Fantasy Basketball For Dummies

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Spend Your Cash Putting Together The Best Team Possible


The most common type of draft you’ll see used in weekly and daily fantasy sports contests is the salary cap. It gives you a chance to play the role of a general manager. You’re given a certain amount of money to build your lineup, and you can’t go over budget.

It sounds simple, but there’s a lot of strategy to doing it right. You need to figure out where to spend your money to put together the best team possible for that day’s games. If you’re new to salary caps in daily fantasy sports, you’re in the right place. Below, we’ll explain everything you need to know to have confidence during your next draft. You’ll learn how salary caps work, the types of contests they’re used in, and how to leverage them to your advantage.

Averages per game are denoted by.PG (e.g. BLKPG or BPG, STPG or SPG, APG, RPG and MPG). Sometime the players statistics are divided by minutes played and multiplied by 48 minutes (had he played the entire game), denoted by. per 48 min. Fantasy basketball can be easier to get into than some other fantasy sports because typically fewer players are drafted in regular formats than in other fantasy games. The tips and advice found here should help you construct a serviceable – and hopefully league-winning! – team, even if you haven't been actively following the NBA. Q.) My biggest rule would be to process and understand that being the best IN REAL LIFE, does not make you the best in fantasy basketball. When I started playing Shawn Marion was the #1 fantasy basketball player despite never being close to the best player in the league. There can be huge overlap though. I thought of some BONUS rules! Over the past few years, the emergence of daily fantasy sports has led to a renaissance for conventional sports betting. The anti-gambling stigma that existed for decades is fading in American popular culture, opening the door for a massive, multibillion-dollar legal sports betting industry to emerge.

In this tutorial, we’ll refer several times to a daily fantasy basketball freeroll contest at FanDuel. We’re using it as an example of drafting with a budget. We strongly recommend following along by choosing a freeroll within your own FanDuel account. That way, you’ll get some hands-on experience with salary caps without putting your money at risk.

With that out of the way, let’s get started with a quick definition of a salary cap.

What Is A Salary Cap In Daily Fantasy Sports?

A salary cap is a predetermined budget. You get to use that budget to draft players. Each player comes with a salary, which you need to pay if you want to add him to your lineup. The goal is to put together the best team possible given your limited funds.

The standard salary cap at FanDuel.com is $60,000. If you want, you can filter the list of contests to only display those with an “expert” cap of $55,000. (The less money you have at your disposal, the more difficult it is to build a high-performing team.)

It’s important to learn how to work within a tight budget because it’s an integral part of competing in daily fantasy sports contests. The contests only last a day – or in the case of weekly contests, 7 days. That means you won’t be doing a lot of trading and benching players. Your ability to win will come down largely to knowing how to identify undervalued commodities.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s take a quick look at the types of daily and weekly fantasy sports contests that use a salary cap.

Types Of Daily Fantasy Sports Contests With Salary Cap

Nearly all of the contests you’ll find at FanDuel use salary caps. They’re used in head-to-head match-ups where you square off against a single competitor. They’re used in guaranteed prize pool tournaments where the number of entrants can reach into the thousands. They’re used in private leagues that are set up to accommodate friends. At DraftKings, salary caps are used in 50/50 leagues where the prize pool is divided amongst the top 50% of the player pool.

Here’s the bottom line: salary caps are used practically everywhere in daily fantasy sports. That being the case, it’s definitely worth taking the time to learn how to leverage them to your advantage.

Basics Of Using Salary Caps In Daily Fantasy Sports

Let’s fire up a freeroll daily fantasy basketball contest at FanDuel. Here’s how to find one quickly:

  1. Filter the list of contests to display only NBA games (click the “NBA” button on the left side of your screen).
  2. Sort the results by entry fee (click the top of the “Entry” column).
  3. Choose a contest that has a $0 entry fee (click the green “Enter” button at the end of the row).

Once you hit the “Enter” button, you’ll be directed to a page on which you can start selecting players. You’ll see a list of players on the left side who are scheduled to play today. You’ll see your lineup – the fields will be empty at this point – on the right side.

Take a look at the player list on the left side of your screen. Notice that each player has a specific salary. That salary changes each day according to the player’s performance in the recent past. For example, if Kobe has been putting everything through the hoop over the last few weeks, he’ll command a higher salary. If he’s been choking, his salary will drop.

