NBA DFS optimizer for DraftKings and FanDuel

What's different about NBA

• Inactive players removed automatically and confirmed / expected starters marked, from the NBA's official daily lineups.
• Projections with ranges so you see which value plays have real ceiling.
• Late swap for news after lock: re-optimize only the players whose games haven't started.
• Player props beside the pool: points, rebounds, assists and threes lines from multiple sportsbooks.

NBA roster formats

From NBA values to a tournament lineup set

Use today's NBA picks and values as a starting point, then recheck player availability and your slate before building. Salary value alone does not describe tournament opportunity: ownership and related player outcomes also matter. See the WarriorSim tournament simulation guide for a practical build-and-review workflow and the limits of its estimates.

How to read today's NBA DFS picks

The free NBA picks page shows a DraftKings classic slate, its lock time and the last data update. Check that slate before using the numbers in your lineup builder. If you are building for FanDuel, use the salaries, positions and projections on your selected FanDuel slate; the same player's salary value can differ between sites.

• Projected points are the model's estimate for a player. Compare them with his salary and expected role.
• Value is projected DraftKings points per $1,000 of salary. For a hypothetical $5,000 player projected for 30 points, value is 6.0x. That calculation describes the projection, not a result already achieved.
• Own% estimates the share of a modeled contest field that will roster a player. Your exposure is his share of your own lineup set; the two percentages answer different questions.
• Ceiling describes an upper-end outcome estimate. Check the projection and range together when comparing players.

Recheck availability before you build. Expected starter and Confirmed starter are separate labels; an expected starter has not yet been confirmed by the lineup source. Bench players remain in the pool because they can still play. Review the projections, make any custom edits, and use player locks or exclusions deliberately before running the optimizer.

NBA late swap: preserve started games, review open slots

Late swap applies to supported multi-game contests. Check the contest's own editing rules and each game's lock time before changing an entry.

1. Open your built lineup set on the same slate and choose Late swap in the results.
2. Mark the games that have started. Players in those games stay in their existing slots.
3. Choose Re-optimize open slots. The optimizer works through the lineups using the loaded slate and saved build settings. It keeps a lineup unchanged when it cannot find a legal replacement with at least the same projected points.
4. Review the whole set again. Swapping lineups individually can change your exposure mix. Check the resulting players and their counts before exporting.
5. Update your entries on the contest site before the remaining games lock. A StatWarrior build does not change an entry already submitted to DraftKings or FanDuel.

New feed data prompts a Reload slate notice; existing lineups do not change automatically. Reloading starts a fresh build and clears the current results, so export the set first. Late swap uses the inputs attached to your current build and does not automatically fetch newer injury news. A single-game slate has no unstarted game left after its lock.

Example: an NBA tournament build, step by step

An illustrative workflow, not a recommended lineup or a past result. Say you plan 20 entries in a large DraftKings tournament on a seven-game slate.

1. Read the board. Open today's NBA picks and note the slate, the lock time and when the data was last updated. Value is projected points per $1,000 of salary; Own% is the share of a modeled contest field expected to roster each player.
2. Make a news pass before lock. NBA availability changes late. About an hour before lock, check the pool again: players listed inactive drop out, confirmed starters are marked, and when a rotation player is ruled out, his teammates' projections rise to absorb part of his minutes and shots.
3. Decide how to treat the chalk. A low-priced player promoted into the starting lineup often becomes the best value on the slate and one of its most popular plays. Rostering him is not an edge by itself when much of the field does too; what matters is whether lineups with him finish on top more often than his ownership. Note his Own% before you build.
4. Set a few rules, not many. For example, cap any one player at about half of your 20 lineups and allow a two- or three-player stack from the game with the highest total. Leave the salary rule alone: the optimizer already keeps unused salary small.
5. Run WarriorSim and review the set. The exposure list shows each player's share of your lineups, his share of the modeled field and his Warrior Edge: how much more (or less) often he appears in the simulated top 1% than in the field. A popular player with a negative Edge is one to hold below the field; if most of the set needs one game to go over its total, loosen a rule and rebuild.
6. Late news and export. If news breaks after the first lock, late swap re-optimizes only the players whose games haven't started. Download the DraftKings CSV, upload it and confirm the entries on DraftKings.

After the slate, the track record grades StatWarrior's archived projections and its own pre-lock WarriorSim lineups against the NBA's official box scores. The WarriorSim guide explains the assumptions behind the simulated numbers, which are estimates, not guarantees.

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