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The FINAL 2026-27 Fantasy Basketball Draft Blueprint: 8 Rules for Building a Winner · Hustle Sports Fantasy Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Whoa, what's going on, everybody? Hey, look, welcome back to
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the hustlers out there. It's your boy T-Will. We're here
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: with the final draft blueprint for the 2026-2027 fantasy season.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Opening night is around the corner, man. It's around the corner.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Your draft either coming up, happening right now, or you
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: already drafted. Trying to figure out whether you need to
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: make some moves already. Listen, I'm giving you my final
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: draft blueprint. Not just a list. Rankings, we can find
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: a bunch of rankings out there. Please do your homework.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: But I'm trying to assist in how to build your team. Listen,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: because knowing where somebody ranked, knowing how to construct the
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: roster and where wins, leaves, is all different things. And
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: you already know, we are here to get a dub.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Don't get it twisted. Let's get to work. Rule number one,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: and I've stressed this in countless videos, know Your format.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: You know your format. You can adjust, adapt to your draft.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Can't stress this enough. Points leads, category leads, two different things.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: You draft it for two different reasons, two different ideologies, methodologies.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Whatever it is, you're drafting two completely different ones. Points leads,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: we're obviously looking for the most points. Category of leagues,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: you're drafting a little different. You need somebody that can
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: dominate the category. And don't get this twisted. Do not
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: play with it. Know your league's scoring. Know your league
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: format before you go diving these drafts blindly. But that's
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: real quick, though, real straight to the point.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: We ain't got to spend a lot of time on that. Listen,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: rule number two, your first pick creates your team. Your
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: first pick creates your team. The very top, one through six,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: you're going to see some of the elite fantasy players.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: I go one through eight, especially if you're in the 12.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: I think anything 10 or more. One through eight is
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: the elite of the elite. After that, if you're in
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: that back half of that draft, especially if y'all do
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: snake drafts, You're building for balance, it's different. It's different,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: you need depth. Don't get that twisted. That first pick,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: shape your squad. Don't overspend on nobody at no point
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: in the draft. But your first pick is pivotal to
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: what you gonna do. And again, it is different in
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: points and category leagues. Even though category leagues, Whoever you
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: get in that first round, they're going to probably hold you.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Down in a category any given night. They should.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: In the points league, whoever you get in that first
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: round should give.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: You elite production. Elite fantasy production. It should.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Don't waste it. That's a recipe for a long, long season.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: We don't want that.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: So, as opposed to just giving you names, just know
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: one through six, one through eight. Talking Giannis, Luka. you know, Wimby, Jokic.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Instead of getting fixated on a name, understand what you
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: drafted from. Mock from every position in your league. If
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: you're having many players in your league, mock from every
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: single position. That way you can see you get a
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: good ideal of where you're going to be at and
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: who you can get at those levels. You ain't drafting
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: 12 independent. You need to build a roster. Build a roster.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Rule number three. Rule number three. Do not draft last
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: year's stats. It's one of my biggest rules for this
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: upcoming season. A lot of player movement, you know, like
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Brown in Philly, Kawhi in Toronto, Giannis in Miami, Jalen
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Brown in Philly, LaMelo in Minnesota.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: I ain't going to lie.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: I like how they look. I'm not even going to
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: lie to you. I saw a couple of preseason, some
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: minutes of their preseason game.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: I like how they look. I really do.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: You know, but, yeah, Tyler Hero in Milwaukee, Walker Kessler
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: on the Lakers, John Dane.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Dane is back this year. What does that look like?
