82-0 Draft Strategy: Position-by-Position Value Guide

Five rounds, five real positions — the draft itself already forces more discipline than most games in this genre. Here’s how to use that structure well.

Point guard: prioritize real playmaking

Your point guard sets the offensive engine for the whole lineup. A high-scoring point guard who can’t set up teammates is a weaker foundation than a merely good scorer with strong playmaking — the chemistry system’s Twin Playmakers bonus needs at least two players rated 75+ in playmaking, and its No Secondary Creator penalty triggers when fewer than two clear that bar. If your point guard is your only real ball-handler, look for a second playmaking threat somewhere in the next four rounds.

Shooting guard and small forward: build real spacing

These two rounds are where floor spacing usually gets decided. The Elite Spacing bonus rewards a roster that averages 78+ in three-point shooting across all five players — that’s a team-wide threshold, not just one specialist, so at least one of your wing picks needs to genuinely space the floor rather than duplicate your point guard’s shot-creation role.

Power forward and center: cover the frontcourt honestly

This is the pairing that decides Dominant Frontcourt versus Undersized Frontcourt, and Crowded Paint versus a real inside-out balance. If your power forward is already a strong rebounder, your center has more freedom to be a stretch big or a passer. If neither of your frontcourt picks rebounds well, that’s the single most common way a roster that looks strong on paper still leaks games on the boards.

Don’t just chase the highest overall number

Every round offers a handful of real candidates for that position, and the highest overall rating isn’t automatically the right pick. A player who adds genuine defense to a roster that’s all offense, or genuine shooting to a roster that’s all inside scoring, usually raises your final chemistry score more than a marginally higher overall that duplicates a strength you already have three picks deep.

Use rerolls on real mismatches, not preference

You get two rerolls per run. Spend them when a round’s candidates genuinely clash with what your roster needs — not simply because you don’t recognize a name from that decade. A round that only offers non-shooters when your team already lacks spacing is worth a reroll; a round that offers three solid, if unfamiliar, options usually isn’t.

Respect era fit — don’t scatter your picks across every decade

Your simulation era is the average of your five rounds’ spun eras. A roster with picks scattered evenly across the 1950s, 1980s, and 2020s ends up simulating in some in-between era that doesn’t actually match any of your players well, which is exactly what triggers the Poor Era Fit penalty. If your first two or three spins land in a similar range of decades, leaning into that range with your remaining picks — rather than chasing an outlier great player from a very different era — usually produces a tighter, better-fitting roster.

The takeaway

Play the position, not just the name. Five rounds locked to five real slots on the floor means the draft already rewards a balanced roster more than any stat-summing format does — use that structure deliberately rather than fighting it.

See exactly how your picks score

82-0 shows a full, named chemistry breakdown for every completed lineup, so you can see directly whether a pick actually solved a weakness or just stacked a strength you already had. Free, no account required.