Daily Fantasy Basketball 2015: NBA DFS Sleepers and Rules to Win in 2015
Tuesday's opening night of the 2015-16 NBA season can't come soon enough, both for basketball fans and daily fantasy nuts alike, as the long 82-game campaign gets underway.
While daily fantasy basketball has been a staple of DraftKings for a few years now, it's sure to be bigger than ever this season. The Association is ripe with star power, but you obviously can't fill an entire DFS lineup with such players—thus, finding high-value sleepers is critical toward winning money.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at some of those players and break down a few rules to live by in daily fantasy basketball.
Top NBA DraftKings Sleepers
C.J. McCollum, SG, Portland Trail Blazers
Who's left in Portland? Star point guard Damian Lillard is, but the exodus of LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez and Nicolas Batum leave a huge void in the scoring department for the sure-to-struggle Trail Blazers.
Expect C.J. McCollum to step right in for some of that production, as the third-year guard is set for a breakout season. He showed that with a 30-point performance in the preseason, and his head coach is pegging him for a bigger role in 2015-16, per the Columbian:
"“This has been two years in the making, it didn’t happen overnight,” head coach Terry Stotts said of the growth he’s seen in McCollum. “He’s very confident in his ability, his knowledge of the league, his knowledge of our team, his teammates. I think the injuries that he has had set him back. I think he’s got a quiet determination about having some success this year."
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Lillard is still the bell cow of the Portland offense, but he won't be able to do it alone. McCollum's ability to score in bunches and stroke it from three-point range should be a game-changer in the early part of the season.
Mo Williams, PG, Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers will be beyond patient with the return of Kyrie Irving, who's still finding his way back from the injury that ended his 2015 NBA Finals run after just one game. That's a central reason why Cleveland brought back Mo Williams.
Irving's absence will have Williams taking the point guard duties, which should have him in line for an uptick in assists, along with his obvious scoring touch. He was LeBron James' sidekick the last time he was in Cleveland, which should help him to put up big numbers early on.
Williams is easily the best value across Tuesday's three-game slate at a salary of $4,900.
Isaiah Thomas, PG, Boston Celtics
No matter where he ends up playing, Isaiah Thomas has proven the ability to emerge quickly as a top scoring threat and a dynamic playmaker. After being traded to Boston last season, he showed that yet again by averaging 16.4 points and 4.2 assists per game.
The Celtics have a wealth of young talent at the guard position, but Thomas appears to be the best candidate to score in bunches. His three-point proficiency and aggression with the ball will have him emerge as one of Boston's best players, whether he breaks into the starting lineup or not.
With four straight double-digit outings in the preseason, the 26-year-old should be in for a big 2015-16 campaign.
Rules to Win in 2015-16
Avoid Likely Blowouts
It's easy to look up and down the NBA schedule on any given night and pick out one or two games that will likely be over by the end of the third quarter. But even though that may leave some notable players in line for big outings, it also means less playing time for said players.
For instance, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors were fantasy machines all of last season. But all too often, the players on the end of the Dubs bench were the only ones putting up numbers down the stretch of those lopsided games.
There's nothing more frustrating than garbage time taking away points from your lineup. In order to prevent that as much as possible, try to steer clear of those blowouts.
Don't Set Your Lineup Too Early
Those of us into NFL daily fantasy are way too used to spending the days leading up to game day as a time to make lineup picks and set the lineup. But that's because injury news is relatively transparent in football.
The same can't be said of the NBA, which will feature key players scratched from teams' lineups at the last moment. It's not as important early on in the season, but when back-to-backs come into play and rest becomes critical, finalizing a lineup too early can be daily fantasy suicide.
You may not be able to find news on crucial injuries or player availability until an hour or so before tipoff. In such a case, waiting until the last minute can be beneficial—so long as you don't wait too long.
Get to Know Position Rankings
One man's trash is another man's treasure. To that same tune, a player on one team who can't get it going against a tough matchup doesn't mean someone from a different position on that same team can't go off.
A great example of this lies in an opening-night battle between the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons. While Detroit ranked third in the NBA against point guards, it was dead last in DraftKings against centers last season.
Hawks point guard Jeff Teague ($7,000) and center Al Horford ($7,300) have nearly identical price tags. But obviously, only one of them has a massive advantage in being able to take on the opponent's biggest defensive weakness.
As these rankings change dramatically over the start of the new season, it's worth paying close attention to.
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