Working the schedule in weekly fantasy leagues can give you a huge advantage over your opponent. I wish I were better at taking my own advice because I tend to ignore the schedule once I post this column each year, and then usually end up getting haunted by someone using it to beat me in the playoffs. In any case, here’s a look at each team’s schedule and how it looks for the first and second halves of the season, the fantasy playoffs as well as other tidbits that can help you win your league.
If you’re in a league that limits starts to 82 games per position, or you just don’t care about the weekly number of games on the schedule, you can safely move on to another column.
I broke the season into two halves, ignoring the final week of the season. This year, Week 1 (Oct. 24) through Week 12 (Jan. 9) represents the First Half Schedule. For the second half, I didn’t count Week 25, in which every team plays just once or twice. But in a change from previous versions of this column, Weeks 17 and 18 (All-Star break) are included, as some teams play three games those weeks.
I often get asked what’s the ideal time for leagues to end to avoid injury shutdowns in the playoffs. Finishing your season in Week 22 feels right to me, but even then, shutdowns are going to happen. Unfortunately, they’ve become a way of life in fantasy hoops and there is no right or wrong answer, or any easy way around it.
Overall Schedule
I like to judge the best overall schedule by which teams have the most four-game weeks each year (I include five-game weeks in this number). The Knicks have 14 four-game weeks, the Suns and Raptors have 13, and the Hornets, Bulls, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Timberwolves and Sixers have 12 four-game weeks. On the flip side, the Celtics, Pelicans and Kings have just nine four-game weeks.
The Bulls, Clippers, Nuggets, Warriors, Blazers, Jazz and Kings all have a five-game week in their schedule this year. The Blazers’ falls on Week 20 and the Clippers have five games during Week 22, which should be in the heart of the fantasy playoffs.
Four-Game Weeks
14 – NYK
13 – PHX, TOR
12 – CHA, CHI (5 Week 12), DET, IND, LAC (5 Week 22), MEM, MIA, MIN, PHI
11 – ATL, DAL, DEN (5 Week 13), GSW (5 Week 7), HOU, LAL, MIL, OKC, POR (5 Week 20), UTA (5 Week 11), WAS
10 – BKN, CLE, ORL, SAS
9 – BOS, NOP, SAC (5 Week 2)
Two-Game Weeks (excluding Weeks 1, 17, 18, 25)
0 – ATL, BKN, BOS, CLE, HOU, NOP, ORL, SAC, SAS, TOR, WAS
1 – DAL, DEN (1 Week 12), IND (1 Week 12), LAL, MEM, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, PHI
2 – CHI, DET, GSW, MIA, PHX, POR, UTA
3 – CHA, LAC
When Denver and Indy play just once in Week 12, keep in mind the Bulls play five times that week, and a lot of other teams have four games. That could be a rough one if you own Paul George or Nikola Jokic in a head-to-head league.
1st Half Schedules (Weeks 1-12)
Comparing first- and second-half schedules is a useful tool when evaluating trades or making waiver wire pickups. Drafting Lakers and then trading them near midseason for Nuggets looks like a great idea to me. The Lakers have just two four-game weeks over the second half of the season, while the Nuggets have six of them, including a five-game week in Week 13.
45 Games – LAL
43 Games – DET, HOU, MEM
42 Games – CHI, LAC, OKC, ORL, POR, UTA
41 Games – MIA, MIN, NOP, NYK, SAC
40 Games – ATL, BKN, BOS, CHA, DAL, GSW, PHX, SAS, TOR
39 Games – CLE, IND, MIL, PHI, WAS
38 Games – DEN
2nd Half Schedules (Weeks 13-24, excluding Week 25)
Conversely, the teams who had a weak first-half schedule will be the ones you’ll want to target players from at the All-Star break. Trading for Nuggets, Cavs, Pacers, Bucks, Sixers, Suns, Raptors and Wizards, while getting rid of Lakers, Pistons and Rockets near midseason makes sense. If you could trade Laker Julius Randle for Nugget Kenneth Faried during Week 12 you’d stand to gain a whopping seven games.
42 Games – DEN
41 Games – CLE, IND, MIL, PHI, PHX, TOR, WAS
40 Games – ATL, BOS, BKN, CHA, DAL, GSW, NYK, SAS
39 Games – MIA, MIN, NOP, SAC
38 Games – CHI, LAC, MEM, OKC, ORL, POR, UTA
37 Games – DET, HOU
35 Games – LAL
Playoff Schedules (Weeks 21, 22, 23 & 24 – Playoffs will vary by league)
In head-to-head weekly leagues, perhaps nothing in this draft guide is more important than how the playoff schedules break down for each team. This year is a bit weird, in that no team has a perfect 4-4-4-4 playoff schedule, but then again, no team has a 12-game dud, either. The best we see is 15 games and the worst is 13, so it’s not as diverse as it’s been in the past. Eight teams play 15 games in Weeks 21-24, and another 18 play 14 games during that stretch.
15 Games – 4-4-4-3: BKN, MIL, WAS
15 Games – 4-3-4-4: CLE, DAL, MEM, SAS, TOR
This is as good as it gets and the schedules are balanced. If your league doesn’t use Week 24, the Nets, Bucks and Wizards are the way to go.
14 Games – 4-4-3-3: CHI, POR
14 Games – 4-3-3-4: MIN
14 Games – 4-3-4-3: DET, LAL, NOP, SAC, UTA
14 Games – 3-3-4-4: OKC
14 Games – 3-4-4-3: ATL, CHA, GSW, IND, PHI, PHX
14 Games – 3-4-3-4: DEN
14 Games – 4-5-3-2: LAC
14 Games – 2-4-4-4: NYK
All of the above playoff schedules are pretty nice. Even the Knicks, who are stuck with a two-game week, back it up with 4-4-4 and the Clippers could stick you with a two-game week in the Finals, but get you there with that five-game Week 22.
13 Games – 3-4-3-3: BOS
13 Games – 3-3-4-3: HOU, MIA, ORL
The good news is there are no two-game weeks here, but each team only has one four-game week in the playoffs. These are the teams to think about avoiding players from if you are drafting for a playoff run in head-to-head leagues.
Tidbits
As I mentioned above, the Bulls, Clippers, Nuggets, Warriors, Blazers, Jazz and Kings all have a five-game week in their schedule this year. The Blazers’ falls on Week 20 and the Clippers have five games during Week 22, which should be in the heart of the fantasy playoffs.
The schedule makers, as usual, gave us two short All-Star Weeks this season, as almost every team in the league plays just two games in back-to-back weeks in mid-February. However, there are a couple exceptions: The Celtics, Hornets, Nuggets, Pacers, Clippers and Pelicans all play three times during either Week 17 or 18. Conversely, only the Rockets and Knicks were saddled with a one-game week during one of those weeks.
The Spurs are the only team with four games in Week 1, as everyone else plays just two or three. It probably doesn’t matter much given how early in the season we’re talking, but if you like to get off to a hot start, loading up on some Spurs should help.
Week 12 could be pivotal in some formats, as the Bulls play five times that week. The Nets, Pistons, Rockets, Lakers, Timberwolves, Knicks and Thunder each play four times in Week 12. Meanwhile, the Nuggets and Pacers have just one game that week. Five games for Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler against Danilo Gallinari and Paul George could result in a fantasy bloodbath. Week 12 is the only regular week where teams play just one game this season.
Only four teams have one game in Week 25: The Grizzlies, Knicks, Suns and Raptors. Everyone else goes twice.
So there you have it. This information isn’t too important in Roto and non head-to-head leagues, but if you play H2H, using the schedule to your advantage can help you win it all. Good luck!
