The terms you will see across the site, in plain English.
The most common category format: points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, threes made, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and turnovers. Each category is scored separately.
Nine-category scoring without turnovers. High-usage playmakers gain value because their turnovers no longer count against them.
You play one opponent each week. In "each category" leagues every category won counts as a win; in "most categories" leagues you get one win for taking more categories than your opponent.
Rotisserie: teams are ranked in every category across the whole season, and the ranks are added up. There are no weekly matchups.
Every stat is worth a fixed number of fantasy points (for example a rebound is 1, a steal 4, a turnover -2). ESPN's default format.
How far a player's number in one category sits above or below the average of the players worth rostering, measured in standard deviations. Adding a player's z-scores gives his total category value.
FG% and FT% only matter as much as the shots behind them. A player shooting 85% on 9 free throws a game helps far more than one shooting 90% on 1, so the percentage impact is multiplied by attempts.
Deliberately giving up one or two categories (often FT%, FG%, turnovers or assists) to win the others more often. Players who are elite apart from the punted category become bargains.
Adding a free agent for the games he plays this week, then dropping him, to fill open lineup slots. Works best with players on teams with four games.
How many games a team plays in a fantasy week (Monday to Sunday). Usually 3 or 4, sometimes 2 or 5. It drives counting stats in head-to-head leagues.
A night with a small NBA slate. Fewer of your starters play, so a streamer who plays that night almost always gets a lineup spot.
The value of the best player usually left on waivers. Trades and pickups are measured against it: a 2-for-1 trade forces one side to drop someone of about that level.
Day-to-day and game-time decision. The player's status is decided close to tip-off, so keep a bench player with a game ready.
Injured list slot. Players listed out can sit there without using a roster spot, which frees a slot for a streamer.
Average draft position: where a player is taken on average in real drafts. Comparing it with value shows who is underpriced.
A lineup slot any position can fill.
Ten or more in two of points, rebounds, assists, steals or blocks in one game. Some leagues score it as a bonus or a category.
See these ideas at work in the rankings, the games per week grid and how our numbers are made.