It doesn’t matter if you have played in daily fantasy leagues before or you are entirely new to the concept. The game is as simple as picking the best possible combination of players that you can put together under a salary cap and then competing against other GMs.
While the chance to make some serious money is the biggest part of the allure, daily fantasy leagues also make the actual sports that much more interesting from start to finish. Consider the idea that the San Francisco 49ers are losing a game by 28 points in the fourth quarter, but you need just one touchdown pass from Colin Kaepernick to win your daily fantasy league contest. Will you watch that fourth quarter?
While fantasy football is the most popular form, there is something about fantasy basketball that separates it from other sports and it could be the fact that as long as a player is on the floor, they have the opportunity to make an impact either at the offensive or defensive end at any given moment. With the NBA season getting underway, here are five important tips to remember when playing in basketball daily fantasy leagues.
Minutes Matter
Think about every minute a player logs as another opportunity for that player to make an impact on your daily fantasy league roster. The more minutes a player logs, the more opportunities they have to make a positive impact on your team.
That means it makes sense to target players that play more minutes and that is as simple as looking at recent game logs and seeing how often a player is on the floor. It’s also important to keep in mind matchups because the closer the matchup, the longer the starters are likely to stay in the game.
Anthony Davis will be on the floor late in the fourth quarter if New Orleans is trying to grind out a win while Stephen Curry could be tied to the bench if Golden State is putting together a blowout win, so keep that in mind when building your daily fantasy league roster.
Usage, Usage, Usage
It might seem complicated but usage rate identifies how often a player has the ball in his hands when he is on the floor. That is something you want in daily fantasy leagues. You can find usage rates for every single NBA player from last season at ESPN and other sites. Make sure you track it with every passing game this year as it’s key to winning in DFS.
Pace Is Important
Another important factor to consider is the pace that a team plays at because the higher the pace, the higher the number of possessions that team has every game and thus the higher the number of opportunities they have to put up points. The Golden State Warriors led the NBA in possessions per game last season while the Utah Jazz ranked last, but keep an eye out for this year’s numbers as we could see some different styles of play early on.
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Opponents Ability To Defend
It’s no secret that a team’s offensive potential somewhat depends on the opponent they face since they are more likely to put up a higher number of points against a lesser defense than a top 10 defense. However, the NBA also tracks a team’s ability to defend by position, so for the more advanced crowd, you can actually look up the type of numbers a defense is giving up based on the opponent’s position. For example, if a team has done a better job defending the point guard position than the power forward spot, then it makes sense to go with Blake Griffin over Chris Paul when they play the Los Angeles Clippers and vice versa.
Find The Value Plays First
Superstar talent is important in any daily fantasy league lineup but it won’t be a surprise if the majority of leagues have James Harden or Stephen Curry in their lineups. Harden and Curry are bound to put up decent numbers every night but the key to winning in daily fantasy leagues is the value plays that you identify and build around.
Take the time to look at the individual player costs and how they match up against other players. Make sure you identify those sleeper plays and plug them in your lineup before filling out the rest of your roster with the top superstar talent that you can still afford.
