How to win at draftkings basketball

DraftKings NBA Strategy - How To Win At Daily Fantasy NBA

Jon Bales (JonBales)

Created 8 years ago, Last Updated 6 years ago

Daily fantasy basketball has soared in popularity recently, with DraftKings offering perhaps the widest range of games in the industry. That means it’s important to develop a DraftKings NBA strategy that is tailored specifically to the site. Daily fantasy basketball is unique in that there’s not only a lot of player consistency from year to year, but also from night to night. Unlike baseball or football, basketball is a game that lends itself to day-to-day player consistency.

Because of that, many daily fantasy basketball players like to grind it out in head-to-head games on a nightly basis. Since the players are so predictable relative to other sports, it’s easier to guarantee a certain “floor” of production that helps win head-to-heads, 50/50s, and three-man leagues.

Editor’s Note: If you haven’t yet created a DraftKings account be sure to use DraftKings Promo Code “RotoGrinders” when signing up. Not only will you receive a 100% deposit bonus, but you’ll also get a 3-month subscription to our DraftKings premium product ($75 value) for free! Just email [email protected] once you’ve made your account.

The consistency inherent to daily fantasy basketball also drastically alters the appropriate strategy you should implement. Let’s take a deeper look at DraftKings NBA strategy.

NOTE: This article is intended for novice daily fantasy basketball players. If you’re more experienced, check out the resources listed at the bottom of this content.

DraftKings NBA Starters

DraftKings requires that you start one point guard, one shooting guard, one small forward, one power forward, one center, one guard (any type), one forward (any type), and one utility player (any position). This is a really unique blend of starters and it results in a lot of different options for daily fantasy players.

The guard and forward positions allow players to select from two different categories of players, very much akin to a running back/wide receiver flex spot in football. Those semi-flex positions, combined with the full flex characteristic of the utility spot, results in a greater level of skill required to win a league.

Whereas you don’t need to choose among players from different positions on some sites, you do on DraftKings, and that alters how you need to think about players. Whereas it’s relatively easy to compare one point guard with another, it’s a different story when comparing a point guard to, say, a center. Thus, daily fantasy basketball players on DraftKings really need to project players together so that they can make accurate comparisons among positions.

Further, certain positions are more likely to rack up certain types of stats (a center is more likely to block shots than a guard, for example). Depending what type of league you enter, you should seek different types of stats. We have more information on stat consistency in GrindersU, but the point is that you should approach the utility position differently based on your goals. Certain positions and types of players are naturally more or less consistent than others.

DraftKings NBA Scoring

DraftKings implements a “bulk” scoring system in that you don’t lose any points for a lack of efficiency. On some other sites, players lose points for missed shots, which really changes how you should approach player selection. Because that’s not the case on DraftKings, you should be more concerned with bulk numbers than efficiency.

There are a couple unique pieces of information here, the most important of which is that you get 0.5 points for three-pointers on DraftKings. Check out how the scoring system compares to FanDuel and DraftStreet.

Neither FanDuel nor DraftStreet award a point for a made three-pointer. That very much inflates the value of three-point shooters at all positions. Not only do you get the extra points from three-pointers, but those points can give you a significant advantage over other players who aren’t implementing the scoring system into their lineups. Many players treat daily fantasy basketball strategy the same on every site, which is a big mistake. By emphasizing three-pointers, you’ll have a leg up on a lot of novice players.

Also take note that DraftKings doesn’t penalize as much for turnovers, weighting them at just 50 percent of the total lost points on other sites. Thus, you can really target aggressive players who post points in abundance, worrying less about efficiency than on any other site.

Finally, DraftKings gives 1.5 points for double-doubles and three points for triple-doubles. The latter accomplishment is going to be difficult to predict on a nightly basis, but the bonus for double-doubles adds a little value to well-rounded players. Players who thrive in a number of statistical categories should get a little bump in your DraftKings rankings.

Stacking in NBA

We have an article in GrindersU that suggests the best places to play certain types of daily fantasy basketball leagues, and DraftKings is listed throughout the article. It has become a popular destination for all league types, especially tournaments with a lot of users.

In tournaments in a lot of other fantasy sports, players utilize a strategy known as stacking—pairing teammates from the same professional team together to increase upside. In daily fantasy football, for example, it’s common to see a quarterback paired with one of his wide receivers in large-field leagues. In baseball, you might see a 2-3-4-5 hitter combination from the same team.

In daily fantasy basketball, however, stacking isn’t nearly as common. Because the players have such high floors, it’s difficult for teammates to have elite performances in the same night. If one player scores 40 points, he’s necessarily “stealing” points from his teammates. That’s not the case in football, as a receiver’s production is actually dependent on his quarterback, or in baseball, where the production of one hitter is also linked to that of his teammates (and the opposing pitcher).

