Tools
Method
Counting stats, shooting, game logs, the schedule, and injury notes come from ESPN’s public NBA endpoints. They are the recorded lines, not a model. Rest-of-season, daily, and weekly projections are computed in this app from those lines and the remaining schedule. They are not Basketball Monster, Hashtag Basketball, or ESPN projections.
Z-scores
Qualified players set the mean and the population standard deviation in each category. A counting z-score is the player’s total, or per-game rate, minus that mean, divided by the deviation. Turnovers are flipped so fewer is positive. Field-goal and free-throw percentage are not standardized as raw percentages. Each player gets a volume impact: makes minus attempts times the attempt-weighted league percentage. That impact is then standardized, so a high percentage on two shots does not outrank a high percentage on twenty.
Punting sets a category weight to zero and drops it from the total. H2H floor stops any category z-score at −2 before weighting, the same idea as Hashtag’s H2H formula. Drop worst removes the lowest included category from the total. Points mode ignores those formulas and scores the counting line with editable weights. The default points weights are 1 / 1.2 / 1.5 / 3 / 3 / 1 / −1 for points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, threes, and turnovers.
Windows and projections
Last 7, 14, and 30 days are calendar days ending on the latest game date in that season’s cache, in Eastern time. Season value uses ESPN’s published totals. If a game log is materially shorter than that published line, the recent windows are left blank instead of being filled in.
The projection rate is a blend. The current per-game line is 8% of the rate for the first two games, 20% from the third game, 40% from the eighth, and 65% from the twentieth. With no current games, the rate is last season. With no last season, it is the current line only. A rest-of-season rank requires at least 10 games last season or 5 this season, so one opening-night line cannot lead the board. Rest-of-season totals multiply the rate by the team’s remaining games and assume the player is available for all of them. Injury status is shown beside the name and is not turned into missed games, because the feed does not include a return date.
Draft dollars, punts, and ADP
Auction prices on the draft board convert z-scores into a budget. The priced pool is league size times roster spots. Replacement is the last player in that pool. Money left after a minimum bid is split by surplus above replacement, then rounded to whole dollars that sum to the league budget. That is a formula, not a record of what players sold for. Sleeper publishes a standard ADP and a dynasty ADP on its projections feed. Those columns are Sleeper’s numbers. A player with no Sleeper match is left blank.
The punt builder ranks builds by the change in mean z-score, so dropping one category can be compared with keeping all nine. Best-fit players are the highest value under those weights. Waiver gaps are last-14 value minus season value, both from ESPN windows. A connected league shows the roster’s average z-score by category and ranks the imported free-agent list with the same rater.
News, lineups, and tonight
The live check stores a wire file beside the scoreboard. News headlines are ESPN’s titles, linked back to ESPN. The sentence under each one is written in this app from the injury tag and who is next on the depth chart. It is not a beat-writer report, and the article body is not copied. Projected starters are the first available name at each spot on ESPN’s depth chart. Confirmed means ESPN’s box score already lists five starters. Minutes blend the season rate with the last seven days, then drop when the tag is out, doubtful, or questionable. Edge points scale that minute estimate by this app’s counting score. The daily lineup builder spends those points against an Edge price. That price is not a DraftKings or FanDuel salary. Start or sit on a connected league uses the same five.
What the reference sites still do that this does not
Basketball Monster, Hashtag Basketball, and RotoWire still have a live draft room, ownership percentages, analyst projection sets, auction prices taken from real sales, licensed DraftKings and FanDuel salaries, beat-reporter notes, and a props board across sportsbooks. Those are not in the free feeds this app reads, so they are not filled in. When ESPN posts a spread or total on a game, the lineup card shows that line and labels it as ESPN’s. It is not a pick.