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: But don't draft last year's stats, though, because if you
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: get caught up in drafting last year's stats, especially somebody
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: like Jai, not necessarily players like Jai, but People who
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: move Tyler Hero, like I think he gonna have a
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: crazy year, but he may not.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Somebody may gain assists, somebody may lose shots, somebody may
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: get shots.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: We don't know.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: You know, somebody may move into a starting lineup. Somebody
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: like Nas Reed, I'm watching for Nas Reed. I think
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: he finna go crazy in Charlotte. He's, you know, he's
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: one of the premier players on the team. So you
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: look at his last year stats, And then compared to
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: what he should do or what we think he's going
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: to do this.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Season, you can't see.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: You're going to miss out on him because you're going
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: to think he Minnesota-nized and he different. He should be different. So, listen,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: do not draft the 2025 role. Draft the 2026 role.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Don't get it twisted. Stay current on what you need
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: to do because.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: We're here to get it done.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Look, rule number four. Rule number four, don't be afraid
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: of the rookies. Don't fall in love. Don't overspend on them.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: But don't be afraid of them. Look, we got a
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: loaded rookie class.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: A.J.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: DeBonson, Karen Boozer, Darren Peterson, Caleb Wilson. Saw some Caleb
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Wilson earlier tonight. Bro is, hey, he going to be
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: a problem.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: There's that cuff. It's a lot, bro. This class was loaded.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: This class was loaded, especially when you think about what
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: they done last season in college.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: This class is super loaded.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Do not be afraid of the rookies, but do not overspend.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Don't overspend on no rookie.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Don't overspend on anybody. Please don't do that. That's how
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: you get in trouble. Do not overspend. Do not overspend.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Everybody want the new thing on the block. Everybody want
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: to be first on something. And, yes, you want to
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: be first, but you want to be smart first. Rule
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: before reputation.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Look.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid of them, but don't overspend. Rule number five.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Rule number five. Me, build depth. Build depth. But you
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: want depth in a way where you're not redundant.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: That makes sense.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: You don't want the same type player all through and think, oh, yeah,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: I'm loaded. No, you want different type players. You want
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: to be able to get the guy who can get
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: a double-double on points and rebounds. You want the triple-double threat.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: You want a couple of them personally, but you want
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: one at least. You want the guy who can fill
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: up the stat sheet on the defensive side of the
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: ball because in your league, the defensive stats may be
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: even crazier than a standard scoring. So you want depth,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: but you want different type depth. You don't want redundancy
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: in your lineup. That'll get you in trouble because when
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: it comes time to make serious decisions on who to
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: let go, you're going to stand back because everybody look
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: the same.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: You don't want to do that. You want to be loaded? Yes.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: Do you want to be the same? No.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: You got to be able to separate because you're going
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: to always have to pivot. The roster that you draft
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: with ain't going to be the roster that you're in with. Hell,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: you might go through the first week and not have
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: the same roster. So build your depth. Don't become redundant.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Rule number six, middle of the round drafts can win leagues.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: As we stated earlier, your first pick, we all know
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: where everybody is supposed to go in that first round.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: But the middle rounds is where you win the drafts
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: because that's the depth I'm talking about.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: That's what helped you build at that point.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: If you've done some mocks, you probably got something crazy.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Like I know I got Kyrie in the fifth in
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: one of my mocks. Now, I know people worried about
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: the injury history with him, but let's say he's healthy.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: If he's 100, he missed all of last year, so
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: he should be 100% healthy. And he may get traded.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: If he get traded to a good situation, Kai is
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: still 23-6. Like, you're not going to convince me that
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: he's not unless I physically see with my own two
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: eyes that he's cooked. But my point is, you can
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: get serious talent in the fifth and sixth rounds. Like
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: a couple drafts, Mox, then I got Cam Boozer.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: In the middle rounds.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: I already told you on a previous episode what I
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: think he going to do. So the middle rounds, that's
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: where people look at your roster in December and January.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: They'll be like, damn, man, how you got all that?
