, and a missed tap leaves the board one pick off until you fix it. Your board lives in this browser; Save this draft stores it in a free account if you want to keep it, with a grade and a link you can share. When the draft is over, paste the results into Grade My Draft, and to rehearse beforehand, the mock draft runs a full room against computer drafters.