FanDuel NBA Sim Sports Picks for 3/20/20
During this downtime in the sports calendar, FanDuel has been innovating a lot of different ways to get some daily fantasy sports action.
One of those includes NBA Sim Sports, a format that looks pretty much identical to the usual FanDuel offering. The only twist is that the games won't be played live. Players will instead be assigned a random game from their 2019-20 season.
Matchups don't come into play, and late-scratches and other games missed by players won't come into effect. Scores roll out throughout the night for a bit of a sweat.
It's free to enter, and here are some potential standout picks.
Finding Value
A rule of thumb in NBA DFS is finding certain value thresholds. For example, seeking players who can score 5.0 FanDuel points per $1,000 in salary. This is known as "five-times value" or "5x." The reason for that is if you max out your $60,000 budget and every player in your lineup scores exactly 5.0 points per $1,000, you'll total 300.0 FanDuel points. That's a good starting point.
Of course, for bigger totals, you'll want to shoot for 6x or higher, and for safety, 4x is a fine mark to uncover. What you will typically find is that the more expensive players hit 4x value often (because their roles are secure but their prices are high enough that they really need a huge game to pay off big price tags) and cheaper players hit 6x more frequently (because their bigger games are less about 50-point triple-doubles and more about a simple double-double at a cheaper price).
Value Leaders
These tables include the top-eight performers at each position based on how many times this season they had games that hit our three different value thresholds when compared to their current price for today's contest.
In parenthesis, you can see how often a player hit the given threshold. For example, Malcolm Brogdon returned 4x value in 83% of his games and 5x value in 63% of his games.
4x Value Leaders
| 4x | PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Lowry (0.83) | Jimmy Butler (0.8) | Danilo Gallinari (0.79) | Kawhi Leonard (0.87) | Wendell Carter (0.77) |
| 2 | Malcolm Brogdon (0.83) | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (0.8) | Jaylen Brown (0.76) | LaMarcus Aldridge (0.81) | Rudy Gobert (0.75) |
| 3 | Derrick Rose (0.8) | D'Angelo Russell (0.78) | Gordon Hayward (0.76) | Bam Adebayo (0.8) | Marc Gasol (0.75) |
| 4 | Chris Paul (0.78) | Dennis Schroder (0.78) | Will Barton (0.76) | John Collins (0.78) | Ivica Zubac (0.75) |
| 5 | Jamal Murray (0.76) | Zach LaVine (0.77) | T.J. Warren (0.75) | Blake Griffin (0.78) | Karl-Anthony Towns (0.74) |
| 6 | Goran Dragic (0.72) | DeMar DeRozan (0.77) | Luke Kennard (0.75) | Jayson Tatum (0.77) | Thomas Bryant (0.74) |
| 7 | Ish Smith (0.72) | Fred VanVleet (0.77) | Kelly Oubre (0.73) | Domantas Sabonis (0.76) | Deandre Ayton (0.73) |
| 8 | Derrick White (0.72) | Donovan Mitchell (0.77) | Bojan Bogdanovic (0.72) | Davis Bertans (0.76) | Clint Capela (0.72) |
5x Value Leaders
| 5x | PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malcolm Brogdon (0.63) | Tyler Herro (0.62) | De'Andre Hunter (0.57) | Blake Griffin (0.61) | Marquese Chriss (0.53) |
| 2 | Mike Conley (0.62) | Devin Booker (0.59) | Gordon Hayward (0.56) | Daniel Theis (0.57) | Jakob Poeltl (0.53) |
| 3 | Chris Paul (0.6) | Damion Lee (0.57) | Danilo Gallinari (0.54) | Davis Bertans (0.56) | Clint Capela (0.51) |
| 4 | Kris Dunn (0.57) | D'Angelo Russell (0.56) | Jaylen Brown (0.54) | Bam Adebayo (0.55) | Montrezl Harrell (0.51) |
| 5 | Kyle Lowry (0.55) | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (0.55) | Will Barton (0.53) | Serge Ibaka (0.54) | Steven Adams (0.51) |
| 6 | Ish Smith (0.55) | Donovan Mitchell (0.55) | Joe Ingles (0.53) | Naz Reid (0.53) | Marc Gasol (0.5) |
| 7 | Derrick White (0.54) | DeMar DeRozan (0.54) | Rudy Gay (0.53) | Nerlens Noel (0.53) | Ivica Zubac (0.5) |
| 8 | Derrick Rose (0.52) | Fred VanVleet (0.54) | Jae Crowder (0.52) | Paul Millsap (0.52) | Enes Kanter (0.49) |
6x Value Leaders
| 6x | PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reggie Jackson (0.43) | Gary Harris (0.39) | De'Andre Hunter (0.43) | James Johnson (0.5) | Jakob Poeltl (0.4) |
| 2 | Kris Dunn (0.41) | Tyler Herro (0.36) | OG Anunoby (0.41) | Paul Millsap (0.43) | Kelly Olynyk (0.39) |
| 3 | Mike Conley (0.4) | Jeremy Lamb (0.35) | Joe Ingles (0.39) | Christian Wood (0.4) | Enes Kanter (0.37) |
| 4 | Ish Smith (0.38) | Jordan McRae (0.35) | Rudy Gay (0.38) | Frank Kaminsky (0.38) | Ian Mahinmi (0.37) |
| 5 | Derrick White (0.38) | Jordan Clarkson (0.35) | Mikal Bridges (0.38) | Naz Reid (0.37) | Marc Gasol (0.36) |
| 6 | Shabazz Napier (0.37) | Malik Beasley (0.35) | Derrick Jones (0.37) | Nerlens Noel (0.36) | Ivica Zubac (0.36) |
| 7 | Aaron Holiday (0.36) | Duncan Robinson (0.34) | Gordon Hayward (0.36) | Eric Paschall (0.36) | Aron Baynes (0.36) |
| 8 | Jamal Murray (0.35) | Norman Powell (0.32) | Luke Kennard (0.36) | Jerami Grant (0.36) | Marquese Chriss (0.34) |
