Positions & Fit
Can I play someone out of position? Yes — but the consequences are organic, not arbitrary math. Here is how it works.
No artificial penalty
There is no formula that docks −15 OVR for playing out of position. Instead, consequences emerge organically — from the player’s real skill profile and on-court matchups. Possessions resolve as direct duels: a defender first guards the matchup of his own position, or the best available defender when no natural matchup exists.
Why height & attributes decide
A 188 cm point guard playing center against a 215 cm big man will lose the paint: his guard-like skill profile (weak rebounding and interior defense) cannot match a big man’s ratings, so the opponent dominates the glass and scores inside with ease. The reverse is just as true — a slow center at point guard cannot handle perimeter pressure: low ball-handling and passing ratings generate turnovers, and quick guards blow past him. Height matters indirectly here — it shaped the player’s skill profile and position, while games are decided by ratings.
How to evaluate positional fit?
Managers evaluate positional fit manually: check the player's primary position, height, and key attributes (perimeter defense and playmaking for guards; height, rebounding, and interior defense for big men).
Fair-play principle: positional variety is allowed and sometimes smart (e.g., a small, fast lineup against a slow opponent) — but it is grounded in real attributes, not a formulaic discount. Experiment, watch the results, adjust. In practice: keep a natural backup for every position — the court slots (PG–C) are fixed, and a player placed into a foreign slot still counts as his natural position in the engine. Also note that a young player’s position is not permanent — as height and attributes change, it can be recomputed.