Fantasy sports are getting more and more popular every year, especially football. But the second best sport for fantasy is basketball. Fantasy basketball isn’t like football, though. In football, all you need to do is draft the best player at each position. However, basketball is a bit tougher. Having the best players at each position doesn’t guarantee a victory. In fantasy basketball, a wide variety of statistics are involved in the overall scoring, making it important for a balanced team.

The key to winning in fantasy basketball is getting one player who can greatly contribute to each stat.

Kobe Bryant would be a good pick up because he will definitely score many points, but do not expect him to get many assists or rebounds.

So you need to balance that out by picking up another guard who can get you assists. To succeed in fantasy basketball, the team must have a balance of stats. You don’t need to have a dream team to win. You just need the players who will give you the stats you need on a consistent basis.

For the guard positions, get players who can get you points and assists. For points, consider these players: Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Michael Redd, Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen or Dwyane Wade.

Then you must balance it out, of course, by getting a guard who focuses more on assists than scoring. For that, consider Steve Nash, Chris Paul, or Jason Kidd.

There are some players who can both score and have a decent number of assists. These players can be important to have since they add to two different statistical catagories. You might want to consider drafting Allen Iverson, Lebron James or Chauncey Billups.

Kidd and James can be of great value to your fantasy team because of the numbers they put up in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Usually among the leaders in the league in one of these categories, they often still put up solid numbers in the other categories.

Now with guards out of the way, you also must think about getting forwards, which can be a little difficult. With forwards, you want to get the players who can score, get a good amount of boards and defend well to block some shots. The best players to draft are: Elton Brand, Marcus Camby, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Ron Artest, Rashard Lewis and Carmelo Anthony.

If you have a good core of guards and forwards, then the player at center should not matter too much. It is difficult to find a good center, but if you find any of these players still not drafted, pick them up: Yao Ming, Eddy Curry, Ben Wallace, Shaquille O’Neal or even Chris Kaman from the Clippers.

Centers are the most difficult to find, but some leagues have players listed as F/C, meaning they can play at either position. Camby and Jermaine O’Neal are among those players, so be sure to pick them up.

A defensive player can be of great value. Steals and blocks are usually not on fantasy owners’ minds when drafting. Players like Ben Wallace or Gilbert Arenas can add consistent numbers to statistical categories, such as blocks and steals, which often get ignored.

Fantasy basketball is all about balance. It’s about finding a player who has a role in your team, whether it is to score, rebound or get assists. Get a balanced team, and you will easily make it to the championship in your fantasy league.