2026–27 season · Fantasy basketball keeper league
Twelve friends, one Yahoo keeper league, and a group chat that treats every trade like the deadline. Stepien Rule tracks what Yahoo can’t: future draft picks, pick protections, keepers, trades, and the league bylaws. Yahoo runs the games. This runs everything else.
Who it’s for
We’re a group of friends in a 12-team Yahoo fantasy basketball keeper league. Somewhere along the way the trades got creative: future firsts, top-3 protections, FAAB thrown in to close a deal. A spreadsheet and a group chat couldn’t keep up, so we built our own front office.
The name is a nod to the NBA’s Stepien Rule, written after Cleveland owner Ted Stepien traded away so many first-round picks that the league stepped in. Here, every pick you trade is on the ledger, so everyone can see exactly what you gave up.
Yahoo handles rosters, matchups and the draft room. It has no place for a 2028 pick with top-3 protection. These tools fill the gap.
Propose players-only, players + picks, or players + picks + FAAB deals. Add top-X pick protections that roll to the next year if they don’t convey. Both GMs accept, then the League Office approves.
Every team’s future picks, three seasons out. See what’s tradeable, what’s locked, and what’s protected.
| Draft | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | own | T-3 | own | out |
| 2028 | out | own | own | own |
| 2029 | own | own | out | own |
Historical keepers by team and by year, with league rules built in, so there’s no debate about who’s eligible.
Preseason rankings averaged across ESPN, Yahoo, and Sleeper. The final three snapshots before the draft set the do-not-keep list.
Flattened odds for the No. 1 pick. Goes live in the second half of the season.
The full rulebook, plus a place to propose amendments and vote before next season.
Keeper rules
Every team keeps up to six players into next season’s draft. The catch: your two highest-ranked players go back into the pool, so stars keep moving and every draft matters.
Preseason rankings from ESPN, Yahoo, and Sleeper are averaged into one blended list. The last three snapshots before the draft are the official ones.
Your two highest-ranked players on that list can’t be kept, whatever kind of keeper you’d use them as.
Choose up to three Primary Keepers and three Rising Stars from everyone else. The tracker flags anyone who isn’t eligible.
Any player on your roster, as long as he isn’t one of your two highest-ranked players.
Players with two or fewer years of league service. Hit on a rookie and you can keep him while he grows, top-two rule still applies.
The Stepien Rule is an NBA trade rule: a team can’t trade away its first-round picks in back-to-back future drafts. The NBA adopted it in the early 1980s after Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien traded away so many firsts that the league stepped in.
This site borrows the rule’s name. It’s the private front office for a 12-team fantasy basketball keeper league played on Yahoo. It tracks future draft picks, pick protections, keepers, trades, and league bylaws: everything Yahoo doesn’t.
Each team keeps up to six players: three Primary Keepers and three Rising Stars (players with two or fewer years of league service). A team’s two highest-ranked players in the blended ESPN, Yahoo, and Sleeper preseason rankings can’t be kept.
Yes. Teams trade picks up to three drafts out, with optional top-X protections that roll to the next year if the pick doesn’t convey. Both managers accept, then the commissioners approve.
Not yet. It’s built for one Yahoo league today, and we’re exploring support for ESPN, Sleeper, and Fantrax leagues and other keeper formats. Email admin@stepienrule.com to tell us about your league.
Coming to more leagues
Today Stepien Rule runs one Yahoo keeper league. We’re exploring ways to open it up: leagues on ESPN, Sleeper, and Fantrax, and other keeper structures like dynasty, auction and salary-cap keepers, and contract years. Tell us how your league works and we’ll let you know when it fits.