If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes hugely on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.
With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a ton of other great resources to help give you an edge.
We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each price point.
Let's take a look at who you should target on today's main slate, which starts at 7:00 p.m. EST and features 11 games.
Best of the Best
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($12,300): On a slate with James Harden, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and the Golden State Warriors (among others), it's hard to decipher who is worth your investment. However, Harden is questionable, though he's likely to play, LeBron has been volatile, the Warriors players continue to cap one another's ceilings, and Russell Westbrook (and Paul George) played 42 plus minutes in a double-overtime win against the Utah Jazz on Friday night. This leaves Giannis as the only fully healthy and fully rested option who also has incredible consistency to boot. While any one of these guys can explode and win you the slate, Giannis looks like the best combination of floor and ceiling.