Positions in Pokémon basketball
Every Pokémon has a rating from 40 to 99 at each of the five positions, worked out from its base stats and height. A pick stays at the position you draft it into, so where you play someone matters as much as who you take.
| Position | What the rating is made of | Best non-Legendary | Rated 85+ | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point Guard | 40% Speed, 25% Sp. Atk, 10% Sp. Def, 10% Attack, 5% HP, 10% height |  Pheromosa 93 | 7 | 70 |
| Shooting Guard | 35% Sp. Atk, 25% Speed, 20% Attack, 10% Sp. Def, 10% height | Pheromosa 94 | 9 | 71 |
| Small Forward | 22% Attack, 22% Sp. Atk, 18% Speed, 10% Defense, 10% HP, 18% height |  Slaking 89 | 6 | 71 |
| Power Forward | 30% Attack, 18% Defense, 14% HP, 10% Speed, 28% height | Slaking 94 | 31 | 71 |
| Center | 22% Defense, 22% HP, 16% Attack, 10% Sp. Def, 30% height |  Dondozo 95 | 31 | 71 |
The formula
For each position the game takes a weighted sum of the stats above. Each stat counts as stat ÷ 160 × 100 (capped at 160). Height counts as a size score: 50 at 4'11", plus 35 for every doubling of height, kept between 0 and 100. The rating is 29 + 0.82 × that sum, rounded and kept between 40 and 99. Dragon-type Legendaries (Apex) are rated at least 95 everywhere.
So guards are Speed and Special Attack, and bigs are height, Attack, Defense and HP. Snorlax (6'11") is a center; Alakazam, small and fast, is a point guard. Height is 28–30% of the PF and C ratings, which is why Wailord, Dondozo and Steelix rate so well there with modest stats elsewhere.
Why it changes your draft
Ratings of 85+ are common at the big positions and rare everywhere else: 31 non-Legendaries reach 85 at power forward and 31 at center, but only 7 at point guard, 9 at shooting guard and 6 at small forward. An 85 center in round 1 is easy to replace later; an 85 small forward is not.