Syracuse Basketball Analytics Competition
Done in conjunction with CMU Sports Analytics Club, partnering with Parker Merritt and Charlie Hubbard.
The question
If the NBA announced two new franchises tomorrow, how should an expansion front office think about building a roster from scratch? What quantitative lens can they use through advanced, proprietary metrics? Should they pick first in the rookie or expansion draft? How should they financially build throughout the years?
Approach
- Create custom metric EAP based on Expected points, Advantage ratios, and Point per chance ratios.
- Measure EAP value of draft picks to decide whether we want to pick first in expansion or rookie draft
- Create financial contract strategy as well as target undervalued free agents based on these advanced metrics
Findings/Strategy
Get in the top 4% of EAP over a 4-year period, and sign big name free-agents when cash opens up that are high in EAP (Deni Advija, Jalen Brunson)