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: It's the middle rounds. Don't get it twisted.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: New team, new team opportunities, new players, new situations, young
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: players making another year elite.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: It's a lot of opportunity in the middle rounds of
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: the draft.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Don't think because you got your top dog, your elite dogs,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: that once you get there, you're good.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: They can just hold it down. No.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Middle rounds will get you that dud because you already
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: know why we're here. Rule number seven, late rounds are
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: for upside. These are the rounds where if there's somebody
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: down there and you think they can outplay their ADP
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: or their ranking at that moment, that is perfect. You
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: don't want to draft the guy you know what you're
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: getting because guess what? You draft what you know what
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: you're getting and he give you exactly what you knew
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: you was getting. By two weeks later, you're going to
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: try to look for another young bull out there and
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: he already gone because your league mates already saw the play.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: They had already had their eye on it and you
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: was late to the party. And one thing I always said,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: if you sleep You beat. So, and if you sleep
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: in that moment, that's exactly what happens. Cause don't, don't
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: drive for safety in them late rounds. That's where you
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: take your risk. That's cause that's the people who's going to,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: you know, league winner energy. That's league winner energy in
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: that back half of that draft. So don't get it twisted.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Don't go safe there. Be smart. Take your risk there.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Build your roster first. Take your risk there.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Rule number eight.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: You're, and I mentioned this earlier. Your draft roster is
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: not your final roster. And this is the most important thing.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Don't fall in love with players.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: If that's your favorite guy and he on your team,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: you have a time dropping him because it's going to
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: be up here with it. You got to stay locked in,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: stay business-minded, make the necessary moves that you need to make,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: and just know the roster that you drafted, somebody might
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: get hurt.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Rotations may change. You know, they might fall out with it. Like, anything.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Like, it could be a social situation with, you know,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: just a chemistry thing, contract situation.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: We can't account for that.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: So, just understand that the roster that you drafted ain't
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: the roster that you're going to end with.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: So, always be aggressive. Be smart.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Always look to tinker and get better because it's a
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: long grind. It's a long grind.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: And I ain't going to lie. I'm a streamer.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Me. And typically, I like to only do one spot,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: but at some point of the season, somebody may get hurt,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: and now I got.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Two streamer spots. And now I'm just streaming two guys.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: So even, you know, I got a rotation of people
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: that ain't winning on my team for the season. Don't
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: be scared to change the roster if you need to.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Don't be, like, make the necessary moves. Don't be emotional. Look,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: before I leave my draft, I want to know, do
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: I have enough at each position?
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Do I have enough guards? Do I have enough forwards?
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: Do I have enough centers?
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: And one thing I think is, I don't want to
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: call it a life hack, but I try to look
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: for players too who are coded in multiple positions that
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: give you a lot more flexibility with your lineup as
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: opposed to the guy that's only coded for one position.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: You got a guy like last season, I had RJ
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Barrett and he was coded as a shooting guard Small
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: forward and power forward.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: That's three. Three to me is insane.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: So, if you got three and you somewhat decent and
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I ain't got to overspend for you, I'm definitely grabbing.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Definitely grabbing. So, understand that.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Like, to me, that stuff like that, you got to
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: pay attention to stuff like that as well.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Do you... So.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: Understand this, before you lead a draft, you gotta make
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: sure you got the depth, you got enough assists, scoring, rebounding, defense,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: all of that to make sure that you got the
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: roster that you need to compete late into the season
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: to get you a fantasy championship. That's why we're here,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: that's why we play the game. We play to win
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: the game. Look, don't shoot yourself in the foot. Don't
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: make this harder than it need to be.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: You go in.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: You practice, You practice, you prepare, and when you get there,
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: when it's time to draft what you've been practicing, you're
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: already locked in because you already know what you came
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: there to do.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: All right? Ain't much time left. Don't play with it.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Look, that's the fantasy basketball draft episode. We spent the
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: last few weeks getting ready for the draft. Understand this.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: We don't care what the reputation is. We don't care
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: about none of that. What we care about is that
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: the numbers are over narratives, baby. And if you found
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: this helpful, make sure y'all check out my Fantasy Basketball
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: 2026-2027 content playlist on my YouTube channel, Hustle Sports Fantasy Podcast.