Looking for the best daily fantasy sports (DFS) strategy for fantasy basketball? This complete guide has you covered.

Success in NBA daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests requires knowledge of the game, regular research and a baseline understanding of how scoring works in fantasy basketball. 

In this article, we will break down key NBA DFS terms, walk you through low- and high-risk strategies, provide tips for building the perfect lineup, and much more.

NBA DFS Strategy: Complete Guide on Picks, Daily Process, and Roster

Whether you’re playing DFS or a season-long league, the goal in fantasy hoops is to correctly predict how players will perform in their real-life games. You’re either trying to outscore your opponents by building the best lineup of individual NBA players, who earn fantasy points based on their real-life statistical output, or picking whether a group of players will gain more or less than their projected statistical output in a particular game.

With a season-long fantasy team, the league holds a draft (either online or in-person) where everyone selects their players. Throughout the season, each individual manages their roster — setting their lineup, making trades and adding players via the waiver wire. There are several different kinds of season-long leagues, including redraft (you pick a new team each season), keeper (you keep certain players year over year), and dynasty (you keep your whole roster year over year). Note: Sleeper offers a range of season-long NBA league formats.

DFS has risen in popularity because you aren't stuck with a roster over the course of a whole season — you can build a new lineup (or multiple lineups) every day. DFS allows you to pick players on a daily or weekly basis. Platforms like Sleeper Picks give you a chance to get back in action on a daily basis by selecting two or more players at a time and then picking whether they will have more or less than their projected stats for that day.

DFS involves a strategy that is different from season-long fantasy basketball leagues, but it requires a similar level of analysis of players, matchups and NBA schedules. Let’s delve into that strategy and how to build the perfect lineup.

How Does DFS Work?

In DFS, instead of drafting an entire roster, you pick a handful of players at a time and compete against other competitors, the house or in a contest with thousands of participants (GPP). You win or lose based on how the players you’ve selected perform. On Sleeper Picks, the goal is to determine whether the player will gain more or less than their projected statistical output in a particular game. On other platforms like DraftKings, you’re trying to outscore opposing teams.

NBA DFS Scoring Systems

Every DFS platform is a bit different, so it’s important to know the scoring system of the platform you’re playing on. Familiarize yourself with how fantasy points are allocated and if there are any bonuses that could impact your team. 

For example, DraftKings rewards a 1.5-point bonus for a double-double and a 3-point bonus for a triple-double, which becomes important when selecting your players. Suddenly, players like Nikola Jokić and Luka Dončić become a bit more valuable even though they're pricey options.

Best NBA DFS Strategies

There are a number of strategies to consider when playing NBA DFS.

Low-Risk Strategy: Play Cash Games (50/50s, Double-Ups) and Pick'em Games

These games typically have a much lower prize, but your chances of winning are better. In cash contests, you don’t need to finish first — you just need to beat half of the field to double your money, so you want to minimize risk in your lineup and prioritize high-floor players who are consistent night in and night out. 

In pick'em style games, you're playing against the house. So you simply have to pick whether players will surpass their projected stats. With Sleeper Picks, for example, your payout multiple will change depending on how many players you pick and what the payout multiplier is for each pick. Playing multiple low stakes pick'em games will help you learn the ropes and minimize downside risk.

In a large tournament, you’re trying to stand out from a lot of participants, so you want to find players who aren’t going to be on many rosters but have the potential to go off. However, in cash games, your best bet is sticking with high-floor players and avoiding boom-or-bust options. In pick'em style games, your objective is simple: identify players who are primed to have a better than expected game.

High-Risk Strategy: Tournaments (GPPs)

As mentioned above, these are large-scale tournaments featuring lucrative prizes where you’re competing against a big field of opponents. 

In these tournaments, you must target high-upside players and embrace contrarian picks to differentiate your lineup from your competition. A safe, low-floor lineup typically won’t be enough to finish No. 1 and take home the big prize. Go big or go home, and try to zero in on boom-or-bust players who could go off based on their matchup and recent trends.

4 NBA DFS Daily Routines

Here are three tips you should consider if you’re a new DFS player.

1. Take Advantage When There’s Limited Data

Early in the season, accurate totals and player prices are harder for DFS platforms to project due to the limited data from so few games. This is the best moment to identify a value play.