Because of the relationship in production among teammates, some daily fantasy basketball players actually do the opposite of what they do in other sports by stacking teammates in head-to-head leagues but not stacking in tournaments. The idea is that you can increase the floor of your team, which is a good thing in head-to-head leagues, by using teammates since they’re unlikely to both have poor games. Meanwhile, since you need an elite score in a tournament, it makes sense to not limit your upside by stacking teammates who are “stealing” points from each other.

Whenever you’re picking players, especially those in the same game, you should use the Vegas lines as a guide. We have a lot of information on using the lines over at GrindersU, all of which should help you know when it’s okay to stack and when you should avoid it. The RotoGrinders NBA Tools are also a great place to start.

Additional Resources

We hope this was a helpful introduction to daily fantasy basketball on DraftKings. To continue to learn the ins and outs of DFS NBA, we’d encourage you to check out the following:

— DraftKings NBA Daily Research Tools Your one-stop source for projections, stats and picks each day, as well as our famous Lineup Builder
— The Main Forum – A great place to talk NBA strategy and ask questions.
— GrindersLive and Podcasts – We’ve got lots of great, daily media for those of you that don’t like to read!
— RotoAcademy – Both paid and free strategy courses from some of the sharpest minds in the industry.

Enjoy the games!

DraftKings NBA Strategy - How To Win More Money at DraftKings NBA

Welcome to my DraftKings NBA Strategy Guide.  Below you will find a video I created talking about the DraftKings NBA strategies discussed on this page if you would rather watch the video.

I’ve enjoyed quite a bit of success with DraftKings NBA, even though I don’t consider it one of my top sports.  Below are two 2nd place finishes in back to back nights at DraftKings where I took home $27,500 in winnings!

Know The Scoring System

Before you get started with any type of DraftKings contest you need to know the scoring system, so you can properly pick the players that will excel with that type of scoring system.  DraftKings has a pretty standard NBA fantasy scoring system, but they do have two unique bonuses which are listed below:

-Bonuses for 3 points shots made (0.5 point bonus)
-Bonuses for Double-Double, Triple-Doubles

*All details on the DraftKings scoring can be found when you’re entering a contest.

High Minutes = Fantasy Points

Unlike NFL where the starting offensive players will be on for the majority of the offensive snaps, NBA players will often play around 25-30 minutes per game, with bench players playing less. It sound like stating the obvious but there is a direct correlation between minutes played and fantasy points. Be careful rostering players with low minutes played.

Be Careful of Back to Backs

When teams are playing back to back games, or their 4th game in 7 days for example, coaches may rest starters either completely (inactive for the game) or give them less minutes. It’s sometimes hard to predict when coaches will scale back starters minutes, but it’s something to pay attention to.

Pay Attention To Hot Streaks

Basketball players can be streaky – watch for hot streaks. Sometimes a player will have a few good games in a row and will be rewarded for more minutes. Might be a good time to roster a player after 2-3 good games in a row. BUT be careful with this, especially if the players price rises on DraftKings. Also be careful of below average players who have 1 or 2 really good games in a row – it might be an anomaly for that player.  Don’t use playing players on hot streaks as your main NBA DraftKings strategy, but do pay attention to them.

Watch News – Set Lineups As Late as Possible

In NBA there is more late news than any other sport. This includes lineup changes, injuries, players inactive, etc. It is ideal to set your lineup as late as possible because of this. If a starting point guard is ruled out 30 minutes before tip-off you might get great value on his backup who is priced cheap.

To be successful at DraftKings NBA this is maybe the most important strategy.  You can find some real value players close to tip off that will allow you to spend money on elite players.

Use Vegas Lines

Check this betting odds page on my site for Las Vegas betting lines.

The total will show you the expected number of points scored by both teams. The spread will show you who is expected to win and by how much.

Games that finish with higher totals usually means more fantasy points given out in total = better chance you will pick a player who exceeds value if you choose players from games with high totals.

You can make other predictions from spreads or totals as well. Example – if a team is on the second of a back to back and they are -15 (15 point favorites) they could take a big lead and rest starters.

Predicting Ownership

I’ve got a full video on this on my YouTube channel you can check out, but if you can predict how owned certain players will be in a DraftKings contest you can sometimes gain an edge.

Example – if you think Anthony Davis is going to be 75% owned you could take the risk on not rostering him, spending that money elsewhere, and if he has a poor game you will be in the 25% of people who gain an advantage of the poor performance. This is referred to as “Fading a player”

Don’t Shy Away From Elite Players vs Top Defenses

Sometimes the best players are what I like to call “matchup proof” – meaning no matter their match up they continue to perform like a superstar and rack up the fantasy points. Of course they will have their off games, and sometimes those come against elite defenses, but rostering an elite player vs a top defense can pay off as ownership levels drop on these star players.

