DFS NBA

By Admiral Aljic

Fill Out Your NBA DFS Roster Like a Smart Person

Novices and pros alike have much to consider when preparing for a game, like selecting the proper NBA fantasy picks. You've got to stay on budget while loading your starting lineup with as many studs as possible to earn the most points. Easier said than done, right? The great news is that a few of our winning NBA daily lineup strategies will give you more control over your lineup and put more money in your pocket.

What Do Fantasy Basketball Rosters Look Like?

The number of players in your daily NBA lineups will vary by entry. Some games have you pick one player from each position (small forward, guard, center, etc.). Other games have you pick two options from each position.

Stacking limits apply. Some sports, like baseball or football, allow a plethora of players from one team in your daily lineups, but not the NBA., there’s a cap of three players from one team allowed in one fantasy basketball lineup.

Don't Underestimate the Importance of Your NBA DFS Team Captain

Nothing says leader in the sports world more than the word "captain." Many fantasy basketball games have you designate one player in your starting lineup as the team captain, and that player receives double points.

Some games even have you pick a secondary captain position, whose points are worth 1.5x.

How Are Points Accumulated?

Players are awarded various amounts of points for the following in-game actions:

• Two-pointers made
• Three-pointers made
• Free throws
• Assists
• Blocks
• Rebounds
• Steals
• Turnovers (loss of fantasy points)

Basketball Daily Fantasy Projections Are Important

Most fantasy basketball owners begin to build their roster by checking out NBA daily fantasy projections per game. Many sites offer projections based on simulated games or a collection of data from several seasons back. Other owners might focus on NBA lines as the primary method of filling out their daily lineup. NBA fantasy owners must be versatile if they want to earn the most points.

Be sure to consider the following factors when looking for the best value in your lineups:

• Usage rate is an important stat. This metric quantifies how active a player is within his team's offense. Someone with a high usage rate but low price tags is an excellent value.
• Pace of play is huge. A team that plays faster will have more possessions per game. This leads directly to accumulating more fantasy points. Even the defensive stats (blocks and steals) are boosted by an increase in possessions.
• The Vegas sports betting lines are a great insight into which teams are most likely to perform well. Favored teams will likely create more scoring opportunities than others. Watch out for games predicted to be slaughters, though. Star players will not see many minutes in the second half if the game is out of reach—especially late in the NBA season.
• The over/under totals for NBA games influence fantasy potential. Teams in games with high totals should have more possessions and create more scoring opportunities than average.

Each of these factors gets priced into a players’ salary value. Do a little sniffing and see if you can find players priced lower than they should be. There are always several of these value picks in each slate.

Salary Management is Key

A player’s price directly relates to his fantasy value. DFS sites calculate salaries based on projections and the likelihood for players to be chosen for a game. More popular players come at a steeper price.

You must think about the average salary per player that you can afford when drafting your team. Some owners prefer to spread their salary out and roster several decent players. Others go for the "stars and scrubs" approach, where they select a couple of high-priced studs to get the majority of their points and then round out the roster with minimally-priced options.

Depending on the game type, an argument can be made for either approach. You want to avoid risk in cash games, so spreading your salary out evenly makes sense. Tournaments are all about embracing variance to go for the big score. Stars and scrubs isn't a bad idea here. You are sitting pretty if a couple of those scrubs show up and put together good performances.

Injuries Change the Game in NBA DFS

No sports league has more game-time decisions and out-of-nowhere scratches than the NBA. Checking social media before tipoff is crucial for catching those last-second lineup changes and making your adjustments.

In fantasy hoops, minutes equal production. It's that simple. In baseball, a player can score tons of fantasy points with one good swing. There is no "grand slam" in basketball. The coolest dunk or the deepest three-pointer is worth just a couple of measly points. It takes a high level of play across a game's worth of minutes to generate big results in fantasy basketball.

When a starter is injured, his coach has two options: give his minutes to a backup or spread those minutes out to a committee of players. There is an insane potential for value when a coach opts to give a bench player starter-level minutes. There are many extremely talented NBA players who are not good fantasy options because they do not receive many minutes. Give a player a chance with an increase in minutes per game and he may surprise everyone.

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