Why The NBA Season Is Just Beginning
Why The NBA Season Is Just Beginning
The early stages of an NBA season is always filled with injuries, teams trying to figure out rotations, and tweaking their rotations constantly. The off season acquisitions and rookies have to be intertwined into the teams chemistry as well. This makes for a very volatile and unpredictable play on a nightly basis for the first couple months of DFS basketball. After the New Year hits, teams have developed their rotations and understand their identity as a basketball team. The teams also understand at this point whether or not they have a chance at the playoffs, or a lottery pick. Every year the NBA for DFS really begins in January and I will breakdown some tips to help you win on a nightly basis and what to look for as the season truly gets into full swing.
Games Played
By now enough games have been played to understand the pace of play for teams. Pace is a very important factor in measuring how many possessions and possible shot opportunities a team can have on that given night. The more shots or trips down the floor, the more chances of creating fantasy points. This is a list of the NBA’s highest to lowest pace in the league with the number on the right showing how many possessions that team averages per game.
Pace of Play
| 1 | LA Lakers | 104.1 |
| 2 | Phoenix | 103.3 |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 103.3 |
| 4 | Brooklyn | 102.8 |
| 5 | Golden State | 102.4 |
| 6 | Orlando | 101.9 |
| 7 | New Orleans | 101.9 |
| 8 | Houston | 101.4 |
| 9 | Charlotte | 100.8 |
| 10 | Toronto | 100.6 |
| 11 | Atlanta | 99.5 |
| 12 | Washington | 99.4 |
| 13 | Chicago | 99.4 |
| 14 | Indiana | 99.2 |
| 15 | LA Clippers | 99.0 |
| 16 | Portland | 98.9 |
| 17 | Cleveland | 98.6 |
| 18 | New York | 98.6 |
| 19 | Denver | 98.4 |
| 20 | Minnesota | 97.9 |
| 21 | Milwaukee | 97.8 |
| 22 | Detroit | 97.8 |
| 23 | Oklahoma City | 97.6 |
| 24 | Boston | 97.5 |
| 25 | Miami | 97.0 |
| 26 | Utah | 96.9 |
| 27 | Dallas | 96.6 |
| 28 | Sacramento | 96.5 |
| 29 | San Antonio | 96.5 |
| 30 | Memphis | 95.4 |
Usage Rate
Once you understand the pace at which a team plays at, you can then break down the individual players usage rates within those teams. A players usage rate is one of the most important factors in building a winning line up in DFS. Please read one of my earlier articles in the year that clearly breaks down how usage rate works. This is a list I composed of the top 15 usage percentage players in the NBA up to the current date.
- James Harden 36.2%
- DeMarcus Cousins 34%
- Russell Westbrook 33.9%
- Joel Embiid 33.9%
- D’Angelo Russell 33%
- Kristaps Porzingis 32.9%
- Giannis Antetokounmpo 31.9%
- Kyrie Irving 31.4%
- Lebron James 31%
- Victor Oladip 30.8%
- Kevin Durant 30.5%
- Blake Griffin 30.2%
- Damian Lillard 29.9%
- Stephen Curry 29.8%
- Devin Booker 29.5%
The final piece of information…
I want to leave you with is trends. Whether it is a player trend or team trend, the stats will begin to shape your choices and chances of winning. The NBA now has concrete stats after the first couple months of the season to spot and focus on trends. One main factor in trends is home and road game splits. Some players like Ryan Anderson play much better on the road, meanwhile Victor Oladipo plays much better at home. Teams playing long road trips, or back to back games, are huge factors in possible production high and low. Spot the streaky or hot players. What player has been shooting around 50% on the week. Look at the players history versus their opponent, the player might consistently play well against the Lakers, but struggle versus the Heat. Trends are a great factor to keep in mind when building a successful winning line up. The past few years in NBA DFS have been very similar. One main trend I have noticed is that the stats and players performances begin to take shape in January. Teams will begin to play set rotations as they start for a playoff push and a lot of players minutes will go up on certain teams (especially potential playoff teams). This is when every win for a team begins to really matter and the NBA season truly begins now.
FOR FANDUEL PLAYERS REMEMBER THAT STEALS AND BLOCKS ARE WORTH 3 POINTS!!
UP TO DATE NBA STEALS PER GAME LEADERS
PLAYER STEALS STEALS PER GAME
PAUL GEORGE 82 2.48
RUSSELL WESTBROOK 73 2.09
KRIS DUNN 60 2.0
ERIC BLEDSOE 51 1.96
BEN SIMMONS 63 1.91
ROBERT COVINGTON 60 1.88
KENT BAZEMORE 63 1.85
JAMES HARDEN 60 1.82
GARY HARRIS 58 1.81
JIMMY BUTLER 61 1.79
UP TO DATE NBA BLOCKS PER GAME LEADERS
PLAYER BLOCKS BLOCKS PER GAME
MYLES TURNER 75 2.36
KEVIN DURANT 70 2.33
KRISTAPS PORZINGAS 65 2.24
ANTHONY DAVIS 61 2.10
JOEL EMBIID 51 1.96
CLINT CAPELA 51 1.76
BROOK LOPEZ 44 1.57
MARC GASOL 53 1.51
KARL ANTHONY TOWNS 54 1.50
JOHN HENSON 47 1.47
Once again if you have any questions, please reach out to one of our many DKL NBA Pros. Happy New Years from DK Legends!
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