Roster Construction and Tips
[For the sake of this course I’ll be using DraftKings for default rules, roster structure and scoring]
The first two things to consider, not only in daily fantasy basketball but in all daily fantasy sports, are: 1) Rules and 2) Scoring.
In regards to the basic rules (since you don’t have a choice) it’s fairly simple – follow them. First and foremost, you can’t go over the salary cap ($50,000) or select more than eight players. Among your eight players you must include players from at least two different teams and two different NBA games from that given slate of games.
The eight-man makeup of your roster must include: one center, one power forward, one small forward, one shooting guard and one point guard. You must also select: a point guard or shooting guard for the extra guard slot, a small forward or power forward for the extra forward slot, and a player from any position for the utility slot.
What does this mean for the point guard position? If you so wish you may start up to three point guards – one in the point guard-specific slot, one in the general guard slot and one in the utility slot.
I’ll get into usage percentage a little bit later but, naturally, point guards handle the ball and facilitate offense a lot. That is why something as simple as roster structure can be important when deciding what and how many point guards to roll out on a given night. To summarize, know what you can do!
Scoring Structure Tips
When it comes to point guards, there are certain scoring basics to keep in the back of your mind when deciding: who to start at your point guard slot, how to spend at the position and who you should pick between a point guard and a player at some other position (shooting guard for the extra guard slot or any other position for the utility slot).
Scoring differs from site to site so you do have to pay close attention to how you score – after all, that is what you need to win money. But as I previously mentioned we will be using DraftKings for our reference here.
Here is their basic scoring breakdown:
Point = +1 PT
Made 3-point shot = +0.5 PTs
Rebound = +1.25 PTs
Assist = +1.5 PTs
Steal = +2 PTs
Block = +2 PTs
Turnover = -0.5 PTs
On DraftKings, there are scoring rules to exploit in favor of point guards; however, if we’re going to consider the positives we must also take in the negatives. Those generally unfavorable scoring categories are rebounds, blocks, and turnovers.
Because of the nature of positions – point guards are typically shorter with a few exceptions, especially in recent years as positions get fudgy – you can’t count on point guards for rebounds. And whether they’re defending the primary ball-handler out front or doing the ball-handling on the offensive end of the court, they often find themselves further away from the basket than do players at other positions. Just as point guards aren’t geared toward rebounding, the same can be said for them blocking shots. They’re not usually tall or lanky enough to develop a shot-blocking skill nor do they spend a lot of time near the rim.
The most common scoring disadvantage to point guards is in the form of turnovers. There are a handful of players outside the point guard position who are turnover prone, but being turnover prone and being more likely to commit turnovers based on your position alone are two different things. Point guards handle the ball a ton, and sometimes they have to do so under a lot of defensive pressure in the frontcourt, so it’s logical to say that they commit a lot more turnovers than your average NBA player on a game to game basis. Unlike rebounds and blocks, which are virtually negatives by omission, turnovers are negatives by commission and therefore earn you negative points.
Point guards have a lot more advantages than disadvantages however. The same reason they commit a lot of turnovers is the same reason they rack up a lot more assists than all other NBA positions. They dribble, pass and look to make plays more than any other position.
As far as general principles go, I can’t say that they have a distinct advantage in points and three pointers but point guards do have an advantage in steals since they cover the opposing offense’s primary ball-handler a vast majority of the time.
That isn’t where the scoring breakdown stops. In addition to the basic stat-by-stat scoring, DraftKings also rewards players with double-double and triple-double bonuses (with a max of one per player). If one of your players hits double digits in two of the following categories – points, rebounds, assists, blocks or steals — he will receive a bonus of 1.5 points. If one of your players hits double digits in three of those categories, he will receive a bonus of 3 points.
With all this in the back of your mind, what kind of advantage, if any, did point guards have as a whole over all other positions in the 2014-15 season? Let’s find out in Lesson Two.