This article is part of our DFS NBA series.
Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) can bring another level of excitement to your basketball viewing experience. Unlike season-long fantasy leagues, DFS contests allow you to create a lineup just for one night of action. If you are new to the game, we are here to help you. Let’s discuss how DFS works and some strategies for creating your entries.
Is a one-season draft coming up? Check out RotoWire’s fantasy basketball rankings.
Selection of a DFS contest
There are two types of DFS contests to choose from. There are multi-game formats and single-game formats. In a multi-game contest, you pick players for your multi-game rosters that day. In a single game contest, you only have to select players from a particular game.
Within those types of DFS formats, there are two different structures. The first is the tournament style, often referred to as GPP (Grand Prize Pools). Payouts increase based on roster scores and as the name suggests, there is a huge prize for the best roster. Typically, you’ll need to take risks and set your lineup apart from the crowd to win the jackpot.
A safer option is cash games. In these contests, there is less risk but less reward as half of the entries will end up in money. In Cash Games, the best practice is to fill your lineup with safer players with higher floors. It is not essential to finish with the highest score. It’s vital to make sure your lineup isn’t a dud.
Building a lineup
Each site has different alignment options and scoring systems. For multi-game contests, positional eligibility is more important as there are strict positional lineup requirements. In a single game DFS, positions are usually more flexible.
In all contests, you will create your lineup to fit within a specific budget. Each player is assigned a salary. The sum of your players’ salaries must be equal to or less than your total budget.
Read the scoring rules for each contest before creating your lineup. Some sites assign different point totals to different stats. Depending on the scoring settings, some players become more or less valuable.
Lineup Building Strategies
Knowing the status of the injuries is essential. For example, the Nets are scheduled to play the Bulls. Normally, Kevin Durant would be one of the best options, but he is expected to miss the game with an injury. Since he won’t be playing, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons would be more attractive at DFS, considering they’ll likely get more use with Durant out. Stay on top of league injuries with RotoWire NBA injury report page. Also, we have all the latest NBA News.
It’s not just the star players whose absences matter. If a team is missing several role players, the rest of the roster would benefit from the absences. Teams with deep rosters are not the targets in DFS. Too many good players can lead to volatile game time and usage. See who’s in and who’s out with RotoWire’s NBA lineups page.
Usage and pace of play are important. If a team plays at a fast pace, its players have more opportunities to collect stats. The implied totals (over/under) indicate which games are expected to have the fastest pace. Targeting high usage players in fast games gives your lineup a high ceiling.
While team stacking is most valuable in baseball and football due to the correlation between players, it shouldn’t be ignored in basketball. In large GPPs, a viable strategy is a team stack consisting of two players from the same team, plus a game stack with at least one player from each team in a given game. If the game goes into overtime, you get extra minutes. If the game plays at a faster pace than expected, multiple players on your roster will benefit. While correlation is hard to predict in basketball, pairing great passers with great finishers, think of Draymond Green and Steph Curry; Bring Young and Clint Capela – Means you get an extra boost when that combo connects.
Finally, consider how popular players are going to be in DFS. For example, the Bucks have a great matchup against a Wizards team that has poor defense and plays at a fast pace. That means Giannis Antetokounmpo could have a big game, so he’ll probably be included in a lot of lineups. It might be wise to include Giannis in his inning if he’s playing a cash game. Since a lot of other people will list him, it will be harder for you to end up in the money if he has a monster game but he’s not in your lineup.
However, if you play in a tournament, you need a more unique lineup to claim the jackpot. If you fade Giannis and he disappoints in a lot of other lineups, you have a better chance of moving up the ladder.
How to play NBA DFS in DraftKings
In DraftKings, you are allotted $50,000 to build an eight-player roster. Positions are relatively flexible, with players qualifying for multiple slots. You must register a PG, SG, SF, PF, C, G, F, UTIL. This is how points are scored: points (1), 3-pointers (0.5 bonus), rebounds (1.25), assists (1.5), steals (2), blocks (2), turnovers ( -0.5), double-double (1.5), triple-double (3).
Build a Winning Lineup with RotoWire DraftKings NBA DFS Lineup Optimizer.
How to play NBA DFS in FanDuel
In FanDuel, you are allotted $60,000 for a nine-player roster. Positions are 2 PG, 2 SG, 2 SF, 2 PF, and 1 C. Some players have multiple position eligibility. The breakdown of the score is: points (1), rebounds (1.2), assists (1.5), blocks (3), steals (3), turnovers (-1).
Take the first step towards a dominant lineup with RotoWire’s FanDuel NBA DFS Lineup Optimizer.
How to play NBA DFS on Yahoo
Yahoo offers users a salary cap of $200 to build a team of eight players. Positions are PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, UTIL). Scoring is as follows: points (1), rebounds (1.2), assists (1.5), steals (3), blocks (3), turnovers (-1).
Our Yahoo NBA DFS Lineup Optimizer gives you an edge other players don’t have.
know your limits
For some people, DFS is just a way to enhance a night of basketball while also offering the chance to earn some extra cash. For others, playing DFS is a full-time job. Heavy hitters in DFS are playing multiple lineups per night, often maxing out the number of lineups allowed in multi-inning contests. If you’re a casual player, remember that you’ll be up against these DFS “sharks,” so don’t spend all your money in one night. If you’re just looking to have fun, consider contests with fewer entrants or single-entry contests that prevent sharks from pouring into the lineups en masse.
fantasy basketball draft kit
Take a look at RotoWire’s fantasy basketball offerings to prepare for your drafts.
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The authors of this article may enter daily fantasy contests including but not limited to games they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing these games using their personal accounts, they may use players in their rosters or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Mike Barner participates in daily fantasy contests with the following accounts: FanDuel: mbarner, DraftKings: mbarner51. Alex Barutha plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel Username: unclestosh99, DraftKings Username: Roto_Alex.