RealGM

So me and a couple of buddies wanna run our own private league on ESPN this year and I was wondering a few things.

1. What is the best number of players to keep it fun and fair? Like I know 20 is too much, but what is a good number?
2. When does the fantasy season usually start? Last year was my first year and we started two weeks into the season, don't wanna go through that again.
3. What is the best system? H2H? Rotto? etc.?

1. I'm in a 20 team league it's fun if you know that many people who are active, but in general I prefer 16 team leagues (I feel that 12 is too few, as there are plenty of quality players left on the waiver wire).

2. It starts when the NBA season starts. Fantasy leagues are usually open for registration starting late September - Early October. As long as you create / setup your league before the start of the season (Oct. 31) you won't run into whatever problems you ran into last year.

3. Head-to-Head. It's you vs. your buddy.

Basically what the last guy said. I think H2H is way better, it's easier/more fun talking trash with your friends when it's weekly contests as opposed to just stat collection.

As for number, I think it varies.

For more casual players (ie guys that may not know who Derrick Favors is), you can still have a fun league at 10. In fact, my main league is only 10 guys, albiet with slightly deeper rosters.

For more experienced players, I like 14 or 16 because it puts an emphasis on finding a lot of good late-round guys, but you still get a couple of studs. Any more players and you're drafting a ton of bench players.

Thanks guys!

Yeah hypnotoad makes a good point roster size will also influence how many teams you should have in your league. My 20 team league only has 10 roster spots:

1 PG
1 SG
1 G
1 SF
1 PF
1 F
1 C
1 UTIL
2 BN

If it had anymore you'd literally be drafting 12th men...