Build a five-player NBA lineup under a $50 cap โ two guards, two forwards, one center. One lineup a week, scored on real box scores.
๐ Next tip-off
Playing now? Go ahead โ lock a lineup and every game that starts after you submit counts.
Every week resets Monday. Your lineup locks at the week's first tip-off, it scores
all week, and a fresh one opens Monday morning. Miss a week and nothing happens โ just come back.
More free games: ๐ Frozen Six (NHL) ยท ๐ Sunday Seven (NFL) ยท ๐ NBA pick'em ยท all games โ
One email when the week's scores land, plus a nudge when the new week opens. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
๐ How it works
Five players, $50 cap. Two guards, two forwards and one center. Point guards and shooting guards both count as guards; small and power forwards both count as forwards.
Scoring: 1 point per point, rebound and assist, 2 per steal and per block, +1 for every made three, โ1 per turnover.
Big nights win weeks. A 30-point triple-double with a couple of steals clears 60 in one game โ and each of your five plays three or four games a week.
Your lineup locks at the week's first tip-off, and only games that start after you submit will score. Submit early to get the full slate โ NBA teams play 3โ4 games a week, so every roster spot works hard.
Injured players are removed automatically. Anyone on injured reserve or listed out comes off the board before you pick โ day-to-day players stay, and calling that risk is part of the game.
New lineup every week. The board resets Monday, so a bad week is just a bad week.
Free to play. No entry fee, no wagering, no prizes with cash value โ just the leaderboard and bragging rights.
๐ Where the numbers come from
The player pool isn't hand-picked.
It's generated from real production: last season's NBA scoring leaders, with centers
topped up from the rebounding board, ranked within their own position group โ a center is
priced against centers, not against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The pool regenerates each season,
which is why the teams shown are current rather than whatever we remembered.
Salaries follow that ranking.
Top few at a position cost the most, the next tier less, and so on. The order comes
from production, not opinion. The cap is set so it genuinely binds โ you can't afford
Luka, Shai, Jokiฤ and two elite forwards, which is the whole game.
Scoring reads the official box score.
Every point comes from ESPN's per-player box score โ points, rebounds, assists, steals,
blocks, made threes and turnovers. We read each stat by its label rather than its column
position, so a change in how ESPN orders the columns can't silently shift your score.
Only games that start after you submit count.
That's what makes it fair: nobody can bank a 50-point night after the fact.
Submit early to get the full slate.
Whole numbers only.
Every stat is worth one or two whole points, so your score never needs a decimal
and you can total a box score in your head.
Some entrants are house bots, and they're labelled.
Anyone shown with a ๐ค is one of ours, drafting under exactly the same cap and rules.
They're there so the board is never empty โ and beating them is the point.