This is the first in a series of guest blogs that I am going to be featuring. If you would be interested in writing a guest blog shoot me an email at unpossibl1@gmail.com. - unposs
First, I would like to thank unpossible for inviting me to spew all over his great blog site.
AUCTION DRAFTS
By Farwest Mojo
I first Commished a weekly $$ fantasy football league while I was part time bartending at my Folks Tavern between 81-83. Anyone could enter for $10, all you had to do was pick 5 players incl QB, RB, & 3 receivers. The team with the most points won the weekly pot. I kept track using index cards & always bought a round or two if I won.
That was 25 years ago.
This bunch of fantasy addicted drunks evolved into a Auction Drafting League.
Greg C was the driving force…the man is brutal & smart. Our Commish was a HS Math Teacher named Leon B. I give those two all the credit for setting up a equitable game that resembled real GM & Coaching strategies as much as possible. It cost $100 cash to get into the league. Leon handled the draft, bank and payouts. All transactions were done by phone, he would send standings by mail every two weeks…his comments were hilarious. At one point they had a waiting list to get in.
Leon retired about the time the internet fired up, Greg took over as Commish and we voted to have 3 keepers with no termination. We always drafted in a bar and Greg would transfer the results to CBS for a couple of years. I started playing ESPN Fantasy hoop around the same time, even with a $100 buy in, the majority of the league refused to pay league fees when free leagues were avail (tightwads). Greg retired from Commish duties and I took over for a couple of years using Rotoworld one year and then Yahoo when they offered custom setups. Ive spent a lot of time here documenting my references because I want you to know, during all this time we have debated and experimented with many variations of conducting a auction draft. The following is the result of this evolution.
WHY PROMOTE AUCTION DRAFTS?
TODAY it is possible to become a hoop draft expert within a matter of hours because of all the internet spoon feeds (expert advice) that is available. Last week I spent 4 days putting together this seasons Player Rater when I should have been doing far more important things. I scoured every Team site, every team roster. I considered all offseason moves and IR updates. I checked player contracts and calculated last seasons production of 140 impact players in pencil. Same routine I have been doing for years.
When I finished my basic PR, I started comparing my list to a bevy of cheat sheets and mock draft results expecting to see some substantial variations. You know what? Turns out I was wasting my time! It isn’t even Oct yet and I found at least 5 cheat sheets and one average draft position site that were very similar, maybe better than my own…Ive done some adjusting since.
Here is the point guys, all of these spoon feeds and cheat sheets you consider are relative to the luck of your draw position in serpentine drafts. There is not one site I am aware of that offers hoop auctions. Below, I hope to illustrate how the combination of spoon feeds (expert knowledge) and auction draft strategies compliment each other far more than snake drafting.
3 PLAYER KEEPER LEAGUE AUCTION DRAFTING 101My mentors, Greg and Leon both have math degrees; they proved to me a snake draft is not equitable long ago. (Simply ask yourself if you prefer any one snake pick over another? If you don’t care, please join my league, I will make sure you get #6, 7 or 8).
Greg and Leon also proved:
AUCTION DRAFTS GIVE ALL OWNERS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO AQUIRE ANY PLAYER using the following methods:
YEAR 1: Use a $100 bank to auction draft 1C, 2F & 2Gs. 10 teams x 5 auction players = 50 deep. This is followed by a random draw snake to finish the draft. Subsequent drafts use a snake in inverse order of the standings almost exactly like the existing ESPN keeper rules. It is that simple. The AUCTION draft starts off your keeper league equitably. NO ONE can complain they didn’t have a equal chance to acquire KG or Kobe. For the next 3 years you wont have to listen to whines about being lucky…or…unlucky victims of a snake draft.
I am often asked, why not auction everyone? Well, it would take forever. And, after the top 50 players are gone, the PR waters down and then position requirements and category balance become issues. Putting dollar values on these guys just makes the auction strategies more confusing and thus, not as much fun for the average bear (me).
AUCTION STRATEGIES
You can go in focused on paying whatever it takes to get Kobe or KG and then sit back and wait til the player values are down within reach of your remaining balance.
Or you can go in with a budget looking for bargains far below the $$ value of the top dogs and have enough bank left to buy better players near the end.
You can win with either strategy.
THE BEGINNING
You start the Auction draft by random drawing the nominating order. This gives no advantage to anyone at this point.
All players need to buy 1C, 2F, 2G with a $100 bank.
The minimum bid is $1.
The max you can bid for one player is $96.