As the season goes on and each player has played a significant number of minutes, the data will only get more accurate — making it harder to find outliers. This same formula holds for players who take on a bigger role midseason after a trade, injury or lineup change. Less data typically increases the probability of a surprise.

Many DFS sharks stay hyper-informed on the NBA year-round, following offseason moves, injury reports, rotation changes and other news that impact players’ opportunities and performance. As a result, they have a good idea of which players are poised to take on a bigger role and make the most of increased usage. They’re able to exploit the lack of data and pounce where there’s high potential value, and you should try to do the same.

2. Use a DFS Lineup Optimizer

These days, there are plenty of DFS lineup optimizers that will help you build the perfect squad. 

Lineup optimizers compare each player’s projected totals and prices across various DFS platforms to find disparities and help you recognize the best values. 

When building your team, these optimizers help you identify free-space players who should absolutely be in your lineup as well as overpriced players to avoid.

3. Keep an Eye Out for High-Pace Games 

In today’s day and age, it’s super easy to track the up-tempo teams that get a ton of possessions each and every night. When two fast-paced teams face off against one another, that game will have a ton of possessions, and more possessions means more fantasy points. This increases the fantasy potential of every player involved in that game. 

During the 2024-25 NBA season, high pace teams include:

  • Memphis Grizzlies
  • Atlanta Hawks
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Washington Wizards
  • Denver Nuggets
  • Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Toronto Raptors
  • Golden State Warriors 
  • Portland Trail Blazers

4. Target High-Usage Players

Usage rate measures the percentage of a team’s plays that a player is involved in when they’re on the court. If a player constantly has the ball in their hands, it stands to reason that he will be a great fantasy option, as he has both a high floor and high ceiling. 

While superstars with a consistently high usage rate are great options, also look for players who are seeing a temporary usage spike due to injuries or rotation changes.

Some of the current usage rate leaders in the NBA include:

  • Giannis Antetokounmpo, 36.3% 
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 33.8% 
  • Cade Cunningham, 31.8% 
  • Victor Wembanyama, 31.4% 
  • Nikola Jokic, 31.2% 
  • Jayson Tatum, 31.0% 
  • Tyrese Maxey, 30.5% 
  • Anthony Edwards, 30.5% 
  • Kevin Durant, 30.3% 
  • James Harden, 30.1%

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s examine some FAQs for NBA DFS players.

DFS is not legal in all states, and its legality sometimes depends on the platform and type of competition. In general terms, traditional salary cap games are not currently legal in Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Washington. Pick ‘Em games are more exclusive, with 22 states not permitting that kind of action. Those states are Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia. 

For Sleeper Picks, specifically, it is available in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin; Daily Draft is available in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming; PicksVS is available in Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

You cannot yet utilize Sleeper in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington.

What is a late swap?

Certain platforms allow late swaps that allow you to add or remove players from your lineup up until the start of their game. For the most active DFS players, this can be an advantage as it lets you react to late news about a player’s injury or involvement. Here’s what DraftKings says about late swaps:

“If you join a contest that supports Late Swap, you'll be able to swap an athlete up until the start of that athlete’s game. Once an athlete’s game starts, they’ll be locked and you won’t be able to swap them. Check out the contest GameCenter to see which roster spots are already locked and which athletes can still be swapped. All other athletes whose games haven’t started are eligible for edits.”

Try Sleeper Picks Today and Give DFS a Try!

Now that you’re familiar with NBA DFS and some of the best strategies, give Sleeper Picks a shot! You can maximize your winnings up to 100x by choosing whether you think players will surpass or fall short of their projected stat totals. There are pre-game and in-game contests. Choose two or more players from the NBA, MLB or college sports, and then follow live gamecasts as you compete.

Also, if you’re interested in starting your own fantasy basketball league or bringing your existing one to a new platform, Sleeper has you covered. There’s no better platform than Sleeper thanks to exclusive features like improved drafting experience, simplified league creation, the best commissioner tools, live scoring and stats, weekly league reports, every type of league (including keeper and dynasty), each player's transaction history, voice and text chat, custom scoring and much more. Try a season-long league on Sleeper today.