Also, notice the field on the right side that says “Salary Remaining: $60,000” (it’s directly above your lineup). Keep your eyes on that field. That’s your cap. Each time you draft a player, the dollar figure posted in that field will drop by the amount of his salary.

Let’s draft a team so you can see this in action…

Salary Cap Strategy: How To Work Within Your Budget

For daily fantasy basketball, you need to draft 2 point guards (PGs), 2 shooting guards (SGs), 2 small forwards (SFs), 2 power forwards (PFs), and a center (C). The simplest way to do it is to click the position tabs displayed above the player list from left to right. The tabs are labeled with the initials of each position.

A quick note…

I’m not actually trying to win this particular freeroll since I’m only entering it to show you how a salary cap works. I’m going to fill positions without giving it too much thought, taking note of each player’s salary along the way. The key is to make sure I don’t run out of money before drafting my entire team.

After a minute of blind picking, here’s my initial lineup:

  • PGs – Chris Paul (expensive at $10,600!) and Shelvin Mack (only $4,200. I need to save some money to fill the other positions.)
  • SGs – Kevin Martin ($6,000) and Jason Richardson ($3,900)
  • SFs – Corey Brewer ($4,300) and Maurice Harkless ($3,500)
  • PFs – Paul Millsap ($8,900) and Glen Davis ($5,700)
  • C – Al Horford ($8,200)

As it turns out, the lineup above only cost me $55,300. I still have $4,700 left in my budget. Since FanDuel isn’t going to cut me a check for that amount, I might as well spend it. So, let’s do some savvy shopping in the shooting guard position. I’m going to switch out Jason Richardson for Jamal Crawford ($5,900).

That leaves me with $2,700 to play with. My shooting forwards are looking a little weak. So, I’m going to chuck Maurice Harkless and put Paul Pierce ($5,400) in the slot. I still have $800. Let’s go back to our power forwards. I’m going to get rid of Paul Millsap and replace him with Blake Griffin ($9,400).

I have $300 left, but I’m good with the team I have. Here’s the end result:

  • PGs – Chris Paul and Shelvin Mack
  • SGs – Kevin Martin and Jamal Crawford
  • SFs – Corey Brewer and Maurice Harkless
  • PFs – Blake Griffin and Glen Davis
  • C – Al Horford

Not too bad of a lineup. The point of this exercise was to show you how to work within a budget. You’ll inevitably end up making changes to your lineup throughout the draft. You’ll either spend too much money upfront or have a ton of cash left over (like I did in the example above). Be prepared to make adjustments.

Now that you’re a salary cap pro, let’s talk about picking sleepers…

The Value Of Picking Sleepers With A Salary Cap

Sleepers are undervalued players. They’re guys who are expected (by some) to have a phenomenal season. Sometimes, they’re rookies. Most times, however, they have a lot of years on the court. Either way, they’re rarely household names. Lebron James isn’t likely to be considered a “sleeper” at any point in his career.

While some people think certain players are going to exceed expectations and have a breakout season, other folks continue to dismiss them. That tepid response is reflected in the players’ salaries. That makes those players much less expensive than superstars, such as Kobe and Lebron.

Because you’re on a tight budget, it’s definitely to your advantage to pick up a few sleepers for your lineup. How do you identify them? Well, that’s the challenge. A lot of folks rely on hard data, such as a player’s recent points, assists, and RBs, to uncover hidden values. Others focus on “softer” criteria, such as whether a player has made every game after recovering from knee surgery.

The process of picking sleepers is part art and part science. It goes beyond the scope of what we’re covering on this page. However, because there’s a lot of interest in it, we’ll put together a “how to” guide on the subject in the near future. For now, realize that finding undervalued players is a great way to leverage a salary cap.

When You’re Just Getting Started With Daily Fantasy Sports…

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Don’t let salary caps intimidate you. They’re easy to use, fun to play with, and if you know what you’re doing, can give you a huge advantage over other owners.

We focused on the basics here. In future daily fantasy sports tutorials, we’ll show you how to use cheat sheets and player rankings to find hidden value for your teams. Let everyone else overpay for Lebron. You’ll learn how to get the most bang for your daily fantasy sports buck, and build a lineup that wins.

