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Daily Fantasy Basketball: How to win playing NBA DFS

By Dan Palyo

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 12: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers dribbles the ball against Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center on February 12, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Celtics defeated the 76ers 112-109. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 12: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers dribbles the ball against Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics at the Wells Fargo Center on February 12, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Celtics defeated the 76ers 112-109. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images Daily Fantasy Basketball /

Daily Fantasy Basketball: How to win playing NBA DFS

It’s like Christmas Eve for me with regular-season Daily Fantasy Basketball NBA DFS tipping off this coming Tuesday. I’m “Thunder Dan” and I love NBA DFS more than a fat kid loves cake! Some of you may be familiar with my work, and thanks to everyone who keeps coming back to read my content. I’ll be covering NBA DFS all season long for FanSided Fantasy and The Quant Edge.

Today I’d like to take some time to talk strategy, roster construction, and maybe even some game theory.  My main focus will be on roster construction for both your cash games and GPPs on the two major sites that I play on – Fanduel and Draftkings.  I also play some NBA DFS on Yahoo and FantasyDraft, but the pricing on Yahoo is entirely different and the roster format on FantasyDraft is totally unique from any others. If you want FantasyDraft content all year long, then Brian Tulloch’s “Picks and Pivots” column is for you.

You’ll hear a lot of DFS touts and players say “basketball is my best sport,” but for me it really is my favorite to play and the most lucrative for my bankroll. There is an enormous amount of variance in DFS, particularly in sports like baseball, hockey, and even football to a degree. But in basketball, we have some of the most predictable situations in sports. We have teams that run pretty consistent rotations and players who score fantasy points at a fairly reliable clip, allowing us to more often accurately project a narrower range of outcomes for players on a nightly basis.

Now listen, there are always going to be injuries, players who get into foul trouble, and yes (FanDuel are you listening) late scratches that will ruin your lineups. But if you’re keeping up to speed with the latest information right up until lineups lock, then you stand a pretty good chance of winning on a nightly basis if you know what you’re doing. Rather than buying a lineup from a provider, wouldn’t you rather learn how to build winning rosters and what stats to look for on a daily basis? I’m here to teach if you’re willing to learn and I personally believe it’s the only way to become a sustainable DFS player.

In this article, I will go into my cash game and GPP strategy for building rosters on both Fanduel and Draftkings. The sites are very different and it can be difficult at times to navigate both at the same time, so if you’d rather only play on one site and focus your energy on getting good on that site, I certainly think that’s a great idea, especially if you are new to NBA DFS or if you are someone who isn’t playing a large amount of bankroll on a nightly basis.