Player A starts by nominating and bidding any amount on any player. Player B is given 60-90 seconds to bid or pass and this process goes around the table & eventually back and forth til everyone has passed just like any auction. You can bid up as many times as it takes for everyone to pass. The team owner, player, pos, amount paid and remaining balance is documented in some way everyone can see. We used poster boards tacked to the wall. Online you would need a applet formatted (more on this later).
Regardless who buys a player, the nominating order does not change. Now Player B nominates and bids on a player….this process keeps going in order til the end. Always keep in mind you will need at least $1 ea to buy players to comply to roster and position requirements. Typically, there will be several teams with just enough bank to comply at the end of the draft.
This can be a planned strategy.
IF BIDS ARE TIED, the player is taken in order of the nominating. Again, the nominating order does not change.
Example
A has Dirk @ $51 & Nash @ $46. This leaves A with a $3 bank to buy a F/G & C. (Yes, you have a good chance of putting Dirk and Nash together…no way in a snake)
B has Kobe @ $75, Camby @ $12, Deng @ $10 = $97 = $3 bank needing a G & F.
X has KG @ $85, Hinrich @ $11 = $96 = $4 bal needing G/F/C.
Y has Allen @ $20, Bosh @ $40, Paul @ $24, A Jefferson @ $13 = $97 = $3 needing a F
Man, I miss this.
The players and amounts paid so far is interesting reading here, but, at this point in the actual draft, those guys are gone, you are only interested in the remaining opponents BALANCES and POSITIONS that need filled to comply. Things can get confusing.
Below is a pretty typical finish; again, buying $1 players can be a planned strategy.
A has $3, needs F-G-C
B has $3, needs G-F
X has $4, needs G-F-C
Y has $3, needs a F
If you realize that Y has the hammer here, you are ready! None of the others can bid $3
on a F and comply. At this point I would have Y pick his $3 F (AK-47) & update.
Update;A has $3, needs G-F-C
B has $3, needs G-F
X has $4, needs G-F-C
It is A's turn (coincidence). He knows X also needs a C. The two best Cs left are Okafor & Okur. A can only bid $1 and X can bid $2 on any position. A nominates and bids $1 on Okafor. X bids $2 & gets Okafor. Since no one else needs a C, A takes Okur for a buck.
Update
A has $2, needs G-F
B has $3, needs G-F
X has $2, needs G-F
B's turn in the nominating order & he needs assists. Parker, Bibby or TJ? He nominates Bibby for a buck. A & X cant bid higher. B gets Bibby for a buck.
A has $2, needs G-F
B has $2, needs F
X has $2, needs G-F
X turn, he nominates G/F Josh Howard for a buck. A cant bid, B bids $2 and gets Howard because X cant outbid him either. B is done.
A has $2, needs G-F
X has $2, needs G-F
At this point A and X get the player they want via nominating order.
It is A's turn, he takes West (F).
A has $1, needs G
X has $2, needs G-F
X picks Ellis.
A has $1, needs G
X has $1, needs F
A is heartbroken. He takes Parker.
X takes Durant. Auction Draft is over. Either redraw or continue the order to snake draft the rest of the players.
Just for grins, here is how the examples shake out.
A Dirk/Nash/Okur/D West/Parker
B Kobe/Camby/Deng/Bibby/Howard
X KG/Hinrich/Okur/Ellis/Durant
Y Allen/Bosh/Paul/A Jefferson/AK-47
These are fair examples of how different strategies pay out. If you buy high, you need to plan on dealing with low ball bidding. Beware; the balanced budget strategy of Team Y will only work as long as the KGs and Kobes don’t go too low. You need to have the guts to force the bidding on top ranked players as high as you can knowing they might drop it on ya at any time. In this case it does work for the Y team. If KG & Kobe only sell around the $60 range, the B & X owners would have had enough bank to buy a upper-middle ranked player or two also. Yeah, it’s a little bit like playing Poker…a lot of feel and intuition is involved…you don’t know who is bluffing and who isn’t. If you know your PR (cards), your instincts will pull you thru.
We've used several different time limits during the auction. I wouldn’t advise rushing things for first timers having a keeper draft.
______________________________
Are you sold? Let's giterdun.
Now is the time for programmers to put it together for 08.
Maybe a Entrepreneur out there will grab the ball and run with it, Id be glad to help ya out, maybe even invest. Unless we can prove there is a lot of interest (profitability), nobody is gonna move on it.
Thanks again Unpossible, thanks all for your time and support.
M K Johnson
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