In the meantime, log into your Fan Duel account, and enter a few contests. Get used to working with a salary cap. With experience, you’ll gradually develop a feeling – almost a sixth sense – for the players on whom you should spend your cash.

Welcome to my big list of DFS tools. These tools include lineup optimizers, projections, rankings and any sort of thing that a DFS player may want to utilize to draft their team. In short, this page is a top list of tools for daily fantasy sports players. I add to this list as I come across new and unique offerings. Some of them are free but most are paid. Take your time and check through the following list to find what you are looking for. I’m constantly adding links as I come across them in my daily travels around the web so bookmark this page and check back on the regular.

Jump to A Sport Specific Tool

Growing List of DFS Tools – 2021 Update

    • FantasyCruncher.com – Probably the best rated lineup optimizer used by the vast majority of professional players in the industry. Easy enough for weekend gamblers like me to use and highly customizable so the professionals can create optimized multi-entry lineups. Paid monthly. Try it free for the 1st week. If you max enter contests this is a must have. See my FantasyCruncher review now published.
    • FantasyData – An entire host of tools for DFS including projections, lineup optimizers, rankings, premium content, average draft position, mock drafts, idp rankings, stats red zone stats, snap counts, advanced qb metrics and seriously dozens of more features available for a monthly fee of around $10 with a three day free trial.
    • Fantasy 5×5 – **Avoid until update – This site now appears as if it is no longer being updated. We have reached out to the owner to get information. NBA and now MLB specific tools for Fanduel/DK. Injury boosts, assist boosts and a lot more specialized tools (learn more here)
    • DailyFantasyNerd.com – Optimizer, Projections and upgraded / premium products. Free basic subscription and $15 / mo w/ 7 day free trial
    • FantasyNational – PGA specific stats engine, simulator and lineup generator. $30/mo or $250/year.
    • FantasyPros.com NFL– Update now requires payment, no longer free.
    • Awesemo – expensive but arguably worth it if you are a serious professional DFS player (or want to be one). Many use this site for their ownership projections.
    • One Week Season – premium DFS content from some of the brightest in the game (JMtoWin)
    • DailyFantasyFuel.com – free tools, optimizers and matchup-analysis – NHL
    • FanSpeak.com – quick and easy lineup builder where you can prioritize a position and build for tourney or cash game.
    • Numberfire / usatoday – requires credit card (even with free trial). 7 days free then $19 / mo for DFS players (football)
    • LineStar App (fanduel android and apple / fantasyduel) http://fscapp.co (mobile strongsuit) – these are from fantasysportsco.com
    • FantasyLabs.com – Tools have gone down hill since newer ownership sometime in 2018. I used to subscribe subscribe to FantasyLabs during football season but no more. My full review of FantasyLabs is now published.
    • lineuplab – NFL-Pro is $19.95 / mo, advanced is $29.95 / mo. Other sports cost additional.
    • rotoviz.com – looks like you have to pay just to get in the door, but it’s cheap. Only $9 for the season. give them your email address for a free article every day.
    • rotowire.com – free NFL optimizer for the main DFS sites.
    • sportsline.com for nhl – free optimizer recommended for NHL players.

This guy greets you at FantasyGeek.
Just showing that ’cause I thought he was pretty cool.

  • http://fantasy.geekewl.com/ (this guy runs a default lineup from the major lineup generators and ranks them weekly to see who’s default optimizer does best. Interesting concept.
  • Borischen.co – Data visualized for each position from FantasyPros expert picks
  • FantasyPros.com – combined rankings from professionals in the industry
  • Vegas Odds and Lines – find the high scoring games and pick the right players from those teams
  • Rotogrinders optimizer – free if you register through them for a dfs site. Used by many so be wary of lineups generated.
  • 4for4 – $99/year for the DFS package w/ projections, rankings, optimizers, analyzers and a ton of tools
  • ProFootballFocus – Paid subscription model for projections and player grades.
  • Fantasy 5×5 – NBA tools for Draftkings and Fanduel. Find out who benefits when someone is injured. See who’s playing, visuals of relevant data and more basketball specific DFS tools. See my Fantasy 5×5 review here.

