NBA

FanDuel NBA Sim Sports Picks for 3/24/20

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 slate 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, Lonzo Ball returned 4x value in 70% of his games, 5x value in 54% of his games, and 6x value in 32% of his games.

Point Guard

PG4x Value5x Value6x Value
1De'Aaron Fox (0.85)De'Anthony Melton (0.6)De'Anthony Melton (0.4)
2Kyle Lowry (0.83)Kyle Lowry (0.55)Ja Morant (0.37)
3Collin Sexton (0.77)De'Aaron Fox (0.54)Rajon Rondo (0.33)
4De'Anthony Melton (0.71)Lonzo Ball (0.54)Lonzo Ball (0.32)
5Lonzo Ball (0.7)Terry Rozier (0.52)Darius Garland (0.31)
6Terry Rozier (0.7)Ja Morant (0.52)Terry Rozier (0.3)
7Ja Morant (0.67)Darius Garland (0.49)Tyus Jones (0.29)
8Darius Garland (0.66)Tyus Jones (0.48)Cory Joseph (0.28)

Shooting Guard

SG4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Fred VanVleet (0.77)Buddy Hield (0.55)Josh Hart (0.39)
2Jrue Holiday (0.75)Dillon Brooks (0.55)Dillon Brooks (0.38)
3Devonte' Graham (0.73)Fred VanVleet (0.54)JJ Redick (0.37)
4Buddy Hield (0.73)Devonte' Graham (0.53)Malik Monk (0.36)
5Josh Hart (0.72)JJ Redick (0.52)Cody Martin (0.33)
6CJ McCollum (0.71)Jrue Holiday (0.5)Norman Powell (0.32)
7JJ Redick (0.7)CJ McCollum (0.5)Bogdan Bogdanovic (0.31)
8Dillon Brooks (0.69)Josh Hart (0.49)Danny Green (0.31)

Small Forward

SF4x Value5x Value6x Value
1LeBron James (0.84)Rodney Hood (0.62)Josh Jackson (0.44)
2Brandon Ingram (0.79)Harrison Barnes (0.58)OG Anunoby (0.41)
3Harrison Barnes (0.75)Cedi Osman (0.57)Cedi Osman (0.38)
4Cedi Osman (0.71)Josh Jackson (0.56)Harrison Barnes (0.37)
5Pascal Siakam (0.7)Brandon Ingram (0.55)Trevor Ariza (0.36)
6Miles Bridges (0.68)Miles Bridges (0.53)Kent Bazemore (0.33)
7Josh Jackson (0.67)OG Anunoby (0.52)Rodney Hood (0.29)
8Rodney Hood (0.67)Kent Bazemore (0.48)Miles Bridges (0.29)

Power Forward

PF4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Zion Williamson (0.86)Kevin Love (0.61)Nemanja Bjelica (0.38)
2Jaren Jackson (0.76)Zion Williamson (0.57)Kyle Kuzma (0.35)
3Kevin Love (0.75)Brandon Clarke (0.57)Richaun Holmes (0.33)
4Brandon Clarke (0.75)Jaren Jackson (0.56)Serge Ibaka (0.32)
5Anthony Davis (0.71)Serge Ibaka (0.54)Larry Nance (0.32)
6P.J. Washington (0.71)Richaun Holmes (0.53)Brandon Clarke (0.31)
7Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (0.71)P.J. Washington (0.51)Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (0.31)
8Serge Ibaka (0.7)Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (0.5)Jabari Parker (0.3)

Center

C4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Marc Gasol (0.75)Tristan Thompson (0.54)Bismack Biyombo (0.38)
2Cody Zeller (0.74)Cody Zeller (0.52)Marc Gasol (0.36)
3Andre Drummond (0.72)Alex Len (0.51)Gorgui Dieng (0.36)
4Hassan Whiteside (0.72)JaVale McGee (0.51)Dwight Howard (0.35)
5Tristan Thompson (0.72)Marc Gasol (0.5)Cody Zeller (0.33)
6Derrick Favors (0.7)Jonas Valanciunas (0.48)Alex Len (0.33)
7Jonas Valanciunas (0.66)Gorgui Dieng (0.47)Derrick Favors (0.33)
8Gorgui Dieng (0.64)Dwight Howard (0.47)Jonas Valanciunas (0.31)