The question I get asked the most during the preseason is what do I think is the best punting strategy. My answer to that is always “it depends.” If you are in an eight-category league, then punt FG% is king. With five categories geared towards guards and only three geared towards bigs, you almost have to go small. Other strategies are viable, and I do not punt FG% every time I play in an eight-category league, but a well-built punt FG% team is going to be very hard to beat due to the rules of the game. In nine-category leagues, it’s not as straightforward. I always hype punt assists, and for good reason. It is the easiest build to understand, the easiest to pull off, and it comes with a high floor and ceiling. But I can’t say with confidence that it’s the best overall strategy in nine-category leagues because of this build. Punt threes is that good.
What has caused me to reconsider punt assists as my go-to nine-category punting strategy is how strong of a match punt threes is for many of the likely first-round options. First-round picks are almost always heavy-usage players with good-to-great assist rates. Because of that, your cornerstones usually do not gain a significant amount of value when dimes are tossed. That’s not the case with punt threes. Almost half of this year’s likely first-round picks will gain value when the category is discarded. If you are starting your draft with Nikola Jokic or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, punt threes will likely be your best option. This is also going to be a top choice for many Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns teams and even some Giannis Antetokounmpo-led squads. A well-built punt threes and FT% team can be very hard to beat.
Punt threes is also a league-winning strategy because of how easy it is to scoop up most of the build’s top targets in the middle and later rounds at a discount. Small-ball builds like punt FG% will struggle to find players who will badly outplay their ADP in the middle and later rounds. That is because many perimeter options who excel in the categories small-ball teams will be looking to win consistently are often ranked higher than they should be on Yahoo. The opposite is true for the bigs in those ranges. Non-shooting bigs are almost always ranked lower than they should be due to fantasy players overvaluing points and assists and undervaluing FG%, rebounds, and blocks. When you punt threes, it will be very easy to pick up early-round assets at mid-round prices and mid-round assets at late-round prices. Last season, in nine-category leagues, Ivica Zubac, Jakob Poeltl, and Mark Williams all finished as first-round assets when threes didn’t count and Walker Kessler and Jarrett Allen also finished inside the top 20. All of those bigs except for Zubac are extremely likely to still be available after pick 40, and all but Zubac and Kessler could be available in the sixth round in standard 12-team leagues.
2025-2026 Punt Threes Guide (Yahoo)
2025-2026 Punt Threes Guide (ESPN) – Coming soon!
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