Improving Algorithms for Fantasy Basketball

07/05/2023

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by   Zach Rosenof, et al.

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Fantasy basketball has a rich underlying mathematical structure which makes optimal drafting strategy unclear. The most commonly used heuristic, "Z-score" ranking, is appropriate only with the unrealistic condition that weekly player performance is known exactly beforehand. An alternative heuristic is derived by adjusting the assumptions that justify Z-scores to incorporate uncertainty in weekly performance. It is dubbed the "G-score", and it outperforms the traditional Z-score approach in simulations. A more sophisticated algorithm is also derived, which dynamically adapts to previously chosen players to create a cohesive team. It is dubbed "H-scoring" and outperforms both Z-score and G-score.