The joys of roto leagues are subjective. What to one person is a season-long match of wits is simply boring to another. What is sometimes described as the true measure of a fantasy manager is… simply boring to another. Winning a roto league is described as a richly rewarding experience by some and anti-climactic by others. Roto isn’t for everyone, but it definitely is for some.

Obviously in-season management plays a critical role in roto, just as it does h2h. Free agent pickups and smart trading are huge. But what are some general strategies to follow when assembling a roto team? For how long do you simply take the best available player on draft day? Does position scarcity play a role in fantasy hoops? If so, to what extent? How do you account for turnovers in a roto league? Should you get ahead of the games played pace early or stay behind and make up for it down the stretch? Can and how do you build a successful team around Dwight Howard? Those are just a few of the questions that can be raised when talking roto discussion. Please add your comments or questions regarding these and anything else that you can think of.

And here’s the roto excerpt from the strategy primer I wrote prior to last season:

Balance is the key in roto. Teams with clearly-defined weaknesses typically have a hard time challenging for a league title, because having just one or two points in a single scoring category has to be accounted for across the board. Something of an exception to this rule is in hyper-competitive leagues where the standings from top to bottom are much closer – when points are more evenly distributed (as opposed to concentrated just among the top teams) it can be easier to cover for a substantial one-category deficiency. Domination of the majority of the league’s categories usually does the trick, as well.

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The majority of you (and fantasy hoops players in general) participate in h2h leagues, and the reasons for that very widely. What also varies widely is individual strategies put in practice in an attempt to win those leagues. Obviously, due diligence in preparation for the draft and consistent roster maintenance are the foundations of any good fantasy basketball squad, regardless of league settings.

With that said, two of the major talking points that dominate the next level of h2h discussion are punting and streaming. Some see punting as as giving away categories unnecessarily, while others see it as the only viable strategy. And some see streaming as the bane of most h2h fantasy owners’ existence and liken it to cheating, even if their particular league has no rules in place to specifically deter the practice (like transaction limits). Where do you stand on the subject of punting? Assuming no transaction limits are in place, isn’t the “quantity over quality” approach of streamers viable when six of nine standard categories are positive counting stats? Chime in with your thoughts on those two subjects and feel free to offer up personal strategies and experiences that can help us all become better h2h managers.

I’m also including the following excerpt from a strategy primer I wrote prior to last season in the event that it will further facilitate discussion:

Defining your strengths and building on them is the key in h2h. While glaring weaknesses can cripple a roto team, they aren’t necessarily a problem in h2h – it’s quite the contrary, as highlighting them (punting categories) is a viable strategy. But that’s not to say that you can’t strive for balance, much in the same way you would approach a roto draft – your first few draft picks should determine the direction you go.

Take a look at Chris Paul’s sterling line and which category stands out as a weakness? That’d be blocked shots. LeBron James fills it up all over, but his negative impact in free throw percentage is outdone by only a handful of players. After you draft Paul or LeBron in the first round, their weaknesses need to be on your mind as much as their strengths. In Paul’s case, a big man who doesn’t draw a large part of his impact from blocks (like Carlos Boozer) is a solid pairing. In LeBron’s case, Dwight Howard is the natural pairing, given his extremes in positives (boards, field goal percentage, and blocks) and his category-killing impact in free throw percentage. From there, you continue to build on your strengths and fill in holes, while all but eliminating from consideration a player’s positive contributions in the category you have opted to punt. Be careful of over-loading in just a few categories, however – beating your opponent by 50 assists in a given matchup has the same affect in the standings as if you were to beat them by five, and being over-zealous in one area naturally tends to detract from potential success in another.

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We all already knew that Anthony Randolph would be a major topic for off-season discussion after he posted 11.3 points, 8.4 boards, 1 steal, and 1.6 blocks in 23 games down the stretch for the Warriors. What we didn’t know is how soon he’d be forcing the discussion to start. You can’t help but wonder about his potential after seeing his 42-point, four-steal, three-block performance (in 34 minutes) in summer action on Tuesday. In four games, he’s averaged 26.8 points on 61 percent shooting, 8.5 boards, 2.2 steals, and 3 blocks (33 minutes). Here are a few reactions to his play thus far:

Through four games, the Warriors’ second-year forward is averaging 26.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2.2 steals, and 1.3 assists per game. He’s shooting 60.9 percent from the field and 74.4 percent from the free-throw line. It’s been enough to prompt ESPN NBA expert Henry Abbott to label Randolph “the most dominant, skilled, devastating player in town.”

ESPN.com’s Kevin Arnovitz wrote: “Randolph’s dominance this week can’t be overstated. The scoring exploits are impressive, but Randolph has been at it defensively (12 blocks and nine steals in four games), on the glass (8.5 rebounds per game), and passing out of double teams with poise and precision (zero turnovers in Tuesday’s game). Randolph isn’t only the primary scorer on the floor, but the most creative facilitator”.