Understanding NBA Specific DFS Stats

NBA DFS stats include things such as: Usage Rate, Pace of Player, and DvP. Below is an example of an NBA fantasy stat “Usage” that the regular person doesn’t think about when watching an NBA game, but you will want to if you want to become better at building winning DraftKings NBA lineups.

Usage:

Percentage of players that player finished while on the court (ie makes a basket, misses a shot, turns the ball over)

It basically shows which players have the ball in their hands a lot and have the ability to score high fantasy points

All of these stats can be found in the top NBA DraftKings fantasy tools out there, which ties into my next strategy tip.

Use DFS Tools To Build Lineups

Instead of spending hours to research yourself, make sure you are using the available NBA DFS tools out there.  My favorite is FantasyLabs, which has helped me win a lot of money over the past year – including a couple of big payouts in DraftKings NBA contests.

That’s it for my DraftKings NBA strategy.  I hope this guide helps you become a winning player at DraftKings!

3 Tips for Winning Daily Fantasy Basketball

Daily fantasy sports pro player Peter "DraftCheat" Christensen gives 3 top tips for beginners on how to start winning at daily fantasy basketball.

Before we get into the NBA Daily Fantasy winning strategies, let me tell you how interesting and exciting it all is. Two years ago, I would have had to work hard to name 30 NBA players. Now I can shoot out the roster of every NBA team, and now it's my favorite fantasy sport. The feeling of fighting for the big prize in the GPP, when you have Stephen Curry in your roster, who literally starts pouring three-pointers and dragging you to victory, is simply indescribable. Add to this the significant edge that can be gained in daily fantasy basketball (if you know what you're doing), and you have a recipe for a very interesting and profitable activity. Or rather: an activity that becomes profitable.

1. Trust the bookies

Have you ever been to Las Vegas? Have you been to these huge, posh casinos? These monsters were built by smart people who knew what they were doing. One of the first steps to success in NBA daily fantasy (and even fantasy sports in general) is checking NBA quotes at bookmakers. You should aim for games with high Total Over and Total Under, which are predicted to be even games. If you have starters on your roster from a game that is far from being played by the end of the match, it is much more likely that your guys will play in those minutes.

If one team is beaten by another, you will often see starters going to the bench early to rest for the next game. Games predicted by the bookmaker to have a high total are likely to score more fantasy points as this is based on the teams' pace of play. High Total games tend to not only earn more points for your players, but also more rebounds, assists, blocks and steals, and more possession time. Finally, in a tied game there is always the potential to get bonus minutes in overtime. Owning players who have played in overtime can be a big advantage in big-field tournaments in the NBA's Daily Fantasy.

2. Minutes are everything

If you've never played Daily Fantasy Basketball, one lesson you'll quickly learn is that you should chase minutes. Given the nature of basketball, and the fact that only 5 people from each team can be on the court at a time, fantasy points are earned in almost every possession, be it through baskets, assists, rebounds, blocks or steals. This means that in daily fantasy basketball you need a roster of players who are likely to be on the court for the majority of the game. It can be hard to predict at times, but in general you should target starters in games that are predicted to be even, and players from teams that have few players left. Perhaps this statement sounds strange to those who do not follow the NBA closely. But as the season progresses, teams inevitably pick up injuries and suspensions, and there's often a team or two that don't have a lot of players available to play at the moment. When the team drops to 8 or 9healthy players, you can almost be sure that regardless of the score, the starters in this game will get a lot of minutes. Choose such players and reap the rewards.

3. Who owns the information owns the world

One of the most important aspects of Daily Fantasy Basketball, which is unique in the NBA, is the need to be at the computer until the start of the competition. Unlike other sports, in NBA daily fantasy, a lot of important information pops up much more often before the game starts. And if you play often enough, there will be times when you will frantically press the buttons, as a couple of your guys unexpectedly dropped out of the game a few minutes before the lineups closed. Even worse, if you ignore this news and end up drafting a player who will serve the entire game. You need to be vigilant and follow all NBA news on news sites and related sources on Twitter. Although it may sound complicated, if you know where to look and improve your information gathering process, it can really be a huge advantage in daily fantasy basketball and in the NBA in particular, as you are less likely to have zeros in their roasters.

Conclusion

There is much more to building winning rosters in Daily Fantasy Basketball. But the three points listed above are critical for those who are just starting out. Follow them and you will build a solid base to which you can add other profitable strategies and tools, such as individual matchup analysis. For starters, build a roster of high-scoring, tied-match players who are likely to play many minutes, and try to avoid dead players. This is already half the battle. The rest will come with time and experience. Just start playing daily fantasy basketball.

Good luck!