NBA DFS Tools and Lineup Builders

  • FantasyCruncher.com – If you multi-enter NBA GPP’s then you need FantasyCruncher. It makes building multiple optimized lineups slick. It’s simple enough for weekend players like me to use and highly workable for you pro’s who build lineups. Paid monthly. Try it free for the 1st week. If you max enter contests this is a must have. See my FantasyCruncher review now published.
  • Basketball Monster – Somewhere around $90 per season of basketball and it adjusts downward as the length of season shrinks. Players of NBA dfs seem to love this site.
  • Next Man Up tools from hashtag basketball – Freeand looks interesting. You can see what other players average when a selected player is out.
  • FantasyPro’s NBAis pretty solid and free.
  • Vegas NBA Lines – let the books do the heavy lifting for the over/under.

Baseball MLB Optimizers and Lineup Tools

  • SaberSim – Baseball simulator – play thousands of events and make projections.
  • FanGraphs – Baseball stats. An absolute ton of MLB data at your fingertips. Free or become a member and remove ads for $3 / month.
  • Rotoballer – Batter v Pitcher
  • Baseball Savant – Stats, daily matchups and tons of data
  • Pitcher Analysis and Tracking – Brooksbaseball
  • FantasyInsiders – Another paid service with daily research, discussion and projections for fantasy MLB
  • The Bat – Rotogrinders / Derek Carty’s Projection System for MLB – Seasonal pass for $175

PGA – Golf

  • FantasyNational – currently the most golf centric set of tools
  • FantasyCruncher – news and tools for PGA DFS

eSports Stats and Tools

News and Player Info

  • r/ff – the fantasy football sub on reddit.
  • Rotoworld NFL – latest injury reports and player specific updates.
  • RotoWire – last minute news and info.

Types of Tools:

  • Lineup optimizers / builders
  • Projections
  • Matchup Analyzers
  • Player rankings / ratings
  • Bankroll Trackers
  • Excel lineup optimizers
  • Algorithm’s for specific metrics (e.g. Red Zone Target Algorithm)
  • Lineup importers
  • Paid lineup services

About These Tools

A good DFS optimizer is a tool in your handbag that helps you build lineups faster than doing it on your own. An optimizer is like upgrading your car to a race car. If you are a good driver they will get you to the finish faster but you still have to be a good driver.

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In short, a line-up optimizer is only as good as the projections used as inputs.

Optimizing the lineups are the easy part, it’s coming up with the best projections and player selection that wins the money.

These lineup builders are designed to help you build optimal lineups in less time. But remember, they are only as good as you make them. I highly doubt that over time using the default team generated by any of the tools will be a winner. Instead these are designed to give you the information you need to help build the best possible team you can.

Should you use one of these tools/service?

My opinion is that you should not buy lineups. I’ve been tracking results on some of these sites over time and what I have found is that they don’t have a winning record. Of course do your own research but I would not recommend anyone spend money on a lineup. If the lineup is awesome then the guy you bought it from would have played it himself.

Now, should you use these tools and lineup optimizers? This is a different question because these tools help you build out your lineups. I will say that you can’t just go click the button on any sites optimizer and have it spit out a winning lineup for you. That will not, has not and will probably never work over the long haul. You have to put in the work to build your team. The optimizers can help you do that faster. You can use tools to help you build teams, find value and target players and stacking combinations that you might not have thought of.

My #1 favorite free tool I always is the always up to date NFL Odds and Lines.

Fantasy Basketball For Dummies For Dummies

Let the bookies do the heavy lifting. They do have skin in the game so you can expect them to give you excellent insight into what the true experts think about the upcoming game.

Don’t just think buying access to any one optimizer, projections service or even the touts selling lineups that you will easily win money. It’s not going to happen. You still have to build your team, find value and put in your own research. These tools will help you speed this process up once you find the ones that suit your playing style.

I am looking to review the more popular and promising tools over the coming weeks. I will give you my honest opinions and ask for yours as well. I want to create a quality list of recommended tools and lineup builders that visitors lucky enough (or smart enough) to land on my site will find truly helpful and worthwhile.

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Below are the tools I’ve reviewed and my ratings:

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