The first thing I’ll say about Randolph is that he should be putting numbers like this together against summer foes if he’s going to be a difference-maker against starting NBA power forwards next season. I’ll also point you to a month-old Contra Costa Times article that described the 20-year-old (today is his birthday) as getting a jump-start on his summer regimen, working on his efficiency, strength, and footwork. Clearly he has tremendous athletic gifts, is demonstrating a work ethic, and is in one of the fantasy game’s favorite systems. The proverbial “big if” centers around whether or not he can/will stay in Nellie’s good graces all season, and what in particular will happen if he does not?

Thomas was a fairly low-key post-hype success story this past season, finishing the season with a cumulative rank of 48th. Over his final 39 games of the season, his per-game rank clocked in at a very tidy 38th (31.5 min, 13.3 pts, .471 FG%, .770 FT%, 7.6 reb, 1.3 stl, 2.1 blk, 1.1 ast, 1.8 to). Sadly, most of the bandwagon had emptied by the time he finally put together numbers to celebrate. The Bulls’ draft raised questions about his future with the team and trade rumors swirled in recent days, but as of right now he’s the starting power forward for the Bulls.

Upside has never been an issue for the 23-year-old Thomas; consistency of production and playing time have been. If you take a look at his monthly splits from last season, you’ll see good signs in both regards. The question you have to ask yourself with Thomas deals with his having finally turned a corner or not.

So where do you stand on the issue?

Dasein posted a good topic for discussion in these dog days of the NBA off-season. Standard (9-cat) h2h was the run-away winner in our preferred settings poll conducted in early April, but let’s open the floor up for a bit more in-depth discussion on the matter of specific league settings and why we feel one way or another about our preferences.

I’m a 9-cat roto guy in terms of preference – always have been and I don’t see that changing. Relatively speaking, I’ve been a more regular participant in h2h leagues in recent seasons than in seasons past. I still have yet to come away with anything outside of mixed feelings, however. While some people find the h2h playoffs – where “anything can happen” – an exciting finish to the hoops season, I find it anti-climactic in that months of diligence are simply discarded and the whims of injuries, playing time, and team schedules in the final weeks help determine the league champion. I liken it to a marathon being stopped with four miles left to go so that the top 20 percent of runners at that stage can then sprint to the finish while navigating an obstacle course. Clearly, the true “best” team in a h2h league has as good of a chance as any to come out on top, but we all know from experience that there’s typically not a lot of rhyme or reason when it actually turns out to be the case.

I prefer roto because every player game used counts towards the final standings – if you get lazy or sloppy at any point it usually ends up costing you, and the final standings are a true measure of what happened over the course of the entire season. One major complaint I hear is that people can lose interest if they fall behind early in a roto league and it affects competitive balance negatively – my retort would be that dead teams are a manager problem and not a settings problem. If you find yourself in eighth place with a month to go and have no shot at the league crown, who or what is stopping you from trying to move up to fourth before things go final? It’s also worth noting that I’ve never found dead teams to only exist in roto. And while I struggle to understand when fantasy players describe the roto game (whether hoops or baseball) as “boring”, I do concede that it’s subjective.

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Summer leagues got underway earlier today, with a Nets/76ers combined squad taking on the Pacers in the first game of the Orlando Pro Summer League. Boxscore standouts from game one: Marreese Speights posted 28 points, 11 boards, and two blocks in 37 minutes; and Tyler Hansbrough had 17 points, five rebounds, three steals, and one block in 25 minutes.

Here are links to the pertinent info for the two summer leagues (the Rocky Mountain Revue was cancelled this season):

Orlando Pro Summer League (7.6-7.10) home, schedule, rosters, scoreboard, and stats.

Teams: Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, Oklahoma City, and Orlando Magic

Vegas Summer League (7.10-7.19) home, schedule, rosters, scoreboard, and stats.

Teams: Charlotte Bobcats, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, and Washington Wizards

Who will have the better fantasy season in 2009-10, Trevor Ariza or Ron Artest? Here’s how their lines from 2008-09 stack up:

Ariza: 82 G, 24 min, 8.9 pts, .460 FG%, .319 3PT%, .710 FT%, 4.3 reb, 1.8 ast, 1.1 to, 1.7 stl, 0.3 blk
Artest: 69 G, 36 min, 17.1 pts, .401 FG%, .400 3PT%, .748 FT%, 5.2 reb, 3.3 ast, 2.0 to, 1.5 stl, 0.4 blk

For another look at things, let’s also compare per-36 minute stats:

Ariza: 13.1 pts (10.7 FGA, 3.0 FTA), 1.1 3pt, 6.3 reb, 2.6 ast, 1.6 to, 2.5 stl, 0.4 blk
Artest: 17.3 pts (15.2 FGA, 3.8 FTA), 2.2 3pt, 5.3 reb, 3.4 ast, 2.1 to, 1.5 stl, 0.4 blk

Ariza leaves the friendly confines of the Lakers’ roster for greater responsibility on the depleted Rockets, while Artest joins the loaded Lakers looking to defend their league championship. At this early juncture, who do you see being more useful for fantasy purposes next season?

I’ve added a player movement page, which you can access by clicking the “NBA Player Movement” link in the left pane. I’ll use it to track trades and free agent signings, and I’ll provide analysis for each move as warranted.