NBA

NBA Sim Sports Picks for 4/7/20 on FanDuel

During this downtime in the sports calendar, FanDuel has been innovating a lot of different ways to get some daily fantasy sports action.

One of those includes NBA Sim Sports, a format that looks pretty much identical to the usual FanDuel offering. The only twist is that the games won't be played live. Players will instead be assigned a random game from their 2019-20 season.

Matchups don't come into play, and late-scratches and other games missed by players won't come into effect. Scores roll out throughout the slate for a bit of a sweat.

It's free to enter. Here are some potential standout picks.

Finding Value

A rule of thumb in NBA DFS is finding certain value thresholds. For example, seeking players who can score 5.0 FanDuel points per $1,000 in salary. This is known as "five-times value" or "5x." The reason for that is if you max out your $60,000 budget and every player in your lineup scores exactly 5.0 points per $1,000, you'll total 300.0 FanDuel points. That's a good starting point.

Of course, for bigger totals, you'll want to shoot for 6x or higher, and for safety, 4x is a fine mark to uncover. What you will typically find is that the more expensive players hit 4x value often (because their roles are secure but their prices are high enough that they really need a huge game to pay off big price tags) and cheaper players hit 6x more frequently (because their bigger games are less about 50-point triple-doubles and more about a simple double-double at a cheaper price).

Value Leaders

These tables include the top-eight performers at each position based on how many times this season they had games that hit our three different value thresholds when compared to their current price for today's contests.

In parenthesis, you can see how often a player hit the given threshold. For example, Tobias Harris returned 4x value in 80% of his games and 5x value in 52% of his games.

Point Guard

PG4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Chris Paul (0.77)Mike Conley (0.62)Kris Dunn (0.41)
2Collin Sexton (0.77)De'Anthony Melton (0.6)Mike Conley (0.4)
3Markelle Fultz (0.75)Kris Dunn (0.57)De'Anthony Melton (0.4)
4Ben Simmons (0.73)Ish Smith (0.55)Ish Smith (0.38)
5Spencer Dinwiddie (0.73)Terry Rozier (0.52)Ja Morant (0.37)
6Goran Dragic (0.72)Kendrick Nunn (0.52)Shabazz Napier (0.37)
7Ish Smith (0.72)Ja Morant (0.52)D.J. Augustin (0.35)
8Tomas Satoransky (0.71)Tomas Satoransky (0.51)Tomas Satoransky (0.34)

Shooting Guard

SG4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Jimmy Butler (0.85)Tyler Herro (0.64)Josh Richardson (0.46)
2Dennis Schroder (0.78)Josh Richardson (0.63)Tyler Herro (0.45)
3Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (0.77)Dillon Brooks (0.55)Josh Hart (0.39)
4Zach LaVine (0.75)Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (0.54)Dillon Brooks (0.38)
5Jrue Holiday (0.75)Terrence Ross (0.54)JJ Redick (0.37)
6Donovan Mitchell (0.75)Duncan Robinson (0.54)Malik Monk (0.36)
7Garrett Temple (0.75)Devonte' Graham (0.53)Jordan Clarkson (0.35)
8Devonte' Graham (0.73)JJ Redick (0.52)Duncan Robinson (0.34)

Small Forward

SF4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Tobias Harris (0.8)Glenn Robinson (0.58)Josh Jackson (0.44)
2Danilo Gallinari (0.79)Cedi Osman (0.57)Glenn Robinson (0.4)
3Brandon Ingram (0.76)Josh Jackson (0.56)Joe Ingles (0.39)
4Taurean Prince (0.75)Danilo Gallinari (0.54)Cedi Osman (0.38)
5Joe Harris (0.73)Joe Harris (0.54)Derrick Jones (0.37)
6Bojan Bogdanovic (0.72)Joe Ingles (0.53)Joe Harris (0.33)
7Cedi Osman (0.71)Miles Bridges (0.53)Troy Brown (0.33)
8Troy Brown (0.7)Tobias Harris (0.52)Jae Crowder (0.33)

Power Forward

PF4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Zion Williamson (0.86)Kevin Love (0.61)Nerlens Noel (0.36)
2Bam Adebayo (0.8)Brandon Clarke (0.57)Larry Nance (0.32)
3Al Horford (0.77)Jaren Jackson (0.56)Brandon Clarke (0.31)
4Aaron Gordon (0.76)Davis Bertans (0.56)Jarrett Allen (0.31)
5Jaren Jackson (0.76)Bam Adebayo (0.55)Royce O'Neale (0.31)
6Davis Bertans (0.76)Al Horford (0.55)Al Horford (0.3)
7Kevin Love (0.75)P.J. Washington (0.54)Thaddeus Young (0.3)
8P.J. Washington (0.75)Nerlens Noel (0.53)Nicolo Melli (0.3)

Center

C4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Wendell Carter (0.79)Steven Adams (0.54)Bismack Biyombo (0.38)
2Nikola Vucevic (0.78)Cody Zeller (0.52)Ian Mahinmi (0.37)
3Joel Embiid (0.76)DeAndre Jordan (0.5)Gorgui Dieng (0.36)
4Andre Drummond (0.75)Wendell Carter (0.49)Steven Adams (0.34)
5Rudy Gobert (0.75)Rudy Gobert (0.48)Kelly Olynyk (0.34)
6DeAndre Jordan (0.75)Jonas Valanciunas (0.48)Cody Zeller (0.33)
7Thomas Bryant (0.74)Andre Drummond (0.47)Derrick Favors (0.33)
8Cody Zeller (0.74)Gorgui Dieng (0.47)Thomas Bryant (0.32)