The Fantasy Basketball Encyclopedia

Research Desks

Official news and roster desk

An operational map of primary NBA sources, source states, and reconciliation workflows for keeping 2026-27 rosters, injuries, schedules, and roles factual before the encyclopedia adds projections.

Up: 2026-27 Fantasy Basketball Encyclopedia

Related: 2026-27 fantasy basketball evidence and confidence policy · 2026-27 fantasy basketball projection methodology · 2026-27 NBA minutes projections

Cutoff and desk rule

Research cutoff: 2026-07-18, America/New_York. Every volatile observation below is dated to that cutoff. Pages described as current are live pages and can change after access.

The source owner, page host, and claim type are three different things. An article on NBA.com can be an official release, an Associated Press story, a named analyst's interpretation, an attributed report, or RotoWire copy. The NBA logo alone does not turn every sentence into league confirmation.

For each claim, preserve four dates when available:

Fact-versus-report hierarchy

Label What qualifies How the encyclopedia may use it
FACT — executed The NBA player transaction ledger, an official completed-trade entry, a direct team release using completed-action language such as “signed,” “acquired,” or “waived,” a timestamped official injury report, or an official gamebook Update factual roster, availability, or historical-use state. Quote the exact scope; do not add undisclosed contract or medical detail.
FACT — statement A direct team, league, coach, executive, or player statement preserved in an official release, official video, or exact official social post It is a fact that the speaker said it. A coach's planned rotation or a player's recovery expectation is still intent, not a guaranteed future outcome.
FACT — display A player appearing on the live NBA roster index or a team profile Use as a dated display observation and identity cross-check. Do not infer standard-contract status, two-way status, guarantee, or final roster inclusion from display alone.
REPORT “Agrees,” “expected,” “sources say,” “reported,” or similar language from an attributed reporter or outlet—even when NBA.com republishes it Keep reporter, outlet, date, URL, and pending state. Do not change the executed roster until a primary source confirms completion.
PROJECTION Future minutes, games played, role, depth-chart order, ranking, category line, or team outcome produced by this project Label as an encyclopedia projection. Cite the dated factual inputs and keep the judgment separate from them.
OPINION Analyst ranking, interpretation, preference, or a speaker's subjective evaluation Attribute it. It can inform a projection but cannot prove a transaction, diagnosis, or future role.
UNVERIFIED LEAD Unsourced social claim, screenshot without its origin, inaccessible or deleted post, rumor, or unattributed aggregation Put it in a follow-up queue. It must not change roster, injury, or minute state.

A useful state sequence is:

UNVERIFIED LEAD → ATTRIBUTED REPORT/AGREEMENT → OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT OR EXECUTED TRANSACTION → LIVE ROSTER DISPLAY → OPENING-NIGHT ROSTER FREEZE

The sequence is not automatic. Inspect the verb in every release. An official account can announce that a team has agreed to terms before execution, and a roster page can lag a completed move. When sources conflict, the newest explicit executed transaction controls; keep the older or lagging display as a dated discrepancy rather than silently erasing it.

Official roster and transaction desk

League and team roster displays

Reconciliation rule: never infer standard, two-way, Exhibit 10/camp, unsigned, or guaranteed status merely because a name appears on NBA.com. Require an explicit transaction/release or leave contract_state: unclear.

Executed and offseason transactions

Team releases are primary for a team's own action, but contract terms are often undisclosed. An NBA.com item can also mix evidence classes: the Hawks' C.J. McCollum item carried an official return announcement while attributing contract detail to reporting. Record the return as official and the reported financial detail separately.

G League, two-way, and assignment cross-checks

Official injury and availability desk

Central game-status feed

An injury-report status is a fact about one game at one timestamp. It is not itself a diagnosis, prognosis, or rest-of-season return date.

Medical detail and return windows

For the injury ledger, separate these fields:

body_part · team_description · event_date · procedure_date · next_re_evaluation · official_game_status · report_timestamp · projected_return · projection_owner

Only the first six may be factual when directly sourced. projected_return remains a projection unless the team gives an explicit date, and even then it should be stored as the team's stated target rather than a certainty.

Official role, usage, and depth-chart evidence

No official future NBA depth chart, minute projection, games-played projection, or fantasy ranking was located. Every 2026-27 240-minute allocation in this vault is therefore a PROJECTION, even when it begins with an official probable lineup or a coach quote.

Official schedule and calendar desk

Consequently, a full 2026-27 games-per-week matrix, playoff-week calendar, rest disadvantage table, and strength-of-schedule model cannot yet be called official. Keep any provisional calendar work labeled projection and refresh it after the formal release.

Official news and discovery surfaces

Public-access and automation cautions

Reconciliation workflow

Offseason daily pass

  1. Snapshot the all-NBA transaction ledger, preserving transaction date, type, player, origin, destination, and direct URL.
  2. Review the completed-trade tracker, options/qualifying-offer tracker, NBA Communications categories, and all 30 team newsrooms.
  3. Use the offseason-deals and free-agent trackers to discover missing items, but preserve their per-item official versus reported labels.
  4. Reconcile the transaction ledger, direct team release, league player index, team roster page, G League news, and two-way/assignment pages. Assign exactly one current state where supported: standard · two-way · camp/non-guaranteed · unsigned · reported agreement · waived · assigned · rights only · unclear.
  5. Search official team news and official social for medical updates. Store only team-described injury, procedure, and re-evaluation language; do not backfill an inferred return date.
  6. Log discrepancies with both access dates. Do not silently force a lagging roster display to agree with an executed transaction.

In-season event pass

  1. Confirm the slate and any schedule change from the official schedule or NBA Communications.
  2. Pull the official injury report at required reporting windows and again as close to the fantasy lock as practical. Store the exact timestamped PDF, not just the mutable hub.
  3. Check the day-of-game lineup surface and team communications near tip. A probable starter remains game-specific until the game begins.
  4. After the game, use the official gamebook to record actual starter, minutes, DNP/inactive reason, and observed lineup evidence.
  5. Diff the new facts against the depth chart and injury ledger. Any change to future minutes remains an explicit encyclopedia projection.

Minimum source record

yaml claim_id: player_or_team: claim: evidence_class: fact_executed | fact_statement | fact_display | report | projection | opinion | unverified_lead roster_state: source_owner: source_type: event_date: published_at: updated_at: accessed_at: direct_url: supersedes: confidence: notes:

Known coverage gaps as of 2026-07-18

Open questions