NBA

NBA Sim Sports Picks for 4/8/20 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, and there are even beginner contests. 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, Kevin Love returned 4x value in 75% of his games and 5x value in 61% of his games.

Point Guard

PG4x Value5x Value6x Value
1De'Aaron Fox (0.85)De'Anthony Melton (0.6)De'Anthony Melton (0.4)
2Derrick Rose (0.8)Kyle Lowry (0.55)Ja Morant (0.37)
3Chris Paul (0.77)De'Aaron Fox (0.54)Seth Curry (0.37)
4Collin Sexton (0.77)Elfrid Payton (0.53)Rajon Rondo (0.33)
5Kyle Lowry (0.75)Derrick Rose (0.52)Jeff Teague (0.32)
6Goran Dragic (0.72)Luka Doncic (0.52)Brandon Knight (0.32)
7Luka Doncic (0.71)Kendrick Nunn (0.52)Elfrid Payton (0.31)
8Trae Young (0.71)Ja Morant (0.52)Darius Garland (0.31)

Shooting Guard

SG4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Jimmy Butler (0.85)Tyler Herro (0.64)Tyler Herro (0.45)
2James Harden (0.79)Buddy Hield (0.59)Dillon Brooks (0.38)
3Dennis Schroder (0.78)Dillon Brooks (0.55)Jordan McRae (0.35)
4Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (0.77)Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (0.54)RJ Barrett (0.35)
5Fred VanVleet (0.75)Jordan McRae (0.54)Duncan Robinson (0.34)
6Buddy Hield (0.75)Duncan Robinson (0.54)Delon Wright (0.32)
7Bruce Brown (0.72)RJ Barrett (0.53)Norman Powell (0.32)
8Tyler Herro (0.72)James Harden (0.52)Bruce Brown (0.31)

Small Forward

SF4x Value5x Value6x Value
1LeBron James (0.84)Harrison Barnes (0.58)Josh Jackson (0.44)
2Danilo Gallinari (0.79)Cedi Osman (0.57)De'Andre Hunter (0.43)
3Tim Hardaway (0.76)De'Andre Hunter (0.57)Cedi Osman (0.38)
4Luke Kennard (0.75)Josh Jackson (0.56)OG Anunoby (0.38)
5Harrison Barnes (0.75)Danilo Gallinari (0.54)Harrison Barnes (0.37)
6Dorian Finney-Smith (0.72)Tim Hardaway (0.54)Derrick Jones (0.37)
7Eric Gordon (0.71)Jae Crowder (0.52)Kent Bazemore (0.36)
8Cedi Osman (0.71)Derrick Jones (0.51)Danuel House (0.36)

Power Forward

PF4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Bam Adebayo (0.8)Kevin Love (0.61)Christian Wood (0.4)
2John Collins (0.78)Brandon Clarke (0.57)Nemanja Bjelica (0.38)
3Robert Covington (0.76)Jaren Jackson (0.56)Nerlens Noel (0.36)
4Jaren Jackson (0.76)Bam Adebayo (0.55)Jabari Parker (0.36)
5Julius Randle (0.75)Nerlens Noel (0.53)Kyle Kuzma (0.35)
6Kevin Love (0.75)Richaun Holmes (0.53)Richaun Holmes (0.33)
7Brandon Clarke (0.75)Serge Ibaka (0.52)Blake Griffin (0.33)
8Maxi Kleber (0.74)Julius Randle (0.5)Larry Nance (0.32)

Center

C4x Value5x Value6x Value
1Andre Drummond (0.75)Willie Cauley-Stein (0.61)P.J. Tucker (0.41)
2Clint Capela (0.72)Steven Adams (0.54)Dwight Powell (0.38)
3Mitchell Robinson (0.72)Clint Capela (0.51)Marc Gasol (0.36)
4Marc Gasol (0.72)Mitchell Robinson (0.51)Gorgui Dieng (0.36)
5Steven Adams (0.71)Alex Len (0.51)Steven Adams (0.34)
6Bobby Portis (0.7)JaVale McGee (0.49)Kelly Olynyk (0.34)
7Willie Cauley-Stein (0.67)Jonas Valanciunas (0.48)Alex Len (0.33)
8Jonas Valanciunas (0.66)Dwight Powell (0.48)Willie Cauley-Stein (0.31)