With the cancellation of nearly every sporting event in the county, daily fantasy sites have had to get creative with offerings. That is certainly the case with FanDuel as they have introduced "NBA SIM leagues".
Premise: Just like every NBA contest on FanDuel, you will pick two point guards, two shooting guards, two small forwards, two power forwards and a center while staying under the $60,000 cap number. However, there is one big difference, the points each player accrues are a random draw from the games that player has played during the season. The player pool is a bit limited as players must have had at least 15 games played with over zero fantasy points played on the season. Also very key, THE MATCH UP IS IRRELEVANT. This is not a simulated game between the teams shown, this is just the players who are available on this slate. Each player will be assigned a number, say for example 12, the stats from that players 12th game will then be used to total his fantasy points. On DraftKings, the format for scoring or selecting a game, however the roster is their showdown format with a captain earning 1.5x points and five utility spots.
Players: The players are priced strictly based on fantasy points per game, while those are the averages, there will be players who are more volatile than others. It is also key to note that not everyone has played the same number of games, which could change the "value" of a player. LeBron James for example has a 60 game sample to pick from, while someone like Kyrie Irving only has 20 games to pick from, so the odds of a Kyrie game being the one picked is 5%, while the odds any specific LeBron game will be picked is 1.6%.
Player By Player DFS Breakdown
Kryie Irving: Irving has only 20 games to pick from, six of which are over 60 fantasy points. At a 30% probability of a monster game, it would be hard to pass on Irving at your captain spot. If you do not play him there, it would be wise to flat out fade him as he will be high owned and you also have a 50% shot he has under 4x this price.
Andrew Wiggins: Wiggins does have a small amount of upside with two 60 points games this year, but with 54 games played, he has just a 3.7% chance to hit that. He would be more of the "cash game play" as just 29.6% of his game returned under 3x this salary.
Caris Levert: Perhaps the best "GPP" play of the day is LeVert who has three games over 60 fantasy points this year, but has a very low floor. In his 39 games he has failed to reach 30 points in 20 of them, or 51.2%. He is a player that will either make or break you in this contest.
Spencer Dinwiddie: On the other end of LeVert is Dinwiddie who is between 3x and 5x his salary in 46 of 64 (71.8%) of his games. If you have the salary he is a great play in one of your utility spots.
Eric Paschall: Like LeVert, you could his a big game from Pashall as he has four games over 40 fantasy points, but also at this price he does have a really low floor. With 14 games under 2x his salary, Paschall feels like a fade
Joe Harris: There is almost zero reason to play Harris at $8.2k. With only one game over 40 fantasy points all year, you are essentially punting one spot, and in a GPP only format there is no reason to do that.
Draymond Green: He does only have 43 games played, giving each game a higher likelihood to get picked, and with eight games over 40 fantasy points, he could really be a nice upside play.
Taurean Prince: Surprising upside with 13 games (20.3%) over 5x his modest salary. Decent play.
Marquese Chriss: Anyone who plays DFS knows what Chriss is, capable of a huge game (5 games over 42 fantasy points) or a total bust (11 games under 14 fantasy points). If you are going total boom or bust, he is a good option.
Damion Lee: One huge 54.25 fantasy point game could skyrocket you to the top of the leaderboard. Also a safe play with only 10 of 49 games under 3x salary.
Jarrett Allen: Now we get into the values, Allen has almost as many 60 point games as Andrew Wiggins, and over half of his games are 5x his salary. Should be a staple in lineups with only two true disaster outcomes.
DeAndre Jordan: Super sneaky play as captain! He has two 50 point outings, 19 over 6x his value and has a relatively high floor. Would allow you to lock in other top players.
Garrett Temple: A few standout games, but more likely to disappoint you with around 20 points.
Jordan Poole: No games above 9x takes him out of the captain spot consideration, but does have eight games over 8x this salary, could fit in lineups with Kyrie as the captain.
Ky Bowman: Your hail mary captain play of the day! He has an amazing SEVEN games over 10x his minimum salary. With just a huge GPP to win you should not be as scared of his 10 games under 10 fantasy points.
Nicholas Claxton/Chris Chiozza: Will both be low owned but essentially need to pull a miracle to be not a total waste.
Wilson Chandler, Dragan Bender, Theo Pinson Kevon Looney, Dzanan Musa should not be in consideration.