Read more: NBA Fantasy Sites

One Trade Story: How Mike Cammalleri's Deal Helped LA Win 2 Stanley Cups - SportTalk - Blogs

Disclaimer: friends, on SportTalk We make a lot of interesting content about the National Hockey League, so we will be pleased if you check out our materials on YouTube and make us happy by subscribing to the channel.

If you follow our blog and our project "History of one exchange", then the title of this article should remind you of something. One exchange, thanks to which “Los Angeles” took two of their Cups, we have already analyzed. You can read the full story of Jeff Carter 's cool exchange here . Today we want to analyze the deal that took place 4 years before - the first transfer of Mike Cammalleri to Calgary. As you can see, here the situation is reversed: if in the case of Carter, “LA” acquired a player, then on the contrary, they got rid of it. The chain reaction that followed this exchange is truly amazing and once again proves how important management games are in the NHL. Perhaps the history of this trade is the most extensive and confusing in terms of draft picks. For example, in this deal there is one pick that belonged to 4 teams at once, and ironically, Cammalleri himself was drafted by a pick that was not originally owned by LA. In general, the reading is going to be interesting. If everything is in order with English, we advise you to watch this story in the original, we will leave the link below. If not, we offer you our presentation on the great and mighty.

All this "LA" crap was arranged for the sake of... Colton Tubert . He was the 13th pick in that draft. In a draft that has become one of the richest defensive talents of the 21st century. See for yourself: only were selected ahead of Tubert by Drew Doughty, Zag Bogosian, Alex Pietrangelo, Luke Schenn and Tyler Myers . Even Erik Karlsson remained only 15th, even John Karlsson remained only 27th! In general, in “LA” they quickly realized that they had made a mistake with Tubert. In the NHL, he still played 24 games, even scored 1 point, but for Edmonton. He was safely floated there along with a 2011 1st round pick and a 2012 3rd round pick. How "LA" was thrown with spades in 1 rounds is just fantastic. This time, "Edmonton" safely got their hands on Oscar Clefbom's . And a year later, our 9th was taken from the 3rd round0027 Daniil Zharkov . Oh yeah, what did Edmonton lose? Yes, in principle, nothing - for 3 players they gave away only one Dustin Penner .

It may seem to you that we are stuck in place and we are still in 2008. It is, because LA did 8 trades in that draft! 8 EXCHANGE!!! Plus 2 more trades at the end of June, 2 more in July and 1 more in September - total 13 exchanges over the summer . As you can see, the "kings" have seriously taken up the restructuring. If you have not lost the thread yet, then you understand that our next step is to move to 2009year, where we are waiting for no less fun story with the second option in the exchange of Mike Kammaleri. We are even a little scared, because there “LA” twisted everything in such a way that it is very difficult to unravel. Gather your thoughts, we'll figure it out. The Kings engaged their pick in the 2009 2nd round in a complex three-way trade. You could see an example of such a transaction in our large material about the exchange of Matt Dushane - here . “LA” mixed up his peak in a deal between “Edmonton” and “Carolina”. The layouts there are as follows: Carolina get Eric Cole and 2009 5th round pick, Edmonton get Patrick O'Sullivan and 2009 2nd round pick (the same one from LA). For all this deal, Los Angeles received only one, but a significant advantage - Justin Williams .

Would the Kings have won their two Stanley Cups without Justin Williams? Oh, how unlikely! 427 games and 266 points in regular season + 54 points in 73 playoff games. Williams is one of the key players in the success that LA has achieved in an amazing way. By the way, initially with the same pick in the 2nd round of 2009the year for them could be Brian Dumoulin . Not bad either, but he's not Justin Williams. Los Angeles missed Jake Gardiner, missed Tyler Myers, missed Viktor Tikhonov, missed Oscar Clefbom, with a little more luck could get Eric Karlsson, but! LA has two Stanley Cups and that says it all. They got a less obvious option with Dustin Penner, but he scored 11 points in 20 playoff games in 2012. They got the then aging Williams, but he scored 25 points in 26 playoff games in 2014. That's how it works!

Now let's move to the Calgary side for a moment. For them, the pick in the 2nd round of the 2008 draft was Mitch Wahl - not a single game in the NHL. He was later traded to Philadelphia for another no-name, Mike Testwood. All in all, Calgary's only asset from this deal is Mike Cammalleri. And he was really good! In 2008-09 he scored 82 points for the regular season - his best numbers in his career. Was the Cammalleri trade a failure? Against the backdrop of the success of "LA" the other side, of course, lost. But in the one season that Mike was with the Calgary, he was great! He was in the best shape of his career and it's already a problem for the Lights that they didn't keep him next summer as a free agent. Cammalleri will return to Calgary in 2012, but he won't be anywhere near the numbers he posted in 2008-09..

Friends, if you liked this story format, let us know about it